Intensive Production of Tilapia and Coho Salmon In A Land-Based, Indoor, Mixed-Cell Raceway, Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) Phase 1 – Tilapia

Final Report
1767065 Ontario Inc
AIMAP 2012 – CA02

Executive Summary:

The above project had four major activities that were to be completed during the current fiscal year.

The four activities were as follows:

• Activity 1 - Detailed Design and Assumptions – Nursery, Grow-out and Purge Systems
• Activity 2 – Build All Systems
• Activity 3 – Commission and Operate Systems
• Activity 4 – Quantify Performance of Systems

As of March 15, 2013 the first 3 activities have been completed with the fourth activity still ongoing. The detailed design, build and commission of the facility consisted of the three following distinct areas or systems: 1) Nursery, 2) Grow-out, and 3) Purge. 

The detailed drawings and capital requirements for the nursery were completed by late April, 2012. All required equipment for the implementation of the nursery were ordered and delivered to the site by early May 2012. Actual construction of the nursery began on May 15 and the initial fish were placed into the nursery facility in the last week of June 2012. The nursery consists of five modules, each with their own solids removal, biofiltration and oxygenation systems. Recently an automatic feeding system has been added to the nursery which will result in improved growth rates and less variability in sizes of each group of fish. To date a total of 9 groups of fish have been received on a regular schedule from a reliable fingerling producer in the USA. Future plans are to implement an in-house breeding program to reduce the monthly requirement from outside sources. 

The detailed drawings and capital requirements for the grow-out system (mixed-cell raceways or MCR) were completed in late May by JLH Consulting and Chapman. The major capital items were ordered in May and June and arrived on site starting in June. These items consisted of large drum filters, oxygen cones, pumps and biofilter media. The actual construction of the MCR began in August 2012. Completion of the first MCR was completed in time to move fish from the nursery system in late October 2012.

NOTE:   The initial construction plan consisted of developing a nursery and four of the MCR's, which represented half of the tunnels that were to be converted into MCR's. In early July 2012 a decision was made to complete all eight MCR's. This basically increased the capital expenditures two fold while having a significant impact on the original timeline of being completed by late fall of 2012.

The development of the MCR's resulted in considerable challenges to both the design and construction teams. The in-house expertise of the E & E team, with regards to concrete and electrical works, was instrumental in the implementation of this technology. The design team was on site during all stages of the construction which allowed for daily discussion with all groups to ensure that the construction took place in a timely and efficient manner. All eight MCR's were completed early in 2013. 

The design of the purge system was completed in November 2012 (Chapman/JLH Consulting). The required equipment consists of 4 concrete tanks, oxygen cones, pumps and carbon dioxide strippers. All equipment was ordered and delivered to the site by early January 2013. The purge system was completed by January 31, 2013 and the first market size fish were placed in the system in mid-Feb.

As of March 22, 2013 all production tanks within the facility have been operating for a number of months. Some systems have been operating since June 2012 (nursery) with a number of MCR's in operations since late fall of 2012. Management continues to obtain significant biological data on the performance of both the fish and the systems. It is anticipated that by late March weekly sales of live tilapia will begin into the Toronto market. Initial test marketing indicated that the product was well received and an agreement has been reached with a buyer to purchase all market size fish from the facility.

Activity 1: Detailed Design – Nursery, Grow-out and Purge Systems

Objective: Confirm base design and assumptions; prepare detailed design and drawings, as required; establish work plan schedule; tender additional quotes for large items; place orders

Anticipated Challenges: Order lead times for specialized equipment-

Duration: 4 weeks

Indicators of Success: Budget confirmation

Expertise Required: Technical design (J Holder); technical review (Chapman, Taylor-Fish Farm Supply); work plan (Team)

Performance measures/deliverables: System design details, cost confirmation, work plan

Milestone 1: System Design complete, orders placed, tunnels cleaned and ready for construction. All milestones were achieved as the detailed designs were completed and all essential equipment ordered in a timely manner. The design of the nursery was completed initially (April) while the final detailed drawings of the MCR's were completed by JLH and Chapman in late May. This allowed for all essential equipment (drum filters – France, Oxygen Cones, specific pumps) to be ordered well in advance of the actual construction phase. The purge system design was delayed until November 2012 to allow the team to concentrate on the production systems.

Activity 2: Build

Objective: To build all systems

Anticipated Challenges: Keeping project schedule on track re lead times and critical path, coordination of trades

Duration: five months

Indicators of Success: System construction complete, ready for commissioning

Expertise Required: Specialized RAS systems (Chapman, Taylor – Fish Farm Supply)

Performance measures/deliverables: Operable system ready for commissioning

Milestone 2: System built and ready for commissioning

The build out of the systems were broken into 3 phases: 1) Nursery, 2) Grow-out (MCR's) and 3) Purge.

NOTE:   In early May 2012 a Manager (Sean Pressey) and Assistant Manager (Roger Bushey) were hired to be on site from day one and to assist with the construction of the nursery. Both of these individuals have many years of hands on experience in the Aquaculture industry which was a tremendous benefit to the quick development of the facility. Both have had direct input into the design and implementation of changes that were determined necessary based on operating considerations.

1) Nursery

The Nursery construction began on May 15, 2012. The nursery system consists of five modules. The first module was ready for commission by the 3rd week of June 2012. This small system consists of 6 tanks (volume of 300 gallons each), 1 biofilter, oxygen cone, 2 pumps, heater and a drum filter for solids removal. This system is utilized for small swim-up fry for the first 28 days of feeding.

A second module consisting of 5 – 800 gallon tanks will be utilized for holding broodstock. This system also has a drum filter, 2 biofilters, oxygen cone, 3 pumps and a heat system. The broodstock system was completed by mid-July 2012.

