Target Marine Hatcheries is getting a $49,900 grant to design and create new equipment needed to handle the massive sturgeon it has grown on site for caviar production.
Originally the company expected the sturgeon to grow up to 30 kilos, but the fish are exceeding 100 kilos by the time they are ready to harvest for caviar.
"This is the first time anyone's ever grown the Fraser River strain of sturgeon, so we knew that there would be some differences - and wow, the differences are big in some cases," said hatchery manager Justin Henry.
The money comes from the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program (AIMAP), which was set up by the government of Canada to fund innovative technologies and management techniques in the Canadian aquaculture industry.
Target applied for the grant last winter, seeing their current method of moving the sturgeon in a stretcher was awkward and not as safe as it could be.
"We need new equipment to handle them safely and that's where funding from this project will help to implement safe and efficient handling methods to move the animals within the facility," Henry said.
He explained that once a year the hatchery sorts the production fish to identify which sturgeon are ready for caviar harvesting the following year.
"We take a biopsy of the ovary and make sure that the egg size and colour and so on are correct," he said. "Some are ready and some aren't, so we'll have to separate the fish, remove them from one tank and bring them to another tank."
Once the sturgeon are ready for harvesting, the fish are currently shipped to Vancouver for processing, as the hatchery is not zoned for fish processing on site.
Henry and his staff are now in the process of designing the new handling equipment needed to move the sturgeon around the facility.
"There are already technologies out there for moving heavy things, we just need to design something that uses that technology for our purpose," he noted.
Target Marine Hatcheries was one of three finfish and five shellfish aquaculture projects in B.C. that received a total of $975,900 in AIMAP funding this month.
Parliamentary secretary Randy Kamp, on behalf of Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced the grants on Aug. 3.
"Our government is committed to enhancing the global competitiveness, productivity and environmental performance of Canada's aquaculture industry," Kamp said. "We are pleased to help keep the B.C. economy strong by supporting these promising new commercial innovations. Canada has the potential to become a world leader in aquaculture with our extensive coastlines, an international reputation for safe, high quality fish and seafood products, a skilled workforce and strong management expertise."
The companies that received federal funding included Target, Sablefish Canada, West Coast Fish Culture, Island Sea Farms, Little Wing Oysters, Island Scallops and the Coastal Shellfish Corporation.
