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Current ProjectsSEA-System Proof of Concept R&D programSustainable Ecological Aquaculture, or SEA systems, represents a natural evolution in aquaculture that addresses the inefficiencies (energy/material losses) that are inherent in conventional aquaculture systems and those that are typically responsible for the negative views associated with aquaculture in coastal British Columbia. SEA systems consider ecological processes in the engineering design of aquatic agri-food production, and thus aim to develop culture systems that are self-sustainable in terms of environmental, economic and social criteria. … SEA-System Proof-of-Concept Project The Pacific SEA-Lab Proof-of-Concept research project is focussing on the design/engineering, environmental (system performance), and socio-economic aspects of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) SEA-Systems as an approach to help mitigate the nutrient loading effects of monoculture aquaculture systems. This form of aquaculture (polyculture), while rooted in centuries of practise in Asia, has only recently been considered as a potential SEA-system process in the world of modernized agri-food production. IMTA systems, by definition, are designed so as to capitalize on the organic waste stream associated with a ‘fed’ component (fish), with waste particulates used to support a filtration component (shellfish) and the dissolved nutrient fractions used by a plant (macrophyte) component. The development of IMTA in addressing the issues of ‘open netcage’ aquaculture represents an innovative approach by which organic wastes are used rather than mitigated by some other containment, capture, treatment, and/or discharge technology. Thus, while there are significant environmental benefits associated with an appropriately balanced IMTA system, there are also considerable economic as well as social benefits to such a food production system (diversification of seafood products, partnering with local First Nations to develop traditional capture food species for aquaculture purposes, etc.). The Pacific SEA-Lab IMTA system has been designed as a small, commercial-scale facility in order to address the inherent complexities associated with materials transfer between the system components (species), at a realistic level of production, and thereby ensuring that information collected from this research program can be directly applied to this new (and hence proven) industry sector for coastal British Columbia. The inaugural research program will use a combination of sablefish, scallops, mussels, sea cucumber and kelps. The following diagram illustrates the configuration for the IMTA system located in Kyuquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Analysis of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Data from Coastal British Columbia
Training & SEA-System Development in Third-World Countries
Scallop Seed Juvenile Out-Planting Study
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Contracted by the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, the Pacific SEA-Lab scientists are analysing 7 years of phytoplankton species and abundance data from 45 aquaculture farm sites acquired as part of a Provincial Harmful Algal Monitoring Program (HAMP). Data analysis objectives include determining potential successional sequences leading to bloom developments; documenting regional differences in community structure in relation to the physical-chemical environments; relationship and frequency of bloom events with farm presence (nutrient loading impacts); and providing recommendations for monitoring program design changes to address issues with present approach and database deficiencies.
