British Columbia Salmon — leading the way for Canada’s aquaculture

British Columbia is the fourth largest producer of salmon in the world. It's Canada's largest and most important Salmon growing area by far and is Canada’s leader in aquaculture production with over 50% production coming from  BC.

BC farm raised Salmon is $1.5 billion industry and supports 6,600 year-round jobs. It’s by far Canada’s most important Salmon production region.

Cermaq are a leading innovator in salmon aquaculture in the region. As part of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, they have been focussing growth in recent years on producing higher quality seafood and better community relationships, through better monitoring of fish health, sustainability, and farm and worker health. Salmon production in BC has accordingly become the most important employment industry for rural coastal regions and for First Nation partnerships, where 20% of Cermaq’s farm workforce is now First Nation People.

Cermaq rolls out new strategy and a technological evolution

By 2016 Planet Lighting had successfully finished trialing their new generation of Focus aquaculture lights at Cermaq farms. Around the same time, Cermaq was gearing up its new strategy as a global driver for sustainable aquaculture. It was a perfect technology match, with perfect timing.

New technology and processes are a key part of Cermaq’s method to spearhead a sustainable salmon revolution. In 2016, they began a conversation with the largest seafood companies in the world which evolved into the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS). The goal is to establish clear commitments and work programs leading to transparency, ocean sustainability, innovation and responsible supply chains. The initiative is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically, the UN Goal 14, to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources". And more recently, Cermaq were the first business partner in the new UN GC Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean.

Their effort is paying off.

Cermaq is ranked number 1 of 100 seafood companies in Seafood Intelligence’s flagship report on transparency in the global seafood industry in 2017.

Tofino talent clears the way for sustainable Salmon

Tofino’s success is also a good example of excellent leadership. General Manager of Cermaq Canada, David Kiemele — who was previously regional manager for Cermaq in Tofino — has been an advocate for using the best technology to improve aquaculture outcomes, including against formidable sea lice,
“We are 100% committed to investing in robust sea lice control measures, and are continuing to enhance them through investment in new equipment and ongoing research.”

Kiemele is no stranger to the technical challenges of Salmon farming. A trained aquaculture technician with long and extensive prior experience managing for other aquaculture giants such as Tassal Australia, Kiemele was promoted from regional manager in Tofino to country GM in just 12 months.

Tofino workers and leaders continue to work hard with the locals, including driving sustainability initiatives such as debris removal.

Planet Lighting strikes a technology chord with Cermaq – with new salmon farm lights

Over the last 3 seasons, Planet Lighting’s team has assisted Cermaq’s rollout of new and better lighting technology in the Tofino region. This has included an upgrade of salmon farm lights to the new Focus sea cage lights. One of the features of the Focus is a downwelling light designed to limit fish exposure to sea lice, and to optimise light exposure to fish – and all while providing a significantly more energy-efficient lighting solution than traditional sea cage lighting.

Since 2016, Cermaq has installed Focus sea cage lights at a growing number of their sites in British Columbia, in pens ranging up to 40m x 40m.  The move to high-efficiency LED is a significant technological boost for salmon aquaculture lighting in the region, with potential power savings contributing to Cermaq's achievement of its sustainability goals.

In a successful collaboration in Canada, Powerserve and Planet Lighting were able to provide the electrical customisation to the product, lighting expertise, installation and site support for Cermaq as their lighting upgrade plan rolled out.

A brighter future for BC Salmon

Cermaq are an important producer in the BC region with more than 15 farms in the Vancouver Island area alone. Their technology choices will continue to light the way for sustainable Salmon production in B.C.