The Rural Voice, 1985-11, Page 28Switching to fish farming
Robert Chalmers has begun the slow task of building up an entirely new farm enterprise
— fish farming.
Meat and fish are both
good sources of protein.
But beef is usually produc-
ed on pasture or in feedlots, while
fish is caught in the wild state.
Fishing is the last of the primitive
means of gathering and hunting for
food. But this is changing. In British
Columbia there are already successful
salmon farms where salmon are fed a
balanced ration to produce fish pro-
ducts at a greatly accelerated pace.
Part of the reason for the increase
in fish farming is a change of demand
from red meats to poultry meats and
fish. The health food movement is
forcing beef farmers increasingly out
of business. Some forward-looking
producers who have recognized this
trend are determined not to be caught
producing something consumers
don't want. They are switching from
a beef feedlot to a fish farm.
One of these new entrepreneurs is
Robert Charters of Blyth. Five years
ago he bought 20 acres of land in a
hilly area near Teeswater, in Bruce
County, and began the slow task of
building up an entirely new, farm
enterprise.
The Bruce Energy Centre has long
been advocating the use of surplus
steam from the nuclear plant to bring
trout ponds to an ideal temperature
for year-round fish production.
"But," says Charters, "no individual
has the money to finance a steam
pipeline from the nuclear develop-
ment for a fish farm."
Charters sounds a bit bitter when
he surmises that there will probably
be large amounts of taxpayers'
money available for some big com-
pany to set up a multi-million dollar
fish farm in the area. He says that
small farmers like him have suffered
through the development stage on
their own and tax -supported com-
panies may profit from their ex-
perience.
Fish farming may be relatively new
in Ontario but on Canada's coasts it
is an established business. This is the
case mostly on the Pacific, where ap-
26 THF RI'RAI VOICE
by Adrian Vos
proximately 60 fish farms operate.
Most of these are corporations which
issue shares on the stock market, or
are expected to do so soon.
Companies have poured millions of
dollars into these ventures, something
our Ontario farmers can only dream
about. One Norwegian company
teamed up recently with Canada
Packers and the two companies put
up $25 million to establish fish farms
in B.C. and New Brunswick. These
fish farms, which raise, besides
salmon and trout, oysters and
mussels, get grants from the B.C.
government and as a result, according
to the Financial Post, next year there
are expected to be four times as many
as the present 10 salmon farms. The
figure is expected to double to 80
farms in 1987.
At present, B.C. produces 400 ton-
nes of salmon. If the projections are
correct, this volume will increase to
3,200 tonnes within two years.
There are now about 20 fish farms
in Ontario. They are organized in the
Ontario Trout Farmers Association
(OTFA) with a mailing address at the
University of Guelph.
Can Ontario farmers compete with
these wealthy companies which are
experimenting with raising rainbow
trout in salt water?
For a site to be suitable there are
three essentials. One, there must be
lots of clean water available. Two,
the land must be inexpensive. Three,
the farmer must do a great deal of
studying and be willing to do most of
the building himself.
Charters has investigated all the
conditions. The suitable property he
found near Teeswater in Bruce Coun-
ty, an area the local folks call "the
Alps." The land is rolling, not good
for cropping, and has a creek running
through it. He calls his new venture
"Alps Creek Trout Farm." The pro-
perty also boasted a run-down,
150 -year-old log house.
After studying fellow fish farmers
who had already gained experience in
this type of aquaculture, Charters
designed his tanks and the supporting
buildings. Most of the work he did
himself with the help of his wife,
Donelda, a school teacher, and his
two daughters, Beth, 20, and Lori,
19, both now university students.
He acquires fingerlings from a fish
hatchery in Otterville or Thamesford.
These are first placed in fibreglass
tanks within the building and later
transferred to large outside tanks. It
takes up to a year to bring them to the
desired weight of 10 ounces. A rule of
thumb is that every inch represents
one ounce. Some restaurants want
bigger fish and Charters is happy to
raise his trout to any desired weight.
He believes that the customer is king,
and just as he gives them fish if they
prefer it over his beef, so he gives
them the size they require.
Charters sells most of the Rainbow
and Speckled (Brook) trout to
restaurants in a wide area of Bruce
and Huron counties. Some sales are
to visitors to the farm. Others go to
stock ponds for anglers. The re-
mainder is marketed through a co-
operative with a cleaning plant at the
Ontario Correctional Institute at
Guelph.
Aquaculture has its problems with
diseases, like any livestock farm.
Many hog and chicken farmers don't
allow visitors on the premises, and
fish farmers follow the same rule.
One of the problems with visitors,
Charters says, is that they stick the
hands in the water of one tank and
then repeat this in another one.
Should there be a problem in the first
tank they could easily transfer it to
the next.
Because fish is a wild species, the
Ministry of Natural Resources
demands a licence for keeping them
in captivity and for transportation.
Another licence is required from the
Ministry of the Environment for
diverting and using water to or from a
creek or river.
Charters gets his water from an
artesian well 425 feet deep. The water
gushes out at a high rate and is rich in