BC Greens - On-land Fish Farms Are All Around the Globe

Hi BC Greens/Andrew Weaver

You need to look up from BC and realize that Kuterra, BC is far from the only fish farm in the world on land.

My list now has 194 on-land fish farm systems, comprising almost 20,000 on-land fish farms around the world: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2016/05/152-different-on-land-fish-farm-systems.html.

Despite what the Norwegian companies might say, on-land is common. In fact, Norway grew so fed up with their sewage and damage that it stopped auctioning in-ocean licences in 2014. Now it gives out on-land licences for free, a $9- $12-million subsidy based on the previous in-ocean price.

If fish farms don’t want to come out of the water in BC, then they can go back to their own country and set up on-land there. Norway is fed up, just as we are. We need to do the same thing. Note that if their option is to set up on land in Norway, where there is a scarcity of flat land, point out to them that BC has low priced land everywhere, and it would pay them to do so here rather than move back to Norway. It’s a better deal to be on-land in BC.

When a fish farm says something to you, like ‘on land is not our business plan’ don’t think of it as anything more than spin. And tell them that their boss in Norway, Helge Aarskog agrees with you and next you'll talk to him, lice,escapes and disease can be solved on land.

I receive almost 30 global press fish farm/seafood industry newsletters each week. I am that up on global issues. My blog has more than 370,0000 page views from around the world. See the 2,200 problems in the global press that have come across my desk in the past couple of years: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2017/08/bad-news-bites-salmonseafood-industry.html.

Feel free to run something by me to take the fish farm spin out of it for you. For example, while they will tell you on-land is more expensive, point them to my 194 on-land farm post because I have also put in dozens of studies to start the post that deal with the economics of on-land versus in-water.

Also point out to them that they need to be on land because the new Atlantic Sapphire 150,000 tons on-land plant in Florida is going to put them out of business - it is sustainable, and cheaper to USA markets. You might even tell them they may want to follow their own Marine Harvest executives that have jumped ship to Atlantic Sapphire because they can see the writing on the wall for in-ocean farms. That includes in BC. (AS is item 176 in the 194 post).

Oh, and one more thing, did you know Marine Harvest has committed $100 Million into on-land, closed containment systems. Tell them to spend some of it here rather than in Norway. Do tell them that as the Krone has been allowed to rise in Norway’s monetary policy, that means they’ll be worth more when brought to BC to defray set up costs. What a deal!

Please make sure AW sees the link above.

DC (Dennis) Reid