B. C. Kuterra salmon farm praised for its sustainability
And now for a completely different take on farmed salmon which has its share of critics: Go for it!
Kuterra, the first large- scale, ecologically sound, cutting edge salmon farm in North America, opened last month on Vancouver Island, a kilometre away from the ocean, near the little town of Port McNeill.
“Kuterra salmon has a milder flavour than other farmed salmon; it’s a little moister and has higher fat content. It’s been described as buttery,” says Guy Dean, of Albion Fisheries, which is distributing the salmon.
“It’s our goal to establish brand recognition as a new part of the industry. They’re not competing against opennet farmed salmon; it’s for people who are interested in a sustainable, healthy alternative. I haven’t heard of any chef who hasn’t liked it.”
Kuterra salmon costs less than wild sockeye and more than wild coho, says Albion Fisheries vice- president Guy Dean. The retail price will be about $ 3.97 per 100 g, or about 30 per cent higher than conventional farmed salmon.
Kuterra is owned and operated by the ‘ Namgis First Nation and uses cutting edge technology and methods to produce sustainable, eco- friendly farmed Atlantic salmon. They were assisted by Save Our Salmon Marine Conservation and Tides Canada ( a philanthropic financial and project management service).
The first of Kuterra salmon is available at Safeway in B. C. and chefs, especially in mid- and Eastern Canada, are contacting Albion Fisheries daily. West Coast chefs still prefer to serve wild salmon but highly sustainable seafood restaurants like Yew at Four Seasons were the first to jump on board with Kuterra.
“The 1,700 member ‘ Namgis First Nation is very connected to salmon,” says Jo Mrozewski of Kuterra. “They want to show industry there’s a better case for farming on land than in the ocean and they’re keen to show a business case for it. We’re the first such operation in North America,”
Kuterra is a mash- up of kutala, which means salmon in the ‘ Namgis language, and terra, or land. Kuterra is the first to produce Atlantic salmon in a closed system. ( Sturgeon and Arctic char are produced in similar landlocked, ecologically sound facilities in B. C.).
Mike McDermid, one of the founders of The Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and marine biologist, applauds Kuterra.
“Everything’s controlled and it’s not interacting with the environment at all. This is really a first, moving from open ocean net pens to a true, recirculating, closed containment system,” he says. “With open net farming, it’s no secret: there’s effluent. You can’t control the waste from fish. There can be disease, parasites, localized epidemic outbreaks, escapes. My personal feeling on aquaculture is, if we’re going to keep up our passionate demand for salmon, we have to figure out a way to do it truly sustainably.”