April 24, 2008

Canadian scientists to create balanced-ecosystem aquaculture farms
 

The University of New Brunswick and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have joined hands to work on the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) project to encourage the creation of a balanced ecosystem.

The project is led by Dr Thierry Chopin of the university and Dr Shawn Robinson of the Department, who are working with the salmon industry in New Brunswick to encourage the creation of farms that rears multiple marketable species instead of single-species farms.

The aim is to recreate a balanced ecosystem, with species selected for their environmental functions and commercial value, said Chopin.

Farming filter-feeding shellfish with salmon could greatly reduce nutrients released from the fish pens as well as lower the possibility of diseases such as the infectious salmon anemia (ISA), according to Robinson.

Norway's Institute of Marine Research also suggests that the blue mussel, mytilus edulis, can consume and inactivate the anemia virus with no ill effects to its edibility.

The IMTA project is also due to feature as a part of a National Geographic television series "Strange Days on Planet Earth'.