Media

Cuisine Kingdom (Ryori Okoku)

January 2008 issue

Eco-friendly Canadian Marine Industry - Together with Nature

Verdant forests and crystal-clear lakes where wild animals dwell and a sweeping ocean vista. Magnificent is the image we have of Canada, which occupies the second largest land mass in the world. In recent years, such concepts as “nature” and the “natural environment” have begun to have significant value and the food industry of Canada has not surprisingly responded to global expectations. However, there are key issues which have been of large concern in these years, such as “safety,” “stable supply” and “securing sustainable resources.” In order to match these essential themes for the future, various successful research has been done in Canada. Here, we focus on marine products that have a special relationship with Japan.

We visited the province of British Columbia (or “BC”) on the west coast of Canada, whose largest city is Vancouver. Taking advantage of its location facing the Pacific Ocean, fisherman farm king salmon and sablefish just like cows and sheep on a ranch. Aqua-farming is controlled not to destroy the environment on both a provincial as well as national basis by applying scientific knowledge to achieve a seafood industry that can coexist with nature. We’ll introduce the attractive marine products and seafood of Canada by visiting the people who are at the forefront of the technology.

Sablefish
Family-run aqua-farming business

“As the consumption of fish increases, there is always a danger of depleting marine resources. It is necessary to establish a system to provide good-quality fish stably and I am proud of working in such a job,” says Gus Angus of Totem Sea Farm, which aqua-farms sablefish. His home is a lodge-like house built on the coast. The house has a boat slip, from which he goes to check the sablefish by boat directly from his home. It’s a one minute ride to the farming site, where he feeds the fish and checks on health and other conditions.

Angus was formerly the director of an aquarium. With five children in the family, he realized would not ever have enough time to play with them as he was so busy at that time. It was then that he encountered the present site and job. Realizing the future potential of aqua-farming and, more importantly, being able to spend more time with his family, he made up his mind to move here. Thirty years have passed since then. Although it took some time to get the business off the ground as there were various troubles such as the total loss of young fish or too much fat on the fish, the operation became stable and he now harvests almost two tons a week under optimal conditions.

He does not use growth stimulants or antibiotics but instead sees the establishment of a healthy environment as most important. It is the feed that most affects the quality of the fish. As the fish are raised from youth, he adjusts the fat and protein content of the feed according to the growth of the fish. Fish with the proper proportion of fat to meat is the result. His fish have a good aftertaste even when eaten raw. This delicacy is the result of his efforts.

Committed to environmental excellence in marine farming, Totem strives to produce wholesome seafood products adhering to organic operating principals. In this vain only indigenous species are produced using organic feeds, reared at low densities while practicing humane animal husbandry techniques.