AquaNet Initiates Groundbreaking Study on Flesh Quality in Farmed and Wild BC Salmon

St. John’s, February 11, 2003 - A multidisciplinary team of researchers has been awarded a grant from AquaNet – the Network of Centres of Excellence for Aquaculture in Canada – to contribute to a study on the flesh of farmed and wild salmon, according to the Interim Chair of AquaNet, David Rideout. Rideout, who also serves as Executive Director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, said the study, which is the first of its size and scope in Canada, will provide objective scientific information about the nutrient composition of, and possible chemical contaminants in, wild-caught and farm-raised salmon.

The team involves researchers from three of Canada’s pre-eminent research institutions: the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The researchers expect to complete the project in June 2004.

Rideout said the study “supports AquaNet’s overall objective of reducing uncertainty associated with the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector in Canada.” He added: “In addition to adding science-based information to our existing knowledge base about the safety of aquaculture products, the study will, we hope, address the safety and quality of Canadian salmon products, be they wild-caught or farmed.”

The project will take a total sample of 150 (chinook and coho) wild and 400 (Atlantic, chinook, and coho) farmed salmon from different locations, and initially analyze in detail 108 farmed and 48 wild salmon. A total of 96 diet samples will also be taken and 12 will be analyzed for contaminants and nutrient composition.

The research team includes Dr. Michael Ikonomou, Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University, and Head, Regional Contaminants Laboratory of DFO’s Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC, Dr. David Higgs, Adjunct Professor at The University of British Columbia and Head of the Fish Nutrition Program at DFO’s West Vancouver Laboratory, Dr. Scott McKinley, Professor and Director of the UBC Centre for Aquaculture and the Environment, Dr. Brent Skura, Associate Professor, Food Nutrition and Health at UBC, and Dr. Robert Devlin, Adjunct Professor at UBC and Research Scientist at DFO’s West Vancouver Laboratory. AquaNet and other government and industry sources and many other contributing scientific partners finance this project. Dr. Scott McKinley will act as the administrative coordinator for the project.

Seven applicants responded to an AquaNet call for proposals, issued in November 2002. A rigorous selection process was conducted, beginning with a review of the proposals by an independent scientific panel of three experts, followed by evaluation and ranking by AquaNet’s Research Management Committee using a comprehensive set of criteria. The committee’s recommendations on funding were approved by the Network’s Board of Directors.

The NCE Program is a federal initiative administered jointly through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in partnership with Industry Canada.