Kuterra LP, located in Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, is bringing the first-ever land-raised Atlantic salmon to market, to be sold through Safeway stores in British Columbia and Alberta.
The company is owned by the ‘Namgis First Nation. Its mission is to offer an alternative to conventionally farmed salmon that is more environmentally sustainable.
“The effects of conventional farming on the marine environment are very real to us,” said ‘Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer.
“This enterprise shows the way forward for the industry.”
The company said that land-raised salmon will keep wild salmon and the waters they live in separate from fish farming. Kuterra’s fish are raised in a closed aquaculture system on land, with controlled temperatures, oxygen and water flow. No antibiotics or pesticides are used.
The result, Kuterra said, is happy, “stress-free fish.”
“Happy fish eat well, grow quickly to full size, develop good muscle tone, don’t lose scales and have normal social behaviour,” the company said on its website.
The salmon is being marketed by Albion Fisheries.
