Overview of International Marine WhiteFlesh Finfish Culture

1
Overview of InternationalMarine
White-FleshFinfish Culture

• Yves Bastien
• Commissioner for Aquaculture Development
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada

2
Presentation Overview

• Marine Finfish Culture in ICES Countries
• Reasons for Involvement in Marine Finfish Culture
• Overview of Selected Species and Major Players
• Cod (Gadus morhua) Norway
• Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) U.K.
  (Scotland)
• Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus)
  Iceland
• Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) Others
• Spotted Wolfish (Anarhichas minor)
• Constraints / Challenges and Lessons Learned

3
Marine Finfish Culture inICES Countries (2001)

• 20 Species and 13 Major Player Countries
• Seabream and Seabass are the top two cultured
  species. Produced mainly in Greece, Spain,
  France, Italy, Portugal and Turkey (year 2000
  105 000 t)
• Red Drum - U.S. (34,908 tons) - Stock enhancement
• Turbot - France and Spain (5,000 tons)
• Spotted Sea trout - U.S. (3,823 tons) Stock
  enhancement
• Eel - Denmark (2,500 tons)
• Cod - Norway, Iceland (670 tons)
• Atlantic Halibut - Norway, Iceland, Canada (553
  tons)
• Source Mariculture Committee, Report of the
  Working Group on Marine Finfish Culture (March
  2002)

4
Reasons for Involvement into White-Flesh Marine
Finfish Culture

• Abundant, clean and productive marine waters
• Sheltered sites and ideal sea temperature
• Aquaculture seen as a potential economic
  development tool for rural coastal areas
• Declining fishery sector
• High rural unemployment
• Recent advances in fry production (Seabream
  technology 400 million fry in 2000)
• Offset a plunge in wild stocks and quota cuts
• Demand for seafood is outstripping supply
• Higher prices for cultured than wild products
• Sharp increase in market value of novel species
• Profitability of Salmon farming decreasing
  (results in further interest into species
  diversification)

5
Cod Farming

• Year Juveniles Production (MT)
• NORWAY
• 373 licences 2002 1,673,000 1,253
• 150 with fish, 2003 4,000,000 3,000 (est.)
• 60 involved in 2004 10,000,000 10,000
• juv. production 2006 20,000,000 40,000
• (2002) 2008 50,000,000 80,000
• 2010 200,000
• 2015 400,000
• SCOTLAND
• 6 companies 2002 0
• 7 sites 2003 220,000? 144 (est.)
  
• 3 hatcheries 2004 3,000,000?
• U.K. 2003 800?
• 9 hatcheries 2010 15,000,000 25,000
• OTHERS (Iceland, Denmark, Ireland, Russia,
  France, U.S.)

6
Halibut Farming

• NORWAY ICELAND
• 178 licenses 10 - 15 active farmers 1
  company (Fiske)
• Juveniles 2002 721,000 2002 440,000
• 2003 700,000 (est.)
• 2004 1,000,000 (est.)
• Production 2002 424 2001 100
• (MT) 2004 1,000
• 2005 2,000
• 2010 9,000
• SCOTLAND U.K.
• 7 companies 12 sites 4 hatcheries
• Production 2002 187
• (MT) 2003 292 (est.)
• 2008 10 000
• OTHERS (United States, Chile, Ireland)

7
Haddock Farming

• U.K. (Scotland)
• Still in the experimental phase
• Testing the feasibility of commercial scale
  farming
• 3 year project (2001-2003) to develop production
  techniques and deliver 50 tonnes of cultivated
  haddock for market trials
• Small quantities are being produced
• Invested 1.5 millon Cdn
• 19,000 juveniles produced in 2002 (Ardtoe Marine
  Farming Unit)
• On-growing by Aquascot
• Others
• Norway 17 licenses (2002)
• United States OOA NH 4,000 haddock (2002)
• Ireland is interested in farming haddock

