The BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) is investing $1.5m over the next five years to learn more about BC’s coastal environment, particularly concerning wild and farmed salmon interaction.
The Association will partner with academics and independent science-based organisations to expand knowledge of BC’s aquatic environment. The BCSFA expects to announce its initial collaborative project in the first quarter of 2015, and anticipates its seed funding to generate over $3m in research projects by 2020.
This funding announcement follows the completion of a series of priority-setting workshops that included 50 participants from academia, independent research institutes, conservation organisations, government, and the aquaculture industry. With backgrounds in fish pathology, ecology, population dynamics, oceanography and genomics, these researchers will focus on five key research areas: fish pathogen transmission, salmon migration routes, environmental management, fish health reporting, and information sharing.
“The workshops have effectively moved the discussion from broad concepts to designing and implementing specific research projects,” said Dr Don Noakes, Dean of Science at Vancouver Island University. “This research will improve our understanding of how wild and cultured salmon interact in the environment, with the goal of ensuring that future generations can enjoy the economic, social and cultural benefits that both wild and farm-raised salmon provide.”
The BCSFA is also forming an external Science Advisory Council. The Council will advise on projects and make recommendations on BCSFA-led research over the next five years.
