Canadian Company Leads Aquaculture Industry with Tech Advancements

Jan 28, 2016 6:00 AM ET
AgriMarine’s flagship farm West Coast Fishculture (Lois Lake) Ltd. located near Powell River, British Columbia

Canadian-based AgriMarine Technologies Inc. (ATI) is testing and developing new clean technologies that are shaping the future of the aquaculture industry. Centering its efforts at AgriMarine’s flagship farm, West Coast Fishculture (Lois Lake) Ltd. located near Powell River British Columbia, the company is creating technologies designed to lower the environmental impact and economic cost of running a fish farm.

“Our farm serves as a testing base for the new technologies and components that we are developing,” said Robert Walker, President of AgriMarine Technologies Inc. “We believe that innovation is essential to progress and we are optimistic that these innovations will lead to new opportunities.”

One of the technologies being used by AgriMarine is a deep water oxygenation system, which is designed to oxygenate water at a lower power consumption – reducing energy use. Other technologies are designed to help farmers respond to changing conditions faster, like the cloud-based alarm system, where data automatically uploads to a cloud server and farmers are able to monitor conditions at the farm remotely from anywhere at any time. The server even sends out text messages to farmers, alerting them of any issues that may arise

“These technologies are all tested in ‘real-life’ situations, so those in industry who would like to adopt them can be confident that they will perform as advertised,” said Walker. “As farmers, we understand many of the challenges in this industry and are providing practical solutions for these challenges.”

The company’s most notable claim to innovative technology is their AgriMarine System™ tank, a floating semi-closed containment technology that provides optimized conditions for the rearing of finfish in fresh or sea water conditions. AgriMarine’s farm recently installed its sixth tank, which is being successfully used in combination with the other tanks and net-pens to raise premium OceanWise™ Lois Lake Steelhead. The farm is currently conducting trials to test the growth rates of fish, with results indicating that fish raised in their tanks are growing faster and performing better than those reared in the lake net-cages.

The fish farming industry is expanding more and more each year, and ATI is at the forefront of developing clean technologies that will improve the sustainability of the industry in British Columbia, and around the world.