Shellfish growers behind a revised aquaculture plan covering 81 hectares along northern Union Bay say now is the time to experiment with farming a variety of sea creatures underwater as one scallop producer blames ocean acidity for the loss of $10 million in product.
Eric Gant, one of three people behind a proposal to start growing cockles, scallops, horseclams and oysters at the bottom of the ocean south of Royston, with a company called Seastainable Aquaculture Ltd., said the recent loss of 10 million scallops announced by Rob Saunders, CEO of Island Scallops, highlights the need for shellfish producers to try different farming methods to work with Mother Nature instead of against her.
鈥淭he ocean is not static. It鈥檚 dynamic entity,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to become more respectful.鈥�
Along with Bon Thorburn and Dan Bowen, Gant would like to farm 54 tonnes of Nuttall鈥檚 cockle, 100 tonnes of Pacific oysters, 27 tonnes of Pacific scallops and 80 tonnes of horseclams per year on the site, though he says it鈥檚 hard to say what the yield would be right away.
The application was resurrected and downsized slightly from a previous application for a geoduck and sea cucumber farm that had been denied.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e dealing with here is an extremely complicated and delicate ecosystems,鈥� Gant said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an oversimplification to say it鈥檚 a single-cause problem. We鈥檙e hoping to resolve it by doing further experimental work with other species.鈥�
Saunders said his company was caught offguard by carbon dioxide levels in the ocean as high as 1,400 parts per million, causing pH levels to drop so low they are hazardous to scallops.
鈥淚 have never seen pHs like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 beyond anyone鈥檚 wildest speculation.鈥�
Brian Kingzett, manager of the Deep Bay Marine Field Station for Vancouver Island University, said while he hasn鈥檛 seen research to support a connection between a high mortality rate of mature scallops and ocean acidification, there is a demonstrated effect on the larvee process.
He pointed out it was curious Seastainable Aquaculture would put in an application for species that right now are only wild harvest.
Some residents and members of industry wonder if Gant, who is the president of the geoduck-focused Manatee Holdings Ltd., is trying to circumvent the freeze on applying for geoduck projects as the government works out its policy on harvesting native animals in setting up farming operations.
While Gant acknowledges that geoducks had been included on the previous application, he explained the area is not all that suited to farming the bivalve, which enjoy surges found in more open waters.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a particularly good area for geoducks. It鈥檚 too sheltered,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淲e still believe in a polyculture approach.鈥�
He see the current application in the context of the larger picture of Vancouver Island shellfish farming.
If the industry gets it right there is the potential for a Salish Sea aquaculture industry valued in the billions. 鈥淲e can create something that would be very beneficial to the ecology of the Baynes Sound and the economy of the Comox Valley,鈥� he said, noting the proposals from his Salish Seafarms Ltd. venture could generate $50-100 million annually in revenue.
