The Canadian-owned company has been raising indigenous Pacific Chinook (King) salmon using sustainable methods for many years. Now it has achieved all the criteria set out in the Canadian Organic Aquaculture Standard.
Accredited certifying body Global Trust regularly audits Creative Salmon to verify compliance with the standard.
Based in Tofino, British Columbia, in Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Creative Salmon is a small company dedicated to quality, not quantity.
“We are thrilled to be a leader in organic aquaculture,” says Tim Rundle, Creative Salmon’s General Manager. “Consumers are looking for organic product. Creative Salmon is proud to offer an organic product backed by a made-in-Canada standard.”
The standard became official in May of 2012 when it was passed by the Canadian General Standards Board.
In order to meet the certification requirements, organic fish must have twice as much room to swim as conventional farm-raised fish.
“At Creative Salmon our fish have a low density environment occupying less than one per cent of the volume of their pen, even when fully grown,” says Rundle.
The organic standard also addresses chemicals, prohibiting antifoulants on nets.
“At Creative Salmon we clean and maintain our sites and our nets by power washing with sea water or by exposing them to natural ultraviolet from the sun,” says Rundle.
As required by the organic standard, Creative Salmon’s market fish are free of antibiotics and genetically modified organisms.
“We raise a Pacific species in the Pacific Ocean so our fish are perfectly adapted to the sea conditions including a natural tolerance to sea lice which means our fish don't require treatment with pesticides,” says Rundle.
Our fish feed is composed of sustainably-sourced fish meal and fish oil. Ingredients also include certified organic wheat as a binder and a naturally sourced pigment derived from a yeast.
“Our fish are fed a diet as close to their natural one as possible in a farm setting,” says Rundle.“Our major supplier, Taplow Feeds, is a valued partner in our organic process and is also certified to the organic standard.”
The organic certification also applies to Creative Salmon’s Sea Spring Hatchery as well as Lions Gate Fisheries’ processing plants in both Tofino and Delta.
Approximately 50 per cent of seafood consumed world-wide is farm raised, making aquaculture a vital and growing industry. Creative Salmon is North America’s only major producer of Pacific Chinook salmon.
