Thank you very much.
It's my honour to address the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. My name is Robert Walker, and I am president of AgriMarine Industries. We're a publicly listed B.C.-based company in the business of developing and commercializing non-polluting salmon farming technology and salmon farm systems, as well as producing salmon on our own.
I was pleased to host members of the committee last November at our demonstration farm in Campbell River. A year ago we were in the process of assembling the world's first commercial-scale, marine-based, solid-wall enclosed system. Since then we've met a number of milestones. We successfully launched the tank in Middle Bay in January of this year, and we stocked it with 56,000 chinook smolts. They are currently at 1.34 kilograms and were entered at 35 grams less than a year ago.
We are pleased to report that the fish are not infected with sea lice, which is a key area of interest for our industry, of course. There have been no predator interactions. We're collecting and removing solid waste using our proprietary waste system. Because of our innovative clean technology and sustainable rearing practices, we have a signed a four-year agreement with a major U.S. grocer for the supply of chinook salmon. Finally, our demonstration facility is garnering media and industry attention from all over the world. I would like to take this opportunity to invite the current members of the committee to visit our site in Campbell River as well so you can see what we're doing.
The issues associated with salmon farming in Canada and other nations around the world have been well documented, and the industry is under pressure from both consumers and environmental groups to take action against the consequences of things such as lice infections, fish escapes, nutrient enrichment, etc. Net cage operations are often blamed for fostering disease and sea lice infestations. Retailers have responded by announcing sustainable sourcing policies so they're forcing us to relook at what we're doing.
We're calling on the B.C. and federal governments to support further innovation for clean technologies that will allow sustainable growth in the salmon farming industry and protect the environment. AgriMarine believes that its technology provides a solution to the issues that are plaguing the industry and can assist in creating a smooth transition into closed containment in a marine environment.
During a four-year, land-based closed containment trial, we successfully reared and harvested Atlantics, chinooks, and coho salmon and proved the viability of raising healthy salmon in a solid-wall containment system. The Cedar Project also demonstrated that land-based flow-through systems are not economically viable. Energy costs, land costs, costs of construction of land-based tanks, and the difficulty of building tanks large enough to hold an economically viable amount of fish all combine to make the systems too expensive.
AgriMarine took the positives that we learned from Cedar, went back to the drawing board, and tested various designs and materials for a marine-based tank. We concluded that a composite of reinforced fibre and foam construction, somewhat akin to windmill blades or yacht construction, provide the best specifications for materials. We now have a floating, solid-wall containment tank system that can be deployed in fresh or marine environments, warm or cold climates. We believe that AgriMarine's design solution offers a superior alternative to land-based systems and is a great transition for open nets. By floating solid-wall tanks in natural water bodies, AgriMarine provides an optimal rearing environment for fish husbandry through four primary means. We regulate water flow and temperatures, we monitor and supplement dissolved oxygen levels, we remove the threat of predation, and we remove waste that can be disease vectors and toxins.
Our technology provides what net cage farms cannot. These features allow us to farm in adverse conditions year round and operate well above density levels practical for net cages without causing undue stress to the fish.
The solid-wall system also contributes to a healthier surrounding ecosystem. AgriMarine's proprietary waste removal system channels settleable fish waste into a separator where we de-water it for eventual composting. The waste removal process eliminates the undesirable addition of nutrients to local marine ecosystems. With solid-wall containment there's no possibility of interaction between farmed and wild, no fish escapes, no predator interactions.
Another competitive advantage of the company's technology is in its control of feed. In solid-wall containment, discharge of uneaten pellets to the environment is prevented. Aside from the economic implications, the loss of even 1% of uneaten feed can cause significant and disruptive introduction of nutrients into the marine environment as well as attracting unwanted wildlife.
AgriMarine's system offers superior food conversion as well as isolation of the farmed fish. On-farm energy consumption is only a small part of the total energy and greenhouse gas footprint incurred to deliver cultured fish to market.
We estimate that AgriMarine's energy usage is about one-tenth of a comparably sized, land-based containment system, and this energy impact is further offset by our feed utilization efficiency, reduced benthic impacts, and proximity of the farms to market.
AgriMarine's operating costs are comparable to the present net cage industry and offer a sustainable and economical solution to the present challenges of farming. With over 10 years of development experience, we know that salmon thrive in a controlled environment such as the system we offer. The constant flow of new water at a comfortable temperature with constant supplementation of oxygen, combined with the lack of external stressors such as poor quality water and predators, ensures that the rearing environment is excellent for our stocks. This, in turn, reduces or eliminates the need for antibiotic treatments. We've not treated any of our fish to date at Middle Bay.
While the culture of each species presents a unique set of challenges, neither the Atlantic nor Pacific salmon species we've grown have had lice infections. The solid-wall tanks and separation of species from effluent water help the farmer to ensure that disease organisms are not spread between fish groups on the same farm or between wild and farmed fish.
Some studies have shown that sea lice that affect salmon do not occur or have very low incidents in deep water. There's also evidence that moving oxygenated water repels sea lice. The AgriMarine system has the capability of drawing water from a depth, thus avoiding the upper trophic regions in which sea lice thrive. The in-tank water is oxygenated and constantly refreshed.
The company entered a commercial and technology agreement with the not-for-profit Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute for the construction and operation of a four-tank, commercial-scale marine farm utilizing our technology. We then subsequently signed a consortium agreement with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Sustainable Development Technology Canada for grants in support of the project. As a result, the first marine-based, commercial-scale tank was launched this past January. Three additional tanks will be launched in 2012—prior to June 2012.
AgriMarine has a fully operating farm in China as well using the same technology, but we're in freshwater there, growing Pacific salmon and rainbow trout. We've proven the technology there, with two harvests and sales of those harvests, and we're now in negotiations for additional sites.
Regarding economic benefits to British Columbia, we believe that AgriMarine is providing real economic and social benefits to British Columbia through job creation, investment in clean technology, and ocean stewardship. Farmed salmon has been B.C.'s largest agricultural export for over six years. Favourable water conditions on the west coast of B.C. create the potential for significant growth in the salmon industry.
However, with growing pressure to move the industry into closed containment systems on land, and with reduced output due to a lack of new or expanded licences, industry growth has been stifled. With government support in areas such as licensing or tax incentives, AgriMarine could aid in the growth of aquaculture in this province and assist in job creation, while addressing the environmental issues of such an economically important industry.
Most of the direct employment comes from work in the processing of farmed fish. So when you farm it could produce perhaps six or eight jobs, but also produce jobs in processing of up to twenty, and then multipliers beyond that for supplies and services. Communities that have long opposed traditional net cage farming due to its negative impact, or perceived negative impact, on the environment may deem AgriMarine's technology as a solution to the issues facing this industry and as a vehicle for economic development in their territories.
Because of reduced demands on the environment, floating containment farms can be located in a greater variety of locations, perhaps adjacent to towns where farm workers live. By offering a sustainable alternative to current salmon farming practices, AgriMarine can bring vital jobs and economic development to coastal regions and isolated communities that, because of environmental concerns, simply will not entertain conventional net cage farms.
Transitioning to marine-based, solid-wall containment is currently the only acceptable, environmentally sustainable economic model for the industry. Net cage farms currently in place could be converted easily to the AgriMarine systems. We believe that the AgriMarine system for aquaculture will contribute to a future environment of sustainability and economic well-being for the industry, both in B.C. and in Canada.
Thank you for your time.