Offshore Aquaculture 101: Concepts and Species important to the North Pacific Michael B. Rust Northwest Fisheries Science Center NOAA- Fisheries Seattle, WA Outline Do we need more fish? Aspects of net-pens Why move off-shore? World Farmed Halibut Production and Technology World Farmed Cod Production The Sablefish story Summary Do we need more fish? Predicted World Seafood Supply and Demand • Demand for seafood and other marine products is increasing – Population – Per Capita Consumption • The capture fishery is fully tapped and many stocks are depleted • Aquaculture, especially marine aquaculture, is the only way to increase the supply of seafood Intensity of aquaculture systems Kg/ha Low High 100-15,000 4-600,000 Ponds Tanks & Net-pens Recirc. Raceways Tanks Advantages of Net-Pens •Low energy use •No land use beyond service needs •Non-consumptive of water •A lot of fish in a small area Offshore Cage Types Gravity type cage Submersible type cage Why move Off-shore? • More Space • Better Effluent Assimilation Capacity – Solids settle to the bottom-impact depends on current, depth and management practices. – Dissolved N, CO2 and P carried away in current – Impacts more likely to be positive Impacts of Nutrients on Benthos Bay Open Ocean Benthic Organisms Nutrients Similar processes occur in water column Cage impacts on the bottom: Effects of currents Weak Current Strong Current Cage impacts on the bottom: Effects of water depth Shallow Deep Why move off-shore? • View issues History of Halibut Aquaculture research in Norway • 1934 Gunnar Rollefsen made in vitro fertilization and described early development. • 1980 The first two halibut larvae were fed through metamorphosis at Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Flødevigen (Øiestad, V. and Haugen, A.S. 1980; Blaxter, J.H.S., Danielsen, D., Moksness, E. and Øiestad, V. 1983) • 1983 Silos developed at Austevoll • 1985 The first two halibut juveniles were produced at IMR, Austevoll. • 1983-1995 Austevoll developed the first production line for juveniles • 1987-present Sea-cages for halibut growout, Diet, genetics, health and other areas expand Torrissen et al 2003 Halibut Aquaculture Production 2500 2000 Norway 1500 Other Countries (UK, Iceland, Canada, Chili) 1000 Total 500 0 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Year Halibut Aquaculture Juvenile 1000 Production 900 800 700 Norway 600 Other Countries (UK, Iceland, 500 Canada, Chili) 400 Total 300 200 100 0 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Year Lifestages Eggs Yolk sac larvae Start feeding Grow out 10 d 40 d 50 d 1500 d Metamorphosis Torrissen et al. 2003 STRIPPING OF PRODUCTION OF BROODSTOCK JUVENILE HALIBUT SILO FOR KEEPING YOLK SAC LARVAE • Complex process • Shifting from semi- EGG INCUBATION intensive feeding to intensive feeding Productionof halibut lohyksacS juvenilalibt r) elBrodstc k strip Egg incubation Startemiprofedin-intsv ukjo gSaltkr()ArtemiaIntesivproduAikinksjon gGrøtva(mikle) Kveitlar istllepstpore tanksrHjulfilterGjødselDKveitlar ikaremning StrømsetrPlanko:NaupliiCddeiter Intensive production START FEEDING Enrichment Artemia Semi-intensive Micro algae production Hjulfilter Kveitelarver i store tanker eller plastposer Gjødsel Demning van der Meeren, T., 2003 Plankton Hatchery Incubator T=6 C L=dark Harboe, T., 2003 Incubator – Yolk sac larvae T= 6 C L= dark Syncronised hatching=light/dark 18 days 18 days van der Meeren, T., 2003 60 days Semi-intensive larval rearing system Intensive larval feeding tanks t= 12 C Light aeration Harboe, T., 2003 700 600 500 Juvenile production in Norway 400 300 Semi-intensive Numbers (in 1000) Intensive Kristiansen, T. And Harboe, T., 2003 200 100 0 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Halibut Aquaculture in the US? • Only Atlantic Halibut at this point - Pacific Halibut is a different species. • UNH offshore aquaculture project – 1200 juveniles from a Canadian hatchery grown in Sea Station cage off of New Hampshire coast – Also testing Haddock, Cod and Summer Flounder – http://ooa.unh.edu/ Cod Production Estimates 200,000 150,000 100,000 Intrafish Analysis (Norway only) 2002 Production Cod Hatchery Manager A is about 1,500 MT (Norway only) 50,000 Cod Hatchery Manager B (Norway only) SNF report (Norway only) 0 Lozowick Market Research 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 (UK only) Year Note: Halibut is just now at 1500 MT annual production despite a much longer commercial history. Advantages of Cod over Halibut • Easier Seed production – Less than a week as eggs then hatch and start feeding. – No long yolk sac phase - no need for silos – Quick growth to the juvenile stage – More robust larvae • No need to modify salmon net-pens for grow-out • Traditional market is larger 6 months The Sablefish Story • Early life history mirrors halibut – Complex and expensive to produce seed, however methods already developed for halibut work for sablefish. • Grows well in salmon net-pens • More efficient with feed than salmon • No swimbladder - can be raised in cages without access to the surface Development of Sablefish farms • Commercial hatcheries in BC – 1 existing - production growing from about 100 fish in 1999 to 40,000 in 2002, perhaps 180,000 next year. Destroyed 1.2 million larvae due to a lack of market ($CN 5-7 each). – 1 existing that has never produced more than a few thousand – 1 new that plans on producing up to 250,000 next year. Development of Sablefish farms • Grow-out of Sablefish in BC – About 20 salmon lease holders have permits to grow sablefish, but only 3-4 actually have. – Very limited production (perhaps 50 MT) but expected to grow over the next decade. Summary • Off-shore aquaculture has benefits and costs associated with it relative to other fish producing activities. • Most of the development of species important to the north Pacific is for the Atlantic counterparts. Little work on Pacific species. • Halibut production is stalled, but could pick-up in the next few years • Cod is coming - perhaps in a big way. Technology is not an issue, however financing is. • Sablefish production is low and mostly experimental, but the technology is available from the Halibut industry. • Development outside of the US on these species and technologies will continue even if there is little activity within the US.