News
Land-based salmon farming waiting for its big break
Elisabeth Fischer Intrafish.com April 4, 2013
The views on land-based salmon farming are ambivalent, but the call for a move onshore seems to be growing louder every day. Up to a dozen new farms are currently in various planning or construction stages all around the world, in addition to the four that have already been stocked with smolts. And the industry interest is “tremendous” and growing, Steven Summerfelt, director, aquaculture systems research at the Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute, one of the major research institutes into on-land recirculation systems for salmon, told Intrafish. (Article pdf courtesy of Intrafish.com Land-based salmon farming waiting for its big break -First in Seafood News – Intrafish )
Update On Viability Of Land-Farmed Salmon – Interview with CBC New Brunswick
CBC.ca Information Morning St. John February 4, 2013
The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute in West Virginia has been experimenting with large-scale, on land salmon farming. The private non-profit is ready to release a report on its findings soon. Steven Summerfelt is the Institute’s director of Aquaculture Systems Research. Dr. Steven Summerfelt provides an update on the realities and the promising future of land-based closed containment salmon aquaculture with CBC’s Hance Colburne on the Information Morning St. John show. Highlights include a response to concerns about production costs compared to conventional net-pen ocean farming and illustration of the need for consumers to consider the full value of environmentally responsible sources when making purchase decisions.
Aquaculture Innovation Workshop No. 4 – Comox, British Columbia
TidesCanada.org. December 15, 2012
Proceedings and presentations are available for the 4th Aquaculture Innovation Workshop held 5-6 November, 2012 in Comox, BC . Working with co-hosts Tides Canada and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fund’s Freshwater Institute assembled an international agenda of speakers with a focus on farmed salmon production in land-based closed-containment systems. A special seafood reception for attendees and guests featured salmon preparations from fish sustainably produced in the Freshwater Institute’s Shepherdstown, WV facility.
Second Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture – Future of Smolt Production
Nofima.no. October 30, 2012
Freshwater Institute staff were invited for presentations at the Second Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture – Future of Smolt Production, held 23-24 October 2012, in Sunndalsøra, Norway. The conference focused on Norway’s recent emphasis to expand Atlantic salmon smolt production using water recirculating systems to conserve water and provide a more optimum environment for smolt production. Dr. Christopher Good’s presentation was titled The Effects of High (20 mg/L) Versus Low (10 mg/L) Dissolved Carbon Dioxide Exposure on Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar in Replicated Water Recirculation Systems. Dr. Steven Summerfelt provided a keynote presentation titled Research and Developments in Closed Containment Aquaculture Throughout the World.
New Farming Technologies Produce Healthier Salmon
FIS.com. September 24, 2012
A partnership between Freshwater and the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), a conservation organization with headquarters in St. Andrews New Brunswick, is producing healthy, unstressed farmed salmon that are free of disease and sea lice in closed-containment freshwater facilities on land without vaccines, harsh chemicals and antibiotics. The goal is to give fish farmers and regulators the opportunity to choose a different way to grow fish that is not only better for the environment, but also better for business.
Public Health Threats Are Lurking In Water Supply
Martinsburg Journal-News. August 17, 2012.
Following up on the article “Jefferson Stream Declared Impaired By Fecal Bacteria,” Freshwater Institute scientist, Michael Schwartz provided details on the Institute’s Septic Risk Model in a Letter to the Editor. The model can be used to identify particular zones in the watershed where poorly performing or sited septic systems would almost certainly lead to pollution of the stream. The data can then be used to assure that cost-share funding will be targeted to provide the best environmental outcome.
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito Visits Freshwater
Shepherdstown Chronicle. April 20, 2012.
On Friday, April 13, 2012, West Virginia Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito visited with Dr. Steven Summerfelt at The Freshwater Institute to learn about our ongoing research to produce healthy, safe and nutritious fish in the United States.
Closed-containment Salmon-farming Project Paying Environmental, Economic, Culinary Dividends
Article titled “Closed-containment salmon-farming project paying environmental, economic, culinary dividends” in the April 5, 2012 edition of SeaFood Business magazine mentions our Atlantic salmon research.
YSI Donation To Freshwater Institute Helps Protect And Restore Healthy Populations Of Salmon
Press Release. November 15, 2011.
The Freshwater Institute benefits from a donation of technology and expertise from YSI, a developer and manufacturer of water quality monitoring and testing equipment. Freshwater is using the donation to grow healthily populations of salmon and trout on land.