the history of aquaculture research and training in st...

The History of Aquaculture Researchand Training in St. Andrews, New Brunswick 110-1(2012)

Bulletin de l’Association aquacole du Canada

110-1

Vous pouvez recevoir le Bulletin en vous y abonnant pour la somme de 60$ par année ou en devenant membre de l’Association aquacole du Canada (AAC), organisme à but non lucratif. Pour de plus amples renseignements, communiquez avec l’Association aquacole du Canada, 16 Lobster Lane, St-Andrews (Nouveau-Brunswick), Canada E5B 3T6 [tél.: 506 529-4766; téléc.: 506 529-4609; courriél.: [email protected]; site Internet: http://www. aquacultureassociation.ca]. La cotisation s’élève à 100$ par personne (50$ pour les étudiants et les retraités) et 300$ pour les sociétés. Le quart de cette cotisation sert à couvrir le prix de l’abonnement au Bulletin. Le Bulletin est répertorié dans l’Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), le FISHLIT, le CAB Abstracts et le Zoological Record. Envoi de publication – Enregistrement n° 40065445. Tout changement d’adresse doit être notifié à l’AAC. En cas de non-livraison, prière de retourner à l’AAC. Port de retour payé.

ISSN 0840-5417

Imprimé par Taylor Printing Group Inc., Fredericton, N-B

Dirigeants Céline Audet, Président

Shelley King, Président désigné Joy Wade, Vice présidente Caroline

Graham, Secrétaire Kathy Brewer-Dalton, Trésorier

Membres du conseil d’administration

Tim Jackson, David Stirling, Gregor Reid, Grant Vandenberg, Matthew Liutkus

Rédaction du Bulletin Gregor K. Reid ([email protected])

Bulletin of the Aquaculture Association of Canada

110-1

The Bulletin is available through subscription ($60 per year) or as a benefit of membership in the Aquaculture Association of Canada, a nonprofit charitable organization. For membership information contact: Aquaculture Association of Canada, 16 Lobster Lane, St. Andrews, N.B., Canada E5B 3T6 [telephone 506 529-4766; fax 506 529-4609; e-mail [email protected]; website http://www.aquacultureassociation. ca]. An- nual dues are $100 for individuals ($50 for students and seniors) and $300 for companies; 25 percent of dues is designated for Bulletin subscription. The Bulletin is indexed in Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), CAB International, FISHLIT, and the Zoological Record. Mailed under Canada Post Publications Mail Commercial Sales Agreement No. 40065445. Change of address notices and undelivered copies should be mailed to AAC. Return postage guaranteed.

ISSN 0840-5417 Printed by Taylor Printing Group Inc., Fredericton, NB

Officers Céline Audet, President

Shelly King, President Elect Joy Wade, Vice-President Caroline

Graham, Secretary Kathy Brewer-Dalton Treasurer

Directors Tim Jackson, David Stirling, Gregor Reid, Grant Vandenberg, Matthew Liutkus

Editor Gregor K. Reid ([email protected])

bULL. OF THE AQUACUL. ASSOC. OF CANADA 110-1 (2012) 1


June BulletinFinal_Bulletin 15/06/2012 1:35 PM Page 1

Contents The History of Aquaculture Research and Training in

St. Andrews, New Brunswick: Gregor K. Reid, editor

Introduction

Introduction from the President ............................................................................ 2 History of Aquaculture Training at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre

A.F. Garber, B. Glebe, and W.D. Robertson ......................................................... 3 Canada’s First Aquaculture Training Program

C. Graham .......................................................................................................... 10 A Brief History of Aquaculture Research and Development at the St. Andrews Biological Station

G.K. Reid ............................................................................................................. 13

The Atlantic Salmon Federation and their Work with Aquaculture in the St. Andrews Area

G.K. Reid and T.J. Benfey .................................................................................. 19


2 BulL. of the Aquacul. ASSOC. OF cANADA 110-1 (2012)

It is my great pleasure to introduce this latest issue of the Aquaculture Association of Canada’s Bulletin; The Historyof Aquaculture Research and Training in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

The articles presented provide a deep overview of the challenges and successes of aquaculture’s pioneers and participants.Since the first research was conducted by Professor A.P. Knight of Queen’s University, who was instrumental in the for-mation of the Biological Board of Canada and the establishment of a laboratory in St. Andrews, the small tourist town hasbecome home to the recently renovated Huntsman Marine Science Centre, Canada’s first Aquaculture Technician Programat the New Brunswick Community College Campus in St. Andrews and the St. Andrews Biological Station (SABS), a sci-ence research facility of DFO. As well, the Atlantic Salmon Federation has been located in the area since its inception in1982.

St. Andrews is also near to the heart of the AAC as our home office has been located in St. Andrews since our formation in1984.

A sincere thank you goes out to all our contributors for helping us highlight the essential role this beautiful and strategi-cally located town has had as the centre of aquaculture development in New Brunswick. In particular, my thanks toAmber Garber of Huntsman Marine Science Centre, AAC Director Caroline Graham of the New Brunswick CommunityCollege, and AAC Director Gregor Reid of the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network who not onlyprovided articles, but edited this edition of the Bulletin.

