Thursday, April 18, 2013

18/04/13: Funding for sustainable aquaculture in NZ; counting sea lice in BC; from gravel pits to salmon habitat

Five projects focusing on aquaculture will benefit from the latest round of Sustainable Farming Fund grants, Minister for Primary Industries, New Zealand, Nathan Guy has announced.
“New Zealand seafood is a premium product and it’s great to see groups looking to improve their production and value by developing aquaculture,” says Guy.
The projects with funding are:
• Koura Aquaculture, by Wai-Koura South: $119,420
• Farming Premium Salmon, by the Salmon Improvement Group: $600,000
• Management of the GLM9 Greenlipped Mussel Spat Resource, by GML9 Advisory Group: $20,000
• Tuna (Shortfin-eel) Aquaculture, by Te Ohu Tiaki o Rangitane Te Ika a Mauri Trust (MIO): $600,000
• Aquaculture custom bacterial vaccines, by Aquaculture New Zealand: $115,686.
“Addressing information gaps is a focus for four of these projects. They will investigate how to reduce skeletal deformities in farmed salmon, develop best-practice guides for raising freshwater crayfish and manage the wild greenlipped mussel spat resource.
“Importantly, the eel project will focus on learning more about young glass short-fin eels so we can raise them successfully and sustainably.
“The other will focus on developing New Zealand’s capability, in this case to manufacture vaccines for Chinook salmon.”
The projects will commence July 1, 2013 and run for one to three years.
More information...

Regular sea lice counts being proactively shared by BC’s salmon farmers will help speak to recommendations made by the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of the Fraser River Sockeye.
For the fourth year, the BC Salmon Farmers Association will update the public about operations and sea lice counts on a site-by-site basis in the Okisollo/Hoskyn channel area –found in the Discovery Islands region discussed in recommendations made by Justice Cohen in his final report last fall.

“The amount and quality of information that our members produce was identified as helpful and important to the commission. With our ongoing goal of transparency, we are eager to continue sharing with the public,” said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BCSFA.
This will be the fourth year that the BC Salmon Farmers Association updated the public about sea lice numbers on farm sites in the area throughout the wild salmon outmigration period. These reports will continue through July.
Okisollo Channel is located just north of Campbell River and is home to five farms: two of Marine Harvest Canada’s, two of Mainstream Canada’s and one operated by Grieg Seafood. Hoskyn Channel, on the east side of Quadra Island has four Marine Harvest Canada sites. All three companies have agreed to an area management plan for the channel.
Currently there is only one farm in the area under operation: Cyrus Rocks. A sea lice count was also reported for March on Marine Harvest Canada’s Okisollo farm site, though the farm is now fallow following a regular harvest.

Sea lice counts - March 2013

These farms are well managed and highly regulated to ensure that wild stocks migrating past these sites are protected, no matter how many of the farms are operating. Sea lice numbers are monitored regularly and show levels below the threshold levels for treatment as required by regulation (see table above).
More information...

River restoration isn’t the only technique to help rebuild fish populations. That’s why California is looking at an innovative method: reclaiming abandoned gravel pits as habitat for salmon.
In the video below, take a look at how NOAA, along with the state of California and other partners, is exploring this technique in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. By removing levees, reshaping banks, and re-contouring the river bottom, the team is looking to reconnect more than 350 acres of habitat. This would help restore the natural processes that will allow for the creation of habitat where juvenile salmon and steelhead could live.
More information about the video...

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