The Government of Canada will invest C$3 million through the ACOA’s Atlantic Innovation Fund and C$247,000 will come from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Programme.
The investment will help further develop a device and process that uses warm water to remove sea lice from farmed salmon, achieving a 95 per cent removal rate of the sea lice, which are then filtered, collected, and brought ashore for disposal.
By using this green alternative to costly therapeutants, this device and warm water process will significantly benefit the industry by reducing costs and by providing salmon farmers with an additional, sustainable treatment option to a major fish health challenge.
Successful implementation of the project will have a direct impact on reducing sea lice-related losses for Cooke Aquaculture and provide a green alternative to managing sea lice outbreaks, strengthening the Atlantic salmon brand and competitiveness in the marketplace.
Over the coming weeks, additional investments through the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) will be announced, bringing the total AIF investments in Atlantic Canada in 2016 to over $38 million.
“Innovation is the path to inclusive growth. It fosters a thriving middle class and opens our country to new economic, social and environmental possibilities and is essential in shaping our future. That is why the Government of Canada is committed to supporting projects like the one being undertaken by Cooke Aquaculture,” said Karen Ludwig, Member of Parliament for New Brunswick South West.
“Managing fish health has always been of paramount importance to our family’s fish farming business. That means working with our in-house scientists, veterinarians and engineers to explore innovative new ways of doing things. It also means partnering with science organizations and with our government to develop effective solutions for farming challenges like managing sea lice. Today’s announcement is a major step forward, not just for our company, but for Canada’s aquaculture industry,” commented Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture.
