by Carol Thorbes
Illustration by Mark Schofield

SFU initiatives in fisheries research The political and environmental storms buffeting fisheries resources worldwide are spurring Simon Fraser University scientists to work on bold new approaches to preserving them.

Fish farming is the fastest-growing global animal food-producing sector, but it is under worldwide scrutiny for its impact on wild stocks, and environmental pressures are making the annual runs of these stocks increasingly unpredictable.

It’s not known whether any scientist can design the definitive life raft to rescue diseased and diminishing fish stocks, but Larry Albright, Rick Routledge, and a research trio in SFU’s school of resource and environmental management are making major waves in fisheries research.

Larry Albright While many of his colleagues are sifting through conflicting research about the impact of conventional ocean-based fish farming on wild salmon stocks, Larry Albright is proposing a daring alternative – freshwater-farmed salmon. The professor emeritus is the first salmon farmer in North America to raise Pacific sockeye salmon through several sequential life cycles in enclosed freshwater facilities.

At a Langley salmon and trout freshwater fish farm that he co-owns, Albright plucks a four-pound sparkling sockeye from a tank fed from an Artesian well and cradles it in his arms. The fish is one of 3,000 domesticated descendants of several wild sockeye that Albright started culturing in fresh water 16 years ago.

The showpiece in Albright’s arms, and its siblings, went on to spawn in the summer. Last year Albright became the proud adoptive father of 50,000 juvenile freshwater sockeye hatched from the eggs of another group of freshwater-reared sockeye.

At SFU, Albright ’s lab was the first to describe the complete life cycle of the sea louse, but today the marine microbiologist admits to having the heart of a businessman beating beneath his lab coat. His success at growing disease-free sockeye that need no antibiotics (something that remains a challenge for ocean-based fish farms) may just help Albright turn a profit in his retirement.

But Albright’s success goes far beyond any financial gain. As he told the provincial special committee on sustainable aquaculture, there are other benefits to freshwater farming besides rearing problem-free salmon. “It makes a smaller ecological footprint – occupying less than an acre of land compared with the larger areas of coastline consumed by seawater farms,” said Albright, who is currently chair of the B.C. Freshwater Aquaculture Association.

“Many rural First Nations reserves, where unemployment is high, could also benefit from getting into freshwater salmon farming. The Native land often sits on plentiful supplies of groundwater that could be used to support this alternative.”

Rick Routledge is helping identify a vexing problem. Along with Alexandra Morton, an independent fish biologist in B.C., and scientists elsewhere, Routledge has produced four startling studies that have been published in three leading journals, including North American Journal of Fisheries Management. These studies show that sea lice in the Broughton Archipelago’s ocean-based salmon farms are killing nearby migrating juvenile pink and chum salmon in droves.

After years of trying to get decision makers to act on these findings, Routledge and his colleagues finally caught the ear of the special provincial committee on sustainable aquaculture. Routledge included these key points in his presentation to the committee of MLAs:

• Field experiments show that sea lice from fish farms are killing up to 95 per cent of juvenile salmon migrating past the farms.

• The federal and provincial governments should begin ratcheting down ocean-based fish farm production and eventually phase out the industry if its threat to wild salmon populations isn’t reduced to an acceptable level.

Routledge believes his ability to get the attention of politicians in a public forum will encourage decision makers to see the research as more than just another fish story.

“We made the committee aware of European studies that support our research, and we showed that elevated sea lice levels exist around salmon farms outside of the Broughton Archipelago,” says Routledge. “We also countered all of the persistent criticisms of our research, and we drew attention to substantial conservation concerns associated with both existing farms and proposed expansions farther north.”

Fisheries science and management research group While Routledge and Albright are heading into the eye of the political storm rattling conventional fish farming, three other SFU scientists are casting their research net elsewhere.

Faculty members Randall Peterman, Sean Cox, and Bill de la Mare make up the fisheries science and management research group in the school of resource and environmental management (REM). The group is helping governments and industries improve their management of commercially valuable but vulnerable marine life, especially rockfish, ling cod, and Pacific salmon.

Thanks to $1 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund, and SFU, Cox and de la Mare have designed and launched the C.J. Walters, a vessel much more sophisticated than those at other Canadian universities.

At first glance the 9.7 metre long, state-of-the-art floating lab looks like any other aluminum fishing vessel. But the on-board remote control submarine, acoustic-sonar tracking system, acoustic habitat identification system, high-end computers, and video equipment prove that this vessel is designed to do more than catch fish.

The C.J. Walters can track fish over large areas, map seabed habitats to a depth of 600 metres in pitch black water, and collect previously unrecoverable water and marine life samples with a robotic arm. With these capabilities, Cox says, “researchers can do previously unachievable day-long surveying and sampling of threatened species in marine environments. They can also improve their estimation of these species’ current and future abundance.”

Peterman, Cox, and de la Mare also use the C.J. Walters to train a new breed of fisheries science graduates. The students tackle real-life fisheries problems aboard the vessel and undertake a wide breadth of studies on land. They’ll graduate from SFU as experts in generating reliable scientific data and evaluating management options.

“In fisheries management, decisions usually involve making trade-offs about conservation, social, economic, and other values,” notes Peterman. “We don’t suggest which trade-offs to make, but our students’ use of analytical tools produces results that can help decision makers make well-informed decisions.”

Recent master’s grad Jaclyn Cleary exemplifies how well REM’s unique made-in-Canada program is equipping SFU graduates to undertake major fish studies. For one of her graduate projects, Cleary designed a coast-wide survey to study the health of B.C.’s sablefish — a $40 million industry. She is now designing surveys to assess the health of the province’s $160 million groundfish trawl industry.

It’s all part of looking after our fisheries, a key element in B.C.’s economic future. SFU scientists are in the forefront of research designed to preserve and protect them for future generations. aq

Photography in Illustration: Upper left & right: Courtesy REM/SFU Lower left: Marianne Meadahl/PAMR

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