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by Suzanne Connell
The organic waste generated by fish
farms can be used to create direct
and indirect employment in coastal
communities while at the same
time reducing the environmental
impacts of the industry, says Dr.
Stephen Cross, an adjunct associate
professor in geography.
By introducing a combination
of scallops, mussels, sea cucumbers
and kelp adjacent to the fish farms,
these creatures can live off the waste
released by the farm, says Cross.
These products could be sold
commercially, creating new employment
and business opportunities
for coastal communities.
The system also helps reduce the
environmental impacts of the
industry by capturing some of the
fish waste and using it as a food
source for other sea life.
“This kind of system, called integrated
multi-trophic aquaculture
(IMTA), has been used for thousands
of years in Asia and China
(polyculture), but the pilot-scale
research that my colleagues and I
are conducting will be the first of
its kind in B.C.,” says Cross.
Cross and a team of researchers
from UVic are partnering with
industry and local First Nations to
implement a pilot IMTA facility
in Kyuquot Sound off northwestern
Vancouver Island. Beginning
this month, the researchers will
analyse baseline conditions at the
site, design and install the system,
introduce each species and then
measure the system’s performance
in terms of organic waste extraction
and productivity.
Cross has recently received a
$200,000 Aquaculture and Environment
Innovation Award from
the BC Innovation Council in
support of this research. The goal of
the awards is to support long-term
collaborative research that aims to
produce environmentally sustainable
aquaculture systems for British
Columbia.
Cross has specialized in the
environmental effects and impacts
of marine-based aquaculture for
over 20 years. He is co-founder of
a North America-wide network of
researchers studying Sustainable
Ecological Aquaculture (SEA) systems
and lead scientist on a committee
of the International Council
for the Exploration of the Sea
(ICES) which studies SEA-system
research and development.
For more information on
Cross’s research visit, www.aquametrix-research.com.
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