Development of Hatchery and Advanced Fingerling Innovations to Compliment North Shore Fish Farms Advanced Indoor Yellow Perch Re-Circulating Aquaculture System and Grow-Out Technologies

Final Report

North Shore Fish Farms Ltd

AIMAP 2011-CA02

Project Activity and Results Summary

As a result of this AIMAP support funding, North Shore Fish Farms has been able to proficiently and successfully design, construct, troubleshoot and implement two additional isolated re­circulating aquaculture systems that will aid in promoting and supporting early life stage development of Yellow Perch.

Introduction

To date, North Shore Fish Farms has invested significant amounts of research and development towards fostering land based indoor re-circulating aquaculture technologies to successfully grow-out Yellow Perch fingerlings to marketable sized fish. As a direct result of the 2010 AIMAP and IRAP financial support, North Shore Fish Farms has been able to accomplish:

• Increased stocking and grow-out proficiencies/capabilities for Yellow Perch
  
• Enhanced efficiencies to reduce operating costs & increase revenue streams
  
• Design, assembly and validation of an indoor Yellow Perch RAS model that can support industry species diversification and grow-out system technologies

With continued support from AIMAP in 2011, North Shore Fish Farms has been able to proceed with system advancements that will support:

• Implementation of an indoor high density fry and advanced fingerling rearing structure for Yellow Perch
  
• Accomplishment of production model biosecurity with diverse and isolated control over early life cohort staging of yellow perch
  
• More diversified marketing opportunities
  • Fingerlings for food fish market on a national and international scale
    
  • Fingerlings for potential habit restocking program (i.e., MNR and Lake Erie)
    
• Canada's aquaculture industry by advancing RAS technologies and providing diversified species opportunities at different life stages (fingerling, advanced fingerling, adult)
  
• Progression of rearing protocols through water conservation, effluent control and energy management
  
• Increased production capacity and revenue streams. We estimate an annual stocking capacity of 250,000 fingerlings for internal rearing while facilitating cold banking technologies for an additional 100,000 to meet later season marketing opportunities as well as rearing an additional +100,000 fingerling for supply to industry (other growers I wild restocking).

Deliverables

1. Complete site preparation works, including grading, necessary for production system installation.

   A formal site plan and specified grading has been developed and completed as per gravitational flow design, fish effluent management system. All plumbing roughed in prior to culture tank installation.

2. Purchase and install 2 separate modules. Modules consisting of six 2100 gallon circular culture tanks.

   Custom engineered circular polyethylene tanks purchased. Onsite modifications included: dual drainage systems with self cleaning abilities and two liquid levelling tank systems. Area levelled and assembled accordingly.

3. Equip each circular culture tank with a solids removal filtration system, with 40um and 60um screening for use when fry are being raised. Interchangeable with 60um and 90um screening required for high density fingerling culture.

   HydroTech filter, levelling system and backwash pump purchased, installed and tested.

4. Purchase and install a liquid oxygenation system with central saturators and supplemental supply availability.

   Centralized oxygenation saturator and supplemental oxygenation saturation points established, tested and online. A bulk 3000 gallon liquid oxygenation tank with vaporizer is currently being installed. The heavy equipment required for installation was unsafe to operate during the unseasonably warm and wet winter.

5. Purchase and install a captive degassing system for each modulated culture tank area.

   A custom engineered Gas Management Tower has been designed, installed, tested and accommodates variable degassing capacities to meet production and bio-mass needs. It was effectively engineered to meet low head pumping.

6. Purchase and install gravitational flow water supply networks for each modulated area; including adjustable hydraulic flow rates and on demand oxygen supply.

   Gravitational effluent water system engineered, installed and tested. Low head oxygenated supply to individual culture tanks engineered, installed and validated.

7. Purchased and installed moving bed bio-filters for each module.
   
   

8. Purchase and begin the rearing of 250,000 Yellow Perch fry.

   As a result of a later then anticipated project launch, we were unable to complete the planned stocking cycle for year one during the spring spawn of 2011. Fry and fingerling procurement was limited at our competition in December 2011.

   Desired stocking for 2012 is positive with our preferred hatcheries and internal Lake Erie broodstock.

Early Results

Accelerated growth rates through several life stages have been achieved with the Yellow Perch currently stocked. A preferred hatchery supply of 35,000 fingerlings along with our existing swimming inventory from earlier in 2011 have yielded positive results that can be attributed to

• tightly grouped cohort separation classes
  
• reduced stress as a result of improved degassing and oxygenation methods
  
• variable culture tank sizes for different life stages
  
• first harvest of fish at culture day 197
  
• successful controlled indoor feeding introduced at early life stages

Unfortunately, a cold banking program has not yet been implemented due to seasonality of yearly hatches and a delay in the initial project launch. North Shore Fish Farms will venture into a cold banking program in 2012 in order to control the mass balance of our RAS operations and plans for 400,000 fry and fingerling stock production.

Operational Efficiencies and Measurable Benefits

Reduced Oxygen Costs

• per unit price of liquid oxygen reduced with bulk tank installation
  
• Gas Management Tower and Point Four diffusers are the latest modern technologies

Mass Balance Approach

• North Shore Fish Farms now has 19 culture tanks with segregated bio-filtration
  
• cohort separation and tightly grouped stocking programs allow for uncompromised performance
  
• consistent weekly market sized production as a result of staged cohort classes of fry and fingerling cycles

Peak Bio-filtration Utilization

• 130 lbs of daily feed without compromising water quality and fish health early bio-filtration results are outperforming our initial project goals
• 130 lbs of daily feed will easily accommodate 400,000 fingerlings at a size of 5 grams each