Enjoy this issue and I hope you will be moved to visit the St. Andrews area to see some of these world-class facilities foryourself.

Sincerely,

Tim Jackson

AAC President

Tim Jackson

Introduction from the President



The Huntsman Marine Science Centre (Huntsman) is aregistered, private, not-for-profit, research and sci-ence-based teaching institution located near the mouth

of the Bay of Fundy in St Andrews, New Brunswick. TheHuntsman was established in 1969 by a consortium of uni-versities, government departments and private sector interestswith the specific aim of facilitating collaboration betweenuniversity, government research scientists and the industrialsector. Its research infrastructure is available to all Canadianscientists, as well as researchers outside of Canada. The prop-erty and facilities of Huntsman consist of an Upper Campushousing mostly residences and a commercial kitchen for upto 100 students, as well as a Lower Campus housing teachinglaboratories, the Fundy Discovery Aquarium, and fresh andsaltwater recirculating aquaculture systems in various con-figurations over seven buildings (Figure 1).

There are several Departments within the Huntsman includ-ing an Education Department which reaches 2,000 elemen-tary school age to university graduate level students perannum, the Fundy Discovery Aquarium which provides out-reach to the general public and receives 30,000 people per annum, the Atlantic Reference Centre (ARC) – a researchmuseum that houses one of the most complete collections ofreference specimens of the North Atlantic Ocean ecosystem(a joint venture with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, DFO),and the International Aquaculture Innovation Centre (Aqua-culture Department). Huntsman has two service vesselswhich are used for education and research (Figure 2), labo-ratory and tank space for University researchers, facilities formeetings, and can cater a variety of events (e.g. scientificmeetings to wedding receptions – mostly events occurring atHuntsman). The Huntsman is also home to the Lobster Acad-emy, a unique educational experience that connects the


Figure 1: Huntsman Marine Science Centre’s Lower Campus.

History of Aquaculture and Training at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre

A. F. Garber, B. Glebe, and W. D. Robertson

Amber Garber


commercial production of Homarus americanus (Americanlobster) with buyers and the surrounding communities. It issponsored by East Coast Seafood/Paturel and is dedicated toincreasing the value ofthe lobster fishery world-wide.

The Huntsman’s Aqua-culture Department man-date is to find solutions tochallenges for the sus-tainable development of the aquaculture sector.The local area’s economyis directly linked to theopportunities provided tothose generating wealth from ocean resources. As traditionalfisheries have declined, development efforts have focusedon finding meaningful alternate economic drivers.

Aquaculture research and training of students (techniciansto graduate students) at Huntsman and/or with Huntsmanstaff began in 1974. At that time, the North AmericanSalmon Research Centre (NASRC) was built by the Inter-national Atlantic Salmon Foundation (presently ASF) fromprivate funding and was staffed and managed by the Hunts-man with operating funds provided by the Department ofFisheries and Environment, Fisheries and Marine Service(presently DFO). Initially, the focus was on applied geneticsand selective breeding for the enhancement of wild salmonstocks. The NASRC released Atlantic salmon smolts intonearby Chamcook Harbour, New Brunswick in May 1976and a small portion of the population returned to the releasesite in July 1977 as grilse. The primary value of the returningadults was the data on survival and growth of the strains thatwere reared and released as smolts from NASRC.

Atlantic salmon from various rivers (strains) in NewBrunswick were crossed to create pure (within river) and hy-brid (between river) Atlantic salmon progeny. Return rate washighest with pure progeny to their parents’ river of origin.This suggested a river-specific nature of genetics where someof the genetic instructions for migration in the high seas wereriver specific. The goal of the Salmon Genetics Research Pro-gram (SGRP) was to evaluate genetic selection as a tool forincreasing the adult return rate in sea ranching efforts whereAtlantic salmon were released, allowed to grow using naturalfood sources with a desire that a portion of the salmon pro-duced would return to their point of release for harvest. SGRPdirectors from 1974 to 1982 were Drs John Calaprice,Richard Saunders and Brian Glebe.

In 1983, the focus of the SGRP was shifted from sea ranchingto the salmon aquaculture industry in the Bay of Fundy. Thetheory that a healthy, growing aquaculture industry would re-

lieve commercial fishing pressure on wildsalmon stocks in Canada was proven tobe true. Six New Brunswick strains weregrown in sea cages and assessed for per-formance in what became the AtlanticSalmon Broodstock Development Pro-gram (ASBDP; see below). As a result ofthose trials, the Saint John River salmonstock became the preferred strain for localfarming. The Saint John River stock isstill being using in aquaculture today. Di-

rectors of this pro-gram were atvarious timesBrian Glebe, JohnBailey , Gerry Fri-ars and SeumasWalker.