2 larger modules were built and each consists of the following equipment: 10 larger production tanks (1200 gallons each), drum filter, 4 biofilters, 2 oxygen cones, 6 pumps and heating systems. The first of these larger modules was completed by the end of July 2012 and the second larger module was completed in August 2012.

Recently a fifth module was built in the nursery facility. A module consisting of 4 – 800 gallon tanks, drum filter, 2 biofilters, oxygen cone, 3 pumps and a heating system was built in Feb 2013. This module will be utilized for fish obtained from outside producers for a period of 4-6 weeks for each group of fish.

2) Grow-out System (Mixed-Cell Raceways)

The construction of the grow-out systems (mixed-cell raceways) began in July 2012. This construction involved considerable concrete work and large equipment to prepare for the large biofilters, pumping stations and drum filters. In-house crews were utilized to prepare the old tunnels for installation of all pipes (drains), inflows, liners and walkways. By utilizing in-house expertise considerable savings were achieved while changes to design could be implemented quickly due to on site availability of the design, construction and new management team. 

Each mixed-cell raceway consists of the following: tank for rearing fish (80 ft x 20 ft x 6 ft deep) with a total volume of 270 cubic meters, 1 central biofilter, 1 drum filter (2500 gpm capacity), 2 oxygen cones and pumps, 2 line shaft pumps and a heat system. The initial MCR was completed in October 2012. The first 4 MCR's were completed before the end of the 2012 calendar year. As stated above a decision was made to continue building out all of the tunnels resulting in a total of 8 MCR's completed in early 2013. Each raceway also has monitoring equipment for oxygen, temperature and electrical equipment.

3) Purge System

The construction of the purge system began in late December 2012 and was completed by January 31, 2013. This system consists of 4 concrete raceways each 40 feet in length by 8 feet wide with a working depth of 4 feet. Each raceway has an oxygen cone and pump and a carbon dioxide stripper. Each raceway also has a heater which allows the raceway to be cooled down or heated up prior to shipping fish.

Activity 3: Commission and Operate

Objective: Start up and test systems; validate hydraulics; stock with fingerlings, operate

Anticipated Challenges: System performance uncertainties, until proven

Duration: six months to Fiscal Year (FY) end, then onward to harvest and continuous operation

Indicators of Success: System performing to design specifications

Expertise Required: System hydraulics (Chapman, Taylor – Fish Farm), Production (Chapman, Pressey, Bushey)

Performance measures/deliverables: Commissioning hydraulic performance validation (pre-fish); system performance under biological load.

Milestone 3: System operating to design specification under load, successfully growing health fish.

Nursery System: the five modules within the nursery system have been operating since the summer of 2012. To date approximately 540,000 fish have been placed into this system. The system has operated above design parameters due to delays in the final installation of equipment in the grow-out system and due to the decision to build out the entire facility from day one. However, fish growth has been acceptable and the future ability to move fish thru this system in a timely manner should result in better growth and less size variability.

Grow-out (Mixed-Cell Raceway): all eight MCR's are in operation and running efficiently. Solids removal is more than adequate with the entire water flow being filtered on each cycle. Turn-over rates with each MCR are set at 2.5 times per hour. The hydraulic water flow of each biofilter is consistent with the recommended flow from JLH Consulting (22 gpm/square feet) and carbon dioxide removal appears more than adequate with the installation of fans. Many of the cells within each MCR (4 cells per MCR) have been overstocked initially as the last of the MCR's were completed. The ability to deliver an adequate supply of oxygenated water appears to be the limited operating factor of each MCR. Management and the design group are working on a number of options to increase the oxygen levels in returning water flows to each MCR.

Purge System: The four tank system has been operating since the end of January 2013. Management has the ability to hold approximately 5,000 pounds of market size fish in each raceway. This will allow management to ship fish to market every day or as requested by the buyer. Each raceway is operating to the design specifications with turnover rates over three per hour with sufficient oxygen supplementation to maintain oxygen levels above saturation at all times. In addition, the temperature of each raceway can be regulated to the desired temperature.

Activity 4: Quantify Performance and Communicate

Objective: To report on MCR performance as of the project FY end date re costs, growth performance (biomass yield, feed conversion, densities); energy input per unit of biomass.

Anticipated Challenges: none

Methods: data analysis of inputs and outputs

Duration: one month

Indicators of Success: superior system and growth performance compared to current industry standards, particularly previous production performance at NATI Inc.

Expertise Required: Project and Production Managers

Performance measures/deliverables: Final project report, including performance metrics

Milestone 4: Project complete re AIMAP requirements

During the construction phase of the project it was decided that a feeding system would be sourced and purchased to aid in delivering feed to the many tanks on the farm. A feeding system was purchased from Feeding Systems Canada of Port Alberni, B.C. and was installed in mid- March 2013. Until that system was installed a temporary system of belt feeders in the hatchery and demand feeders in the grow-out tanks was employed. The nature of these types of feeders did not allow for control of feed delivery to be balanced with the oxygen supply to the tanks. Coupled with the delays in construction of the MCR's it was determined that any data on the first production run would not have been valid in evaluating the performance of the system. The incorporation of the new feeding system will allow for very accurate control and it is anticipated that meaningful data will be generated allowing for accurate calculation of Feed Conversion rates (FCR's) and growth performance. 

As compared to other facilities and in particularly Northern Tilapia, despite the delays, poor feeding control and overstocking of some tanks, the fish grew quite well. Market sized fish at 600-700g were achieved in 8 months. With better control over feeding and stocking tanks at optimum levels the time to market should be shortened by several weeks.