Salmon Raised on Land Could Be the Future of Seafood

Aquaculture is hardly new.

Archaeological research shows that as far back as 8,000 years ago, Australian Aborigines were cultivating, smoking, and preserving eel on a large scale. So, why then, is aquaculture increasingly considered a thing of the future?

Well, the main reason is probably that back in 6,000 BC, there were between 5 and 10 million humans on this planet. By 2050, there will be 9.7 billion, and the question inevitably arises of how we will be able to feed that many people with a very finite—and in many cases, diminishing—quantity of marine protein.

One very measurable and effective solution for humanity would be to collectively thin our hungry herd by not having kids. But that's not a very viable option, as it conflicts with the most ancient and enjoyable of human impulses.

Instead, we will need to rely on human intelligence and technology that will allow the time bomb of humanity to tick a little longer.

And in some cases, the future of food has a lot to do with the past.

For more than 6,000 years, the people of the 'Namgis First Nation have sustained themselves with the Pacific salmon that inhabit the waters around Vancouver Island. And in a recent push to protect those life-giving salmon who occupy a central role in their culture, the 'Namgis First Nation set out to establish Kuterra, the first on-land salmon farm in Canada using state-of-the-art technology.

The name Kuterra comes from "terra," the Latin word for land, and the 'Namgis' word for salmon, "kutala," therefore signifying "salmon of the land." It's a state-of-the-art facility designed to produce sustainable salmon and preserve an integral part of 'Namgis culture and history.

"Wild Pacific salmon have sustained us for thousands of years, are at the heart of our culture, and the heart of what we pass on to our children," 'Namgis First Nation Chief Debra Hanuse told MUNCHIES. "The 'Namgis First Nation takes very seriously our obligation as stewards of the world around us. Care for lands and waters is intertwined with care for future generations."

British Columbia is home to more than half of all of Canada's salmon; it's a $10 billion dollar industry that produces more than 75,000 tonnes of meat every year. But this economic boom, as usual, comes with a heavy environmental burden.

"Virtually all open-net Atlantic salmon farms in the ocean around us are on wild salmon migration routes," Chief Hanuse said. "We have long had grave concerns about the impacts of these Atlantic salmon farms on the Pacific salmon we depend on."

The solution to this problem, the 'Namgis decided, was recirculating aquaculture technology (RAS) that allows salmon farmers to create a hard barrier between the farm and the external environment.

It costs a lot more to install than the usual cages plopped in the ocean by aquaculturists, but RAS is an attractive technology, at least where quality, cleanliness, and sustainability are concerned. Operating within these parameters, Kuterra is able to produce some 470 tonnes of salmon every year.

"It's a land-based closed technology, so it creates a separation between the wild environment and the farm environment," Kuterra's Josephine Mrozewski told MUNCHIES. "It allows you to grow fish while controlling all of the parameters that are needed for growth. You're not subject to changes in weather or water temperature or predators or pathogens or sea lions tearing up nets. That separation allows greater control and reduces both business risk and environmental risk."

Sometimes being exposed to a natural environment isn't the best thing. Open pen net farming, in which fish are essentially raised in cages in the sea, has been criticized for exposing salmon to waste, chemicals, parasites, and disease, not to mention the other perils of the sea, like predators and fishing nets. That does not make for the most appetizing piece of fish. Fish raised in RAS facilities, however, are comparatively happier little guys, free to roam in clean, clement, reusable waters.

"There is an acknowledgement that aquaculture is something with huge potential from a business point of view but that it's also necessary from an environmental point of view and a sustainable food point of view," according to Mrozewski. "The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has indicated that aquaculture is growing and has to grow, so the challenge becomes how to do it sustainably, and RAS technology offers incredible opportunity to do that."

The FAO has also been very supportive of RAS technology. "The footprint is low and so is the water consumption. Although production costs are still higher than in cages, the systems have high food safety and complete control, and the output is constant and foreseeable," they wrote in their Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture, a guide they say can hopefully "inspire and help aquaculture farmers to adopt recirculation systems in the future."

Turns out that raising Atlantic salmon indoors, in huge tanks, and on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is not as water- and energy-intensive as one might assume. "Water usage is really low because we recirculate it and clean it. It's low-energy as well; we use gravity wherever possible," Mrozewski explained. "We pump water out of wells, and once the water is in the system, there's only one place in the whole farm where the water is pumped upwards. After that, it all flows downhill."

But Kuterra is having an influence far beyond its own ecosystem. Mrozewski is in charge of communications for Kuterra, which means dealing not only with pesky food journalists, but also governments and industry leaders in aquaculture. For her, growing interest in Kuterra from these three separate groups is a great sign.

"When we first went to market, we had Chinese-language coverage, Greek-language coverage," she says. "We've had visits from the Gulf states, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Russia, and throughout North America, and we're actually going to be featured on a BBC Horizon TV special. This industry is developing really fast. It's already into second-generation technology. "

This is all very promising, but how does Kuterra salmon taste?

According to chef Ned Bell, it's delicious. "You get a pretty darn good fish," he says. "We have Kuterra on the menu here at the aquarium as the only salmon option in the winter."

Bell recently left Vancouver's YEW seafood + bar to become executive chef at the Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise. When MUNCHIES spoke to Bell, he was hot off the heels of preparing "phallic" BC geoduck for Prince Charles and Kate Middleton.

But Bell is way more passionate about the future of seafood than he is about feeding the future King of England and his photogenic wife. "My main passion is to protect wild species," he says. "But we can't continue to consume wild species at the rate that we have been since the 1950s and expect that we'll still have wild seafood in the ocean for us to eat."

For cheap marine protein to become a staple in the homes and restaurant kitchens of the future, it will also require a change in attitude. "People tend to forget that we still get to eat wild seafood. We don't eat wild pigs, wild chicken, or wild beef. We eat farmed, cultivated animals all the time. So it's interesting because when you shift that focus to the farming of fish, 'farm' becomes a four-letter-word."

For Bell, who's visited Kuterra, it represents a perfect balance of forward-looking technology and a more traditional reverence for the ecosystem.

"Culturally, the First Nations have relied on salmon for millennia. Wild salmon is a meal for killer whales, eagles, and bears. The eagles fly the dead salmon carcasses into the middle of the forest, which decompose and feed the trees. It's a complete ecosystem conversation, and if we want to feed the world affordable protein, we have to look at affordable aquaculture as part of that conversation."

Having a steady supply (and price) of salmon year-round is obviously very appealing to chefs, as is their minimal environmental impact. "I think it's a fantastic alternative because you don't threaten the wild species or the environment," Bell says. "By bringing these farms on land, then you have a product which is consistent and readily available 12 months a year."

And while Bell says it's not fair to compare the taste of farmed versus wild salmon—wild is always better, "hands down"—he says he's looking at the bigger picture. "We are going to have more than 9 billion people in the world by 2050, so how are we going to feed them? It's going to come from more beef, chicken, and pigs, but it's also going to come from nutrient-dense plants and sustainable seafood, hopefully with the inclusion of responsible aquaculture.

"The farmers of fish play an extraordinary role in the table of today and the future."

Every day this week, MUNCHIES is exploring the future of food on planet Earth, from lab-grown meat and biohacking to GMOs and the precarious state of our oceans. Find out more here.