In January 1978, theNew BrunswickCommunity Collegesystem and CanadaManpower cooper-ated with Hunts-

man to establish an Aquaculture Technician TrainingProgram. This program was the first of its type in Canada(detailed elsewhere in this Bulletin). Dr. Chris Frantsi wasthe first course supervisor. The course was offered at theNASRC and with laboratory work at the Huntsman. It was a48 week course, consisting of 24 weeks of lectures and lab-oratories and 24 weeks of on-the-job training at four of sixaquaculture facilities in the Maritimes. In 1982, the Aquacul-ture Technician Training Program included increased use ofHuntsman residence and laboratory facilities. For the 1983course, there was a new classroom and an experimentalhatchery on-site at Huntsman with some students housed inthe Graduate Student Residence.

It was in 1984 Huntsman’s management of the SGRP at theNASRC was concluded. However, this did not concludeHuntsman’s involvement in salmonid research or associationwith the SGRP. Dr. Brian Glebe moved his research programof evaluating the aquaculture potential of various salmonidspecies from the NASRC to Huntsman where he became thefirst director of the Aquaculture Department. In addition, Arc-tic charr also became an aquaculture species of interest. Top-ics of research included: physiology of seawater adaptationof Arctic charr, control of reproduction in salmonids by en-

Figure 2 top and bottom: The Fundy Spray andOsprey are two of Huntsman Marine ScienceCentre’s service vessels used for education andresearch purposes.




vironmental and hormonal manipulation, application of chro-mosome engineering techniques to produce new hybrids, anduse of sex steroids for feminization, masculinisation and ster-ilization of Atlantic salmon for aquaculture. These were allcollaborative efforts with universities, DFO, and ASF.

In 1986, Dr. Brian Glebe (Figure 3) became the course in-structor for the Aquaculture Technician Training Program.These students from the program aided in the setup of a salt-water cage site in Brandy Cove (just offshore from Hunts-man’s Lower Campus). In addition to rearing fish, thesaltwater cage site in Brandy Cove served as an evaluationof saltwater cage types and later evaluation of salmon diets(nutrition studies). In 1987, blue mussels were also added tothe course instruction with several lines of mussels added tothe Brandy Cove site. It was in 1986, that Dr. Glebe and BillGroom of the provincial Department of Fisheries organizedthe first instructional workshops for the fledgling NewBrunswick salmon farmers. Over a period of several months,international speakers from as far as Norway provided infor-mation on the latest salmon farming technologies.

Two additional aquaculture training courses were offered atHuntsman and one university credit course in 1988. A 36week course to train members of First Nations in effectivehatchery management was offered. The course ran with thecooperation of the Department of Indian Affairs for studentsto apply their training to managing a hatchery that was underconstruction on the Tobique River, New Brunswick (MaliseetNative Aquaculture Training Program). A second course,‘Aquaculture Worker’, co-sponsored by CEIC (Canada Em-ployment Insurance Commission) was offered to instruct stu-dents on the basic principles of fish culture stressing basichatchery and cage husbandry over a 12 week period. Thegrowth of the aquaculture division at Huntsman kept pacewith the growth of the aquaculture industry in eastern Canadagrowing from one staff and twelve students to seven full andpart-time staff and 36 students.

In 1988, the Aquaculture Technician Training Program wasinstructed by Julie Delabbio (who had just received her M.Sc.working at Huntsman and the University of New Brunswick)and the program was delivered under the direction of the NewBrunswick Community College. The Huntsman continued toprovide instructional staff and some training facilities, but thecourse moved to the NBCC campus in St. Andrews. Over theyears, the Aquaculture Technician Training Program hasevolved to fit industry needs and now includes twopracticums, each lasting two weeks. Huntsman continues tosupport the course by accepting students to train and workon existing research projects. The work varies depending onthe season and the projects at the Huntsman, from flow

through and recirculating aquaculture system maintenance,to spawning, juvenile production and maintenance or sam-pling (recording data on traits important for broodstock se-lection).

Also in 1988, the National Research Council Industrial Re-search Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) signed a contribu-tion agreement to support ‘Fundy Contact’, a regionalaquaculture newsletter providing technical information, ad-vice to the aquaculture industry and a communication linkbetween government, researchers and aquaculturists. Thenewsletter, written by Julie Delabbio, served over 800 sub-scribers. In addition to the newsletter, local aquaculture com-panies were provided with technical advice on topics rangingfrom spawning of Atlantic salmon to Arctic charr culture.Huntsman was one of 70 technological institutions with NRCwhich formed the IRAP network. Huntsman provided tech-nological advice to industry from 1988-2006 through theIRAP network.

Figure 3. Dr. Brian Glebe, the first Director of the Aquaculture De-partment, holds a first generation farmed Arctic charr. The AACpublished the proceedings of two Huntsman Marine Science Cen-tre charr workshops in Bulletins in 1993.




