Agriculture Committee on Oct. 4th, 2016

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

All right.

How about technology, in terms of the resources on the ground in Prince Edward Island? We're talking about technology clusters and that sort of thing. Is there a particular cluster in Prince Edward Island that's attractive to the company as well?

[Dave Conley]

Well, obviously, the Atlantic Veterinary College and the University of Prince Edward Island have been useful. There are other players in the biotech cluster in Prince Edward Island that I think have been useful.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Casey, did you have anything to add to that?

[Andrew Casey]

It's a great question. The industry across the country is found in clusters in every single province in every single region.

P.E.I. is an anomaly. On a per capita basis, they're more productive from an innovation standpoint in supporting the industry than the U.S. is. They have a remarkable cluster. It's built around the university, but the governments have also been very supportive of the industry in making sure that it's healthy and vibrant in the province. That's attracting more innovation and more science.

It's one of those self-perpetuating circles—a virtuous circle, in many respects—that continues on. It will attract more companies, more growth, and more innovation. As you heard in their case, the original path for the AquaBounty fish was not what it ended up being. That's quite often the case for most innovation. The path that you set out on is often not where you end up going; it's discovery along that path that takes you on different tangents. That can spin off into different companies and different innovations. That's why these healthy clusters are so important to the nation writ large.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

Now, having said that, as I understand it, after the eggs get to a certain point in Prince Edward Island, they're shipped to Panama. What is it about the Panama facility that makes it the right spot to do that part?

[Dave Conley]

Again, that was a serendipitous thing. One of the principals in the company at the time had a friend in Panama. It was cheaper to acquire the facility, or to at least lease the facility for R and D, than it would have been to build a brand new facility from scratch in either Canada or the United States.

The advantage of Panama also is its geographic isolation and the fact that there is no indigenous Atlantic salmon population. The waters in that area are basically a biological barrier, just through lethal water temperature.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

I think that is important to know. I'm from the Atlantic coast, and there are concerns there about the indigenous population there, so I think that's a good point to mention as well.

As I understand it—and please correct me if I'm wrong—AquaBounty's plan originally was to use more of a traditional aquaculture approach for farming salmon, and it has moved to a land-based facility. Is that correct?

[Dave Conley]

The original problem was superchill. That would have been in an ocean-based facility.

When the research developed the AquAdvantage salmon, it dawned on everyone quite quickly that escape was going to be a major concern. That's why the company invested in the technologies of using only female sterile fish in a land-based facility, because the whole idea of land-based is that now you've isolated and contained your fish, so they're not going anywhere. In fact, AquaBounty has been asked to speak at conferences on biosecurity because we are an acknowledged leader in this area.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

I would also assume that from your perspective you have much more control over the inputs. I think you mentioned some of those. We know in traditional aquaculture there have been issues with sea lice and other parasites and things like that. Are those things that you can limit in a land-bound facility?

[Dave Conley]

Absolutely. We can optimize a growing environment for the fish. In fact, we can control all of the growing parameters to optimize their growth.

We don't have sea lice problems. We don't have ISA. Most of the stuff that's plaguing the industry in the oceans is not a concern for us.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

From a cost perspective, is there any reason the company would ever want to move from a land-based facility?

[Dave Conley]

No.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

Thank you.

[Dave Conley]

I think the strategy is to locate close to the consumer market. That's the real benefit of being land-based: now you can grow a farm anywhere.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

I think that kind of leads to the next question, which is how you promote the product, because we have heard issues from consumers, but my time is nearly up.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Thank you.

Ms. Brosseau, you have six minutes.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair

I would like to thank our witnesses for their presentations this morning on this important topic.

I understand these fish are female. What process is used to cause infertility, and is it 100% effective?

[Dave Conley]

Do you mean for sterilization?

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Yes, I mean for sterilization. What process is used to make sure these salmon are infertile, and is it 100% effective?

[Dave Conley]

The process is called a pressure shocking treatment. Once they're fertilized, within a certain period of time they're put into a cylinder and they are exposed to a pressure of so many pounds per square inch. Without getting technical, that allows the three sets of chromosomes to be retained. Normally you would have two, and that third set basically renders them sterile. They can't breed.

On the efficacy of that, each batch is tested and we routinely receive 100% on those. In the data that we submitted to the FDA, we achieved 99.8% as an average. The FDA in its approvals said that we would only have to obtain 95%, but the company wasn't satisfied with that because we realized this was going to be an issue, so we've readily gone beyond that. In fact, new technology has been developed, and it's been discussed at the meetings in Norway recently. Basically we're looking at a vaccine development that would guarantee 100%.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Did Health Canada conduct its own scientific research on your products or did the department rely solely on the analyses and results you provided to them?

[Dave Conley]

We submitted our data, but Health Canada also had an independent panel of experts that was administered through Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. They looked at the aspects of safety and risk to the environment.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I'm sure you're well aware that there are quite a few retailers in the States that are concerned about GMO salmon. Some of them have made commitments not to sell your product. What do you think of these commitments not to sell your product? Is this happening in Canada? Do you have retailers committing not to sell your product?

[Dave Conley]

The answer to that is that this is a campaign to sign up retailers. When there's no product on the market, there's no advantage to not going along. When there is a product on the market, we expect we'll see a different outcome.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Are there any businesses in Canada, any retailers in Canada, that have said no?