November 29, 2023

 

Equipment failure at salmon farm in Nova Scotia, Canada, left 100,000 fish dead

 

An equipment failure killed 100,000 Atlantic salmon worth $5 million at a Sustainable Blue land-based salmon farm in Nova Scotia, Canada, earlier this month, Sustainable Blue said November 28.

 

A filter that removes carbon dioxide from holding tanks experienced a "structural collapse" on November 4, the company told CBC News. The land-based salmon farm is the only one in North America with zero waste discharge thanks to its proprietary water filtration system which constantly recirculates water on-site.

 

The fish kill has left the company unable to supply customers until June 2024.

 

"This is absolutely a setback. But we will get back on our feet. We will find the cause of the incident," said Sustainable Blue chief executive officer Kirk Havercroft.

 

The cause of the carbon dioxide stripper's malfunction is still under investigation.

 

The incident happened in the newest production building at the Sustainable Blue complex at Centre Burlington in Hants County near the Minas Basin. Fish inside five other buildings were unaffected but the malfunction killed off 20% of production. The salmon were market ready, weighing 4-8 kilogrammes each.

 

"The building did contain the largest fish that we had and that's the reason why unfortunately now, there will be a production interruption for approximately seven months," Havercroft said.

 

He added that the "structural collapse" was a construction failure and not an issue of technology performance. The affected holding tanks were in a building completed in April 2022.

 

"We think this is an isolated incident," Havecroft commented. "Our early indications are that it should be perfectly feasible to identify the cause of the incident.

 

"And we fully expect to be in a position of being able to repair it and bring everything back online by early March."

 

Records from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) show about $3.5 million in funding to Sustainable Fish Farming Ltd., Sustainable Blue's registered corporate name, since 2006.

 

On October 10, ACOA announced it provided $505,000 "to purchase advanced automated salmon processing equipment to increase efficiency, product quality, explore new markets and develop new value-added products by processing fish normally sent to the waste stream."

 

- CBC