As a business/technology innovation centre, Huntsman sawthe development of the Ocean Harvester, a hexagonal off-shore sea cage prototype that was evaluated by the Aquacul-ture Department at the Brandy Cove experimental marine site(Figure 4). Two Kiel Cages (spherical, rotating cages) werealso tested for effectiveness for grow out of Atlantic salmon.Four Hercules steel cages were erected for variousstudies. Research included evaluation of growth usingtwo diets, conducted by Moore-Clark Co. (Canada),one of Canada’s leading aquaculture feed companies.

In 1990, theAtlantic Refer-ence Centrealso began con-ducting aqua-c u l t u r eresearch by ex-amining effectsof fish farmingon benthiccommun i t i e s . The study in-cluded: 1) es-tablishment ofa baseline forbenthic com-munities in anarea prior toe m p l a c e m e n tof floatingcages; 2) deter-mination ofchange in ben-thic communitystructures of

three farms already in operation; 3) determination of recolo-nization pattern by benthos; 4) bivalve comparative growthstudies; 5) site-habitat characterization by particle size analy-sis; and 6) determination of microfaunal biomass by phos-pholipid content of the sediment.

In 1991, the number of cultured species being studied atHuntsman increased to include: brook trout, tiger trout,striped bass, and Atlantic cod. Research continued on Arcticcharr and Atlantic salmon. Research projects involved studiesin charr chromosome engineering and sex manipulation,salmon nutrition, marine hydrocarbon pollution, culture tech-niques, and engineering. The year 1992 saw another increasein the number of aquaculture species being researched addingpollock, winter flounder, and scallops. With 1993/1994 camea new Huntsman Aquaculture Departmental priority to con-tribute to the development of alternate marine species for cul-ture. Two significant workshops, Arctic Charr Culture inIntensive Rearing Systems and the first national CanadianArctic Charr Conference, were organized by Brian Glebe andJulie Delabbio of Huntsman and published in separate issuesof the AAC Bulletin in 1993 (Figure 3). Additionally, a newspecies was added for evaluation – Yellowtail flounder – inpartnership with Fisheries Products International Ltd. In1999/2000, winter and yellowtail flounder were produced.Windowpane flounder was successfully spawned and laterwitch flounder (grey sole) was also produced.

H u n t s m a nalso partici-pated int r a n s g e n i csalmon re-search withDr. GarthFletcher atM e m o r i a lUniversity ofNewfound-land and thei n d u s t r i a lpartner A/FProtein Inc.The trans-gene im-planted in thesalmon pro-duced im-p r e s s i v egrowth re-sults, produc-ing a 3 Kg

Figure 4. Huntsman Marine Science Centre’s Brandy Cove ma-rine research site showing an array of different cage systems. Thisis the location of the first North American seawater cage introduc-tion of Arctic charr (by Huntsman in 1986).

Figure 5. Picture of a chalimus IV sea louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) produced by the sea lice libraryat Huntsman Marine Science Centre.




fish in 24 months from hatch. Huntsman production of trans-genic salmon and maintenance of a number of broodlinescontinued to 2004. During this period, a dedicated aquacul-ture facility opened in PEI, Aqua Bounty Canada, and even-tually all genetics were transferred to this facility. Huntsman (specifically Dr. Amber Garber) began workingwith Aqua Bounty and their broodstock program again in2009.

In addition to working toward the development of new ma-rine species for aquaculture, Huntsman also endeavoured toconduct contract research in support of companies interestedin diversification. Research in production of American plaicewith growth and feed evaluations of flounders conducted forCorey Feeds Mills Ltd. ensued in 1995. Additionally, Atlanticsturgeon was evaluated for Jail Island Salmon - spawning andoverwintering capabilities of this species in Bay of Fundysites. Two scientists from St. Petersburg State University inRussia arrived the following year to study osmoregulatoryfunctions of Atlantic and short-nose sturgeons, and aided withthe spawning of sturgeons. In February 1997, Huntsmanbegan evaluating the commercial potential of haddock forConnors Bros. Ltd. One of the results of species productionwas the development of husbandry protocols that were eithersubmitted to the companies that funded the research, pub-lished in graduate student theses and/or in journals for otherscientists to access.

In 1988 and 1989, sea lice research began at Huntsman. W.E.(Bill) Hogans and D.J. Trudeau studied the biology of threespecies of sea lice – Caligus curtus, Cali-gus elongatus, and Lepeophtheirussalmonis (Figure 5) from Atlantic salmoncultured in marine waters of the lowerBay of Fundy. In 1991, sea lice researchincluded: an Natural Sciences and Engi-neering Research Council InternationalPostdoctoral Fellow, Dr. W. Piasecki in-vestigating the life cycle of sea lice (Cali-gus elongatus); Ahmed Mustafa, a PhDstudent, studied the importance of hostfactors such as dietary modulation, stressand immunization on sea lice infectionsin Atlantic salmon and Arctic charr; andBernard Wright, a PhD student, studyingthe ecology of the infective larval stages.By 1992, additional research ensued.This included an honours thesis by Mr.Jason Cleghorn on the immune responseof charr and salmon to an injected crudesea lice vaccine. Dr. Barbara MacKinnonmonitored sea lice infection levels at var-ious farms in Passamaquoddy Bay area

by studying the reproductive biology of these parasites andassessed various non-drug methods to control C. elongatus.Sea lice research continued at Huntsman with the testing ofpotential compounds to be used to control sea lice.

