A land-based steelhead farming operation in British Columbia planned for a defunct lumber mill is set to break ground later this year, at a time when the province is implementing its contentious move away from netpen salmon farming by 2025.
“There will be a point when a lot of the industry is on land,” Rob Walker, co-founder and president of Gold River Aquafarms, a CAD 100 million (€69.5 million/$73.5 million) project located on BC’s Vancouver Island, told IntraFish.
Walker, who plans to produce 3,000 metric tons of steelhead trout, said he is not anti-industry when it comes to netpen salmon farms, but improved alternative technology will ultimately drive much of BC’s farming industry in the direction of closed containment systems.