Evidence of meeting #24 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was imta.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
You're asking what the differences are?
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
The difference is that we have this fixed framework, as shown here. Then we're able to utilize—you're getting the full sales pitch here—some pretty advanced netting technology. We work with our partner, DSM Dyneema, a Netherlands-based company. This material is like Kevlar. They hate it when I say that, but everybody knows what Kevlar is. We're actually working with them to make it even stronger and such.
Really, what it does is that it creates a fixed volume. In open net-pen, sometimes you get a little movement of the net; there's a lot of video we could show you. Again, it comes down to complex relationships with flow and such, but with the iCage it's basically like putting the fish in a room like this one. So again, there's a lot of oxygen flowing through, which is what they try very hard to maintain in closed contained systems and such. Also, it submerges, and we don't use copper-based anti-foulants to keep the nets clean.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Then it would be a fair assumption that the difference between the cost of the iCage and current open net systems would be at least partially offset by protecting the stock in the cage.
4:15 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
Absolutely. It would be.... Well, we're still in the process of developing models, but every day adds a little bit more evidence. The offset in costs comes from reduced net management costs as well as the reduced infrastructure investments required. This is why the lobstermen are of so much interest to me: because they have 90% of what we need to run a small iFarm.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses. This is not my usual committee, so I'm learning a tremendous amount.
I'm guessing: is it Dr. Robertson?
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Okay.
Mr. Robertson, you made an interesting comment. I'm going to pick up on what Mr. Leef was asking about. You talked about how this is an economic argument. Could you expand on where you were going with that?
4:15 p.m.
Executive Director, Huntsman Marine Science Centre
The aquaculture sector produces products for an open marketplace. They have to compete in that marketplace. At the moment, they compete very well. If we arbitrarily impose other conditions through a policy that says you can no longer farm fish this way and you have to use these other systems, which increases the cost of production, that puts the entire sector at a cost disadvantage.
Sometimes it's nice to talk about how we need more filtration or we need better controls or better systems, but ultimately it will be up to the marketplace to decide whether or not that will be acceptable in terms of being able to recover your incremental costs. That's what I was trying to allude to.
Therefore, there is a range of solutions, depending on location and depending on what you're trying to solve.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Storey, in your testimony you were talking about the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. I'm wondering if you could elaborate, because, to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure why you've made this comment regarding small projects and the fact that it's quoted that “90 per cent of small projects have little or no environmental impact”. I think there are others who would argue, but I'm wondering why that comment is there.
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
There are two parts to the answer here. Part of it is, again, like smart phones—who would have guessed how we all use them today? Five or six years ago, a few people were using them, but not very many people. It represents a new way of looking at things; technology does that.
As the science emerges—again, with all of the great work Dr. Chopin does—we're seeing that with IMTA the metabolites that come from a fish farm actually grow seaweed, and they can grow mussels. They're starting to look at other things. What it's really demonstrating is that the ecology you're in has a certain assimilative capacity.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Sorry, you're not addressing it. Are you saying there are smaller impacts with fish farming? You're not really addressing my question.
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
Okay. Can you repeat your question, then?
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Well, I'm going to turn it to Mr. Robertson first.
Mr. Robertson, can you comment? What's being implied here is that this would be a small project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. I think what's being implied is that there would be little impact. Am I correct?
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
No, I don't think so. That's not what we're implying.
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
We're implying that we can exist within, as we defined it, the balanced ecosystem aquaculture approach. Well, I guess at the end of the day, maybe it doesn't have the impact, so you're right.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you. That's what I wanted to know.
Mr. Robertson, your opinion, please, on the same question.
4:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Huntsman Marine Science Centre
I think what Mr. Storey was alluding to, and what we particularly like at the Huntsman Centre about his story, is this idea of saying that each particular environment you're going to operate in has the capacity to assimilate a certain amount of organic matter. We would size the farms according to this process, as opposed to saying here's the standard pen and you put a standard number of fish in it. His approach is to look at that a little differently.
4:20 p.m.
Executive Director, Huntsman Marine Science Centre
We like his concept, yes.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Okay. Thank you.
We're hearing from you that this results in greater dispersion of waste and contaminants. Yes?
4:20 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Open Ocean Systems Inc.
Waste, yes. Again, it's really how you characterize it. I wouldn't characterize it as waste; I would characterize it as nutrients.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Okay, and therefore it results in reduced benthic impacts. Has this ever been quantified?