In 1998, Supreme Sturgeon and Caviar Ltd., a NewBrunswick company, negotiated a contract with Huntsman tosupply shortnose sturgeon. Success with both shortnose stur-geon production and halibut production resulted in additionalQuonset buildings.

For the sturgeon, recirculation systems were installed andsuccessfully tested with less than 10% makeup water withdensities as high as 100 kg/m3. By 2002, Supreme Sturgeonhad their own staff on site and following the sturgeon weresuccessfully moved to their own commercial facility.

During the same year there was a resurgence of Atlanticsalmon business for Huntsman when the New BrunswickSalmon Growers Association asked Huntsman to submit aproposal to deliver the Atlantic Salmon Broodstock Devel-opment Program (ASBDP) on their behalf. This project ini-tiated a lease between Huntsman and ASF for the freshwatertank field in Chamcook. Improvements were made to theASF research hatchery in Chamcook. In addition to externalfunding, seven Atlantic salmon growers agreed to purchasesmolts, hold pedigreed broodstock and contribute annuallyto research funding for five years. In the new broodstock pro-gram, Dr. Brian Glebe was once again program director. Theprogram itself was completely transferred to industry by2007.

Figure 6. Hatchery used for the production of Atlantic cod at Huntsman Marine ScienceCentre during the Atlantic Cod Genomics and Broodstock Development Project.




In 2003, Shurgain Maple Leaf AgResearch began conductingtrials on new salmon diets using 24 replicate seawater tanksat Huntsman. Shurgain was ultimately purchased by North-east Nutrition and continues to focus on the improvement offeeds for Cooke Aquaculture Inc. This research involves theinvestigation of new ingredients and the revision of feed for-mulation. An important directive of these studies is the con-sideration of quality, sustainability, and cost of the final fishproducts. Future requirements and restrictions in aquafeedingredients are anticipated as a means to provide the mostflexibility and cost effectiveness for future production rations. In 2004, Dr. Jane Symonds held a cod research and develop-

ment workshop at the conference centre, St. Andrews Bio-logical Station (DFO). Interested industry, government,investors and researchers were in attendance and it becameclear that there was significant potential for development ofcod aquaculture in Atlantic Canada and Maine/New Hamp-shire. The result of the workshop was the creation of the CodBroodstock Development Focus Group chaired by Dr.Symonds. She later became one of two project leads of theAtlantic Cod Genomics and Broodstock Development project(CGP) which started in 2006. This project included twobreeding programs – one in NL (Ocean Sciences Centre) andone in NB/NH housed initially at the DFO with Huntsmanstaff and then moved onto the Huntsman campus (Figure 6).This project ran until 2010. In 2012, the remaining elite malecod broodstock from this project in NB were cryopreservedby Canada Cryogenetics Services Inc. using their technologyand commercial scale SquarePacksTM. The milt is beingstored in a designated biosecure area at Huntsman with plans

to become the east coast laboratory for Canada CryogeneticsServices Inc.

Baltic Sea sturgeon became extinct in the 19th century. Re-search confirmed that it was genetically similar to Atlanticsturgeon in North America. A small fishery still exists in theSaint John River. At the request of the Society to Save theSturgeon in Germany and later the Polish Fisheries Institute,adult fish were captured, held at Huntsman, then spawnedwith various life stages transported to Germany as a meansto establish a breeding program for reintroduction of sturgeoninto the Baltic Sea. The first transfer of broodstock occurred

in 2005.

In 2008, Huntsman began work with the rainbowtrout industry in Canada. The Huntsman devel-oped a framework for a broodstock program anda workshop was held with industry. Huntsmancontinues research with the rainbow trout indus-try toward the development of a rainbow troutbreeding program and has been working with aproducer in Ontario (Lyndon Fish HatcheriesInc.).

In 2009, Huntsman began working with industryon several projects to treat sea lice infestationsof Atlantic salmon in the Bay of Fundy. Projectsinclude testing of sea lice susceptibility to naturalcompounds and tank trial testing of the ECO-Bath (ecofriendly, safe and cost-effective ec-toparasite control in finfish aquaculture). Atpresent, the Huntsman has started a sea licehatchery and is producing sea lice for in houseprojects, as well as, selling lice of various stagesin hopes of making the library self sustaining.

