18 MARCH 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG The Aquaculture Innovation Workshop #5 – An International Summit on Fish Farming in Land-Based Closed-Containment Systems was hosted by The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute, Tides Canada (TC), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF) and the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, WV, 4-6 September 2013. This international summit provided an opportunity for aquaculture producers, scientists, engineers, aquaculture industry suppliers, regulators and investors to communicate progress on the technical, biological and economic feasibility of culturing fish – particularly salmon – to food-size in land-based closed-containment systems. Over 130 participants from industry (the largest contingent), academia, non-government organizations (NGOs), and government attended to share scientific results and commercial experiences, identify opportunities to advance the use of technology and address industry myths. High interest in this timely and relevant topic meant attendees traveled from far corners of the globe, with speakers representing Norway, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, the Netherlands, Germany and additional attendees traveling from Ireland, Poland, Switzerland, South Africa, Sweden, and throughout North America. The Summit included land-based aquaculture producers, representatives from large international salmon farming companies, engineers from the design industry and representatives of groups intending to build closed-containment systems to farm food-size salmon. As a collective group, the Summit attendees are pioneering the technologies necessary to increase finfish aquaculture production in a manner that is more environmentally sustainable and economically viable. A major outcome was that emerging aquaculture technologies were highlighted for attending senior-level decision makers in government, industry, the financial community and philanthropy. Across the diverse participants, this catalytic meeting brought together a community of stakeholders and created a focused communication space critical for increasing the adoption of land-based closed-containment systems using water recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technologies. The two-day Summit consisted of invited sessions discussing innovations and challenges surrounding food-fish production, particularly salmon, in land-based closed-containment systems. Session topics included: • salmon health and performance in land-based closedcontainment systems (4 presentations) • eliminating off-flavor from fish produced in closedcontainment systems (2 presentations) • denitrification and microbiology (4 presentations) • assessment of alternate production systems for salmon farming (3 presentations) • closed containment project updates (6 presentations) Fish Farming in Land-Based Closed-Containment Systems Steven Summerfelt and Laura Christianson • lessons learned while engineering and building commercial RAS (3 presentations) • creating value from the waste stream (2 presentations) • design innovations and opportunities in land-based closedcontainment systems (3 presentations, plus panel). There was also a presentation on research advances towards more sustainable alternative Atlantic salmon feed by William Wolters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) and an update on the Department’s aquaculture research strategies and priorities by Jeffrey Silverstein (USDA ARS), the Department’s National Program Leader in Aquaculture. Salmon Health and Performance in Closed-Containment A presentation by Bendik Fyhn Terjesen of Nofima, Norway opened this session with the new findings about the effects of water salinity and exercise on post-smolt Atlantic salmon in land-based closed-containment systems. Fish performance indicators can be significantly improved when Atlantic salmon smolt are cultured to 1 kg at salinities of 12 ppt when compared to full-strength seawater. This presentation was followed by a discussion from Jeff Richards (University of British Columbia, Canada) about the University of British Columbia’s InSEAS Research program to determine optimal salmon rearing conditions in RAS. InSEAS new, replicate state-of-the-art water recirculating systems can be operated in a nearly closed-manner at various temperatures and salinities. Coho salmon and Atlantic salmon post-smolt performance studies are imminent, with temperature and salinity two of the initial variables to be studied at this new facility. The final two talks in this session were from Christopher Good and Steven Summerfelt, both from The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute (TCFFI, USA). Dr. Good discussed the effects of water exchange rate and water treatment processes on hormones (cortisol, testosterone (T), 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), progesterone, and estradiol) in RAS containing sexually maturing Atlantic salmon. Findings of this USDA ARS-funded research suggest that, under the conditions of this study, the quantified hormones (except for T) do not accumulate in lower exchange water recirculating systems, and that, aside from 11-KT, the system’s unit processes do not impact hormone concentration. Dr. Summerfelt closed the session with a synopsis of TCFFI’s several Atlantic salmon grow-out trials in land-based, freshwater, closed-containment systems. Last year, 23 mt of food-size Atlantic salmon were produced at the Freshwater Institute; this was an extremely large-scale research undertaking, albeit a tiny fraction of commercial production goals at sites like the ‘Namgis First Nation’s salmon farm (Canada) or Langsand Laks (Denmark). In TCFFI’s most recent growout trial, Atlantic salmon were reared under near
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