8
Sablefish Farming

• United States (Hawaii)
• Unlimited Aquaculture Corporation
  (Vancouver-based company) U.S. 5 million
  sablefish venture
• Production target of 300 tons of sablefish per
  year in Hawaii (NELHA - Technology Marine Park)

9
Wolffish Farming

• Norway
• 37 licenses (2002)
• Akvanplan-niva AS is the only producer of fry and
  broodstock in the world
• Working on production optimization, market
  research and fish health for the commercial
  aquaculture of spotted wolffish (Anarhichas
  minor)
• Designed the first commercial wolffish farms (500
  tons)
• First production in 2002 (200 kg)
• Hoping to produce 5000 tons of wolffish by 2010.
• Optimistic scenario 40,000 MT in 2020
• Others
• Interest in the U.K./Scotland
• Investigation in Iceland and Chile

10
Constraints / Challenges

• ? cost of production profit
• All these species need further work on broodstock
  and selective breeding to overcome the costly
  bottleneck of marine fish hatcheries. For most
  species fry production is still a major
  constraint.
• Reducing FCR by developing better diets.
• Adopting a market driven-approach rather than a
  production-driven approach.
• The biggest challenge will remain capital
  investment. In most cases private capital must be
  raised to develop the industry.

11
Financing

• Call for More Investment in Marine Whitefish
  Farming Industry
• Current poor market price for salmon meant that
  many aquaculture companies currently don't have
  the financial resources to fund their own
  diversification into marine finfish farming.
• (British Marine Finfish Association - 2003)
• Shortage of Cash Only Obstacle to
• Farmed Cods Progress
• Almost only the major companies with capital
  backing will be able to make the giant leaps
  forward on to the market in the short term.
• (IntraFish Industry Report- December 17, 2003)

12
Lessons Learned

• Developing a new species to industrial production
  scale takes time (15-20 years)
• Novel species are capital and technology
  intensive
• Requires high level of competency
• Predictable and controlled year-round production
  of juveniles is essential
• Important to build industry in clusters (5 - 10
  farms), critical mass infrastructure important
• Requires 3 - 4 major hatcheries

13
Lessons Learned

• Requires a strong National broodstock development
  program
• Requires a strong applied nutrition program to
  develop better aquafeeds
• Internationally, countries have taken a focused,
  strategic (comprehensive) approach to the
  development of a new species.
• Governments in these countries committed
  significant financial resources to share the
  risk of developing new species.

14
Lessons Learned

• Novel marine fish farming can be a profitable
  business under certain conditions
• Economies of scale will be crucial minimum size
  farms 1000 tonnes, 2000 - 3000 tonne farms will
  be preferable
• Requires major investment to get to
  commercialisation (high cost of juveniles and
  high capital requirement)
• Lack of investment capital in the short-term -
  only major companies with capital backing will be
  capable of moving ahead
• Essential to understand the market. Need to sell
  to the high-end price of the market (during
  development phase, production cost will be higher
  while profit margins will be minimal)

15
Lessons Learned

• Norway
• Cod fingerling production is rising but not
  enough grow-out farms to sell to.
• U.K.
• Difficulty to get cod farming sites.
• Scotland
• Marine Harvest Scotland to pull out of halibut
  farming.
• The decision was a reflection of a tougher
  climate in the aquaculture industry. We simply
  cannot afford to subsidise the development of
  halibut any longer, particularly not when it is
  so much easier and cheaper to produce it in
  Norway. Farms there can be developed on a much
  larger scale which makes it much more
  competitive.
• (Source- Fish Farming Today - November 25, 2003)

16
Final Word

• In countries where there has been successful
  development and commercialisation of marine
  finfish species
• (1) there has been a focused and concerted
  effort,
• (2) it has been an identified priority species,
  and
• (3) government has provided key (strategic)
  financial resources to help share the risk of
  investment with industry in the development of
  the species.