Sustainable Aquaculture

This project focused on the commercialization of kelp and other new aquaculture species. This project worked with a variety of aquaculture companies and coastal First Nations.

Project Dates: March 2013 – November 2018

Funding Amount: $1.2 million

Students Hired: 6

Project Summary

Our applied research program in Sustainable Aquaculture was initiated in 2013 and comprised of two phases. The first (2013-2018) included partners from the BC Salmon Farmers Association, focussed on the development of automated water quality instrumentation for climate/ocean change monitoring and explored the potential of co-culturing kelp (as nutrient extraction species) adjacent to salmon farm operations.

The later phase furthers our research with seaweed aquaculture, assessing the technical and socio-economic aspects of co-culture with a variety of shellfish species (cockle, geoduck, scallops, sea cucumbers) and the inherent ecosystem services marine plants provide – ocean acidification, carbon and nutrient sequestration. Research includes First Nation partners from the BC Central Coast to south, west, and North Vancouver Island. We have also engaged BC Timber Sales in this initiative.