In 2010, Huntsman began leading an Atlantic Salmon Selec-tion and Broodstock Development Program an individual andfamily based selective breeding program (Figure 7) withthree industry partners – Northern Harvest Sea Farms Ltd.,Admiral Fish Farms Ltd., and Gray Aqua Farms Ltd. Themain traits to be studied in this project are growth, fillet qual-ity and yield, bacterial kidney disease (BKD) resistance andsea lice resistance. This program is being led by Dr. AmberGarber who started working at Huntsman in 2006 with theCGP. Additional partners in this project are the AtlanticCanada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) – Atlantic InnovationFund (AIF), New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF),Research and Productivity Council, DFO, and the Universityof Guelph. Also, in 2010, Cooke Aquaculture Inc./Kelly CoveSalmon began work at Huntsman on green solutions for theremoval of sea lice by researching the use of a locally avail-

Figure 7. Huntsman staff measure individual Atlantic salmon progeny, record dataand PIT tag. Progeny from known families are evaluated in one of two breeding nu-clei, BKD challenges or sea lice challenges at Huntsman Marine Science Centre.




able cleaner fish called cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus(Walbaum) 1792.

While the focus of this article is to discuss how Huntsmanhas specifically contributed to the training of individuals di-rectly in aquaculture through coursework and projects, it doesnot detail the myriad of graduated students who have com-pleted parts or all of their undergraduate and graduate re-search at Huntsman either independently or as part of a largerproject or program running at Huntsman. Graduate projectsof marine organisms have included both invertebrate and ver-tebrate studies. These projects focused on experimental phys-iology, parasitology, behaviour of wild and hatchery rearedAtlantic salmon, feeding studies of larval fishes, life history,distribution, zooplankton population studies, reproduction,effects of salinity, nutrition, bioenergetics, environmental andgenetic sources of variation, and biofouling. Additionally, stu-dents have completed work in fields other than biology, suchas chemistry - including projects such as chemical treatmentof base metal mine waters, organic particles in KennebecasisBay, and true metals in estuarine and coastal Canadian At-lantic Regions; and environmental physiology and biochem-istry – effects of toxicants, amino acid transport kinetics,control of metabolite flux through fish hepatocytes, and roleof insulin in fishes (including hagfish).

Several funding agencies are mentioned directly with specificprograms. However, funding has been received from theseand other funding agencies, as well as industrial partners.Most notably, funds have been received from the AtlanticCanada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the ACOA At-lantic Innovation Fund (AIF) as well as the New BrunswickInnovation Foundation (NBIF) for improvements that havebeen made to Huntsman’s research and training infrastructure

over the years including new aquaculture facilities, saltwaterupgrades, and research into the culture of alternative species.

The mission of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre is in-spiring stewardship through: the engagement of the Commu-nity in the discovery of the Oceans; the design and deliveryof inspirational educational experiences; and the advance-ment of marine sciences through collaborative research andthe development of innovative technical solutions for ourpublic and private sector partners. As we have in the past andcontinue in the future, the Aquaculture Department at Hunts-man is interested in making progress in collaborative researchareas such as broodstock development, but we are also com-mitted to growth of new collaborative efforts that support theneeds of our partners. We work to move forward today bybuilding on past knowledge that will drive research advance-ments in the future. We invite you to tour our facility, stayawhile and become part of our team.

Authors:

Amber Garber is with the International Aquaculture Inno-vation Centre ([email protected]), working outof the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, St. Andrews, NewBrunswick. Brian Glebe is the Salmonid Aquaculture Re-search Scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. An-drews Biological Station, New Brunswick. W.D. (Bill)Robertson is the Executive Director of the Huntsman Ma-rine Science Centre. Details regarding past projects werepartially compiled by the authors from newsletters and an-nual reports. Pictures were taken by Jim Cornall (Figures1, 2, 6, 7), Brian Glebe (Figure 4), Greig Canna (Figure 3)and the Aquaculture Department (Figure 5).




The Aquaculture Technician programa has been offeredat the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC)in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, each year since

1978. It has the distinction of being the first aquaculturetraining program in Canada. The program was initiated as ajoint venture of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF)b , theHuntsman Marine Science Centre (HMSC)c and the NewBrunswick Community College (NBCC) with funding pro-vided by Canada Manpower. The program was initiallytaught at the facilities of both the ASF and HMSC and in1990 moved to the St. Andrews campus of the NBCC wherethe program currently resides. Throughout the years, approx-imately 515 students have completed the full program whileadditional students have taken individual courses to upgradetheir skills.

An aquaculture technician is defined as someone who usu-ally works directly with the culture of aquatic plants or ani-mals. The duties of the technician can vary from basicrearing of the organism and maintenance of the culture fa-cilities, to aspects like water quality analysis, disease diag-nosis and treatment. Aquaculture technicians are involvedin almost all aspects of the raising, harvesting, and process-ing of aquaculture species.

a The program was initially known as the Aquaculture Technician Training pro-gram (ATTP), but is currently referred to as the Aquaculture Technician program.b At the time of initiation, ASF was known as the International Atlantic SalmonFederation (IASF).c At the time of initiation, HMSC was known as the Huntsman Marine Labora-tory (HML).

Since its first offering in1978, the program hasevolved in a number ofways to result in itspresent form. The pro-gram began as a 48week program with 25weeks of industry prac-tical training designedto provide students withskills and knowledgenecessary for employ-ment in the aquacultureindustry. The programnow spans 40 weeksand includes 6 weeks ofpractical training tai-lored to each student’sparticular interests inthe aquaculture indus-try. Over the years, ad-ditional programminghas been offered, suchas Aquaculture Workerand Aquaculture forOther Species.

Award winning students from 2011 Class, pictured with instructorand industry representatives

Program Courses

Introduction to•AquacultureBiology of Fish•Handling Fish•Water Treatment for•AquacultureHatchery Culture•Sea Cage Culture•Fish Health•Alternate Species•Aquaculture Equipment•Feeding and Nutrition•Aquaculture Research•ProjectReading and Writing •Applications in theWorkplaceInteraction in the •WorkplaceWorkplace Safety •Practices (includingMarine Basic First Aidand WHMIS)Marine Emergency •Duties (A3)

Past and Present Aquaculture TechnicianProgram Instructors:

Dr. Chris FrantsiDr. Brian GlebeJulie DelabbioRod HooperJim WatkinsRod Carney

Nelson AlwardCaroline Graham

Canada’s First Aquaculture Training ProgramC. Graham

Caroline Graham




p

The course has always been closely aligned to New Brunswick’s salmon industry so special attention isplaced upon techniques required in the operation of salmonhatcheries and marine farms. Throughout the years, NBCChas welcomed recommendations on the program curriculumfrom industrial partners through working groups and one-on-one meetings. For example, the Sea Cage Culture course hasshifted to include a greater focus on environmental manage-ment, and now includes a clean-up of local beaches.

Regardless of the changes to the curriculum, the training hasconsistently been provided through a combination of class-room lecture, laboratory sessions, and on the job practicaltraining. Facilities at NBCC include fully equipped class-rooms, laboratory, and a fully functional freshwater teachinghatchery utilizing recirculation technology.

As one example of innovative training, NBCC has recentlycompleted a simulation game called “Sim Fish Farmer”,which is a realistic computer graphics program that requires

students to applytheir knowledgefrom egg to har-vest in a salmonfarm setting. Thesimulation is verychallenging, andrequires that theuser apply criticalthinking and theirnewly acquiredaquaculture skills to bring their Atlantic salmon to market.

The New Brunswick aquaculture industry has always sup-ported the program in a variety of ways, including hostingstudents during practical training, opening doors to showtheir operations to students, being guest speakers, providing input on curriculum. Industry has also been very supportivein providing awards to students at graduation. The most im-portant role industry plays is in hiring graduates.

Students of the NBCC program are also eligible for theAquaFair Award, which was established during the 2000 At-lantic Aquaculture Exposition, Conference, and Fair. Theaward was established in honor of Dr. Chris Frantsi who wasthe original instructor of the program at NBCC from 1978-84 and who was also named Aquaculturist of the Millenniumat the 2000 Aquaculture Fair. The $1000 award is given eachyear to the student(s) who best demonstrates academicachievement, commitment to the aquaculture industry, andfinancial need.

Today, the Aquaculture Technician Program continues to ap-peal to those interested in a production based career in aqua-culture, freshwater and marine sciences, or research. Students learn the structural and operational principles of aquaculture that guide this global industry. Graduates applyoperating principles to a variety of species, locations, and

2011/12 NBCC Aquaculture Technician program on a field trip to aCooke Aquaculture marine site (Photo credit – Chuck Brown)

Students with instructor in NBCC Training Hatchery (1990)

Screen shot showing a tray of eggs that the student must pickas part of their experience in Sim Fish Farmer

Aquaculture student taking part in the annualbeach clean up






techniques. NBCC Aquaculture graduates are working lo-cally, in the NB industry, as well as in other parts of AtlanticCanada. Furthermore, the opportunity exists for graduates towork in other parts of Canada, or in other parts of the world.Over the years, NBCC has welcomed international studentsto its campuses, including those interested in aquaculturetraining.

Graduates who wish to further their career in aquaculture willhave acquired the essential skills necessary to continue in aprogram of higher learning. Should NBCC graduates wishto pursue their studies further, they have the potential to applytheir certificate towards a Bachelor of Science degree at Uni-versity of New Brunswick, Saint John.

As the Aquaculture Technician program reaches the mile-stone of the 35th graduating class, current instructors RodCarney and Caroline Graham look forward to the continua-tion of this unique program. They acknowledge that one ofthe challenges facing enrollment is the general lack of aware-ness about aquaculture, particularly away from areas wherethe industry is located. High school students inland knowvery little about this industry, and are often surprised at theopportunities for careers in this field. Instructors and NBCCstudents frequently visit with high school students to teachthem about aquaculture, and always welcome tours of the St.Andrews facility.

Author

Caroline Graham is an instructor in NBCC’s AquacultureTechnician program. Email: [email protected]

References

Anderson, J. M. (2007). The Salmon Connection: the de-velopment of Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Canada.Tantallon, Nova Scotia: Glen Margaret Publishing.

Thanks

The author would like to thank Dr. Chris Frantsi, NelsonAlward and Rod Carney for their suggestions and edits.

AquaFair (Dr. Chris Frantsi) Award Recipients

2000/01 – Tanya Patterson (first year the award was given)2001/02 – Lisa Muise

2002/03 - Stephen Flynn2003/04 – Roberto Pegoraro2004/05 – Thomas McComb

2005/06 – Joey Pratt2006/07 – David Wong

2007/08 – Jeff Gibbons; Jeffrey Lazore2008/09 – Stevie-Lynn Hurley; Faith Caskenette

2009/10 - Kelli Mitchell; Randi Briggs2010/11 – Angelina Fader-Day; Nancy Linehan

2011/12 – Katelyn McLaughlin



Introduction

St. Andrews Biological Station (SABS) is a science re-search facility of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).It has been part of the St. Andrews, New Brunswick

(NB) landscape for over 100 years. It is often referred to lo-cally as the “Biological Station”, “The Bi-log” or simply“The Station”. While it is known for its research on fisheries,physiology, ecology, lifecycles and oceanography; it has alsoplayed a pivotal role in aquaculture research, developmentand training in the St. Andrews area (Charlotte County) andbeyond. There is a recently written book chapter by formerStation Director Dr. Robert Cook (1977-1992), called “Aqua-culture Research and Development at SABS: 1908-2008”.The soon to be published book (title forthcoming) is to com-memorate 100 years of science at SABS, and will be avail-able from the University of Toronto Press. Portions of thisarticle highlight a number of the chapter’s key writings, withpermission by Dr. Cook.

Other sources include “The Salmon Connection” (Glen Mar-garet Publishing) by former Station Director Dr. John Ander-son (1967-1972), input by retired and current Station staff(see Acknowledgements), and the author’s own familiaritywith ongoing aquaculture projects.

The early years

One of the first aquaculture research endeavours at SABSwas that of Professor A.P. Knight of Queens University. Dr.Knight was instrumental in the formation of the Biological Board of Canada and the establishment of a laboratory atSt. Andrews. Lobster culture was one of the three prioritiesin 1908, due to concern about the dismal future of the fisheryat the time. Dr. Knight worked extensively on a method ofrearing lobster larvae and demonstrated the ineffectivenessof lobster culture systems employed elsewhere.

Other early aquaculture efforts involved the culture of theAmerican oyster. Early oyster studies began in Prince Edward

Island (PEI) around 1903, but oyster research became a pri-ority once the first significant disease issues arose (an “oysterblight”) in Malpeque PEI in 1917. After the Federal Govern-ment assumed jurisdiction of oyster growing areas in 1928,an oyster hatchery was constructed in the early 30s at theSABS field substation, Ellerslie (situated by Malpeque Bay),as a means to provide sound scientific advice. Former Station

Dr. Alfred Needler in 1925 (top left), 1959 (bottom left), and the shipthat bears his name (right)

Dr. Carl Medcof at the SABS field substation, Ellerslie (PEI) 1936(top left on the left, beside Dr. Alfred Needler), in 1985 (bottom left)and the Medcof Building at St. Andrews Biological Station (right)

Gregor Reid

A Brief History of Aquaculture Research andDevelopment at the St. Andrews

Biological StationG.K. Reid





Director Alfred Needler (1941-1954) started his career withoyster culture research and was the first scientist responsiblefor the Ellerslie operation. Dr. Needler held many senior po-sitions with the Fisheries Research Board of Canada (one ofDFO’s predecessor organizations), ultimately becoming theDeputy Minister of Fisheries. Today’s Station researcherswho study the pelagic environment and its residents, are veryfamiliar with the 50 metre research vessel named in his hon-our, the CCGS Alfred Needler. Soon afterwards Dr. J.C. Med-cof joined the oyster project. A building at the Station iscurrently named after him and the Medcof Building presentlyhosts the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC) office.The Ellerslie substation continued until the 1960s.

Early researchers such as Dr. Medcof also pursued initialwork on toxic algal blooms; specifically paralytic shellfishpoisoning and related research, which continue to the presentday. In 1985, Dr. Alan White organized the third annual con-ference on toxic dinoflagellates, which was hosted at SABS.Today, Jennifer Martin and her team continue related workon the development of early warning mechanisms for toxicalgal blooms and training of aquaculture farm staff to identifykey phytoplankton species.

Invertebrate culture progresses

Pioneering work in scallops, soft shelled clams and urchinshas also been undertaken at SABS. Early efforts in clam cul-ture were pursued by Dr. J.C. Medcof. Dr. Michael Dadswellbegan to take an interest in scallop culture in the mid 1980s.SABS was an ideal location for this given its proximity toTongue Shoal, an area abundant in scallops (too rocky to be

dragged byc o m m e r c i a lfishermen) andan excellent lo-cation for spatc o l l e c t i o n .Dadswell (whoeventually tooka posting atAcadia Univer-sity) wasjoined by Drs.David Wildishand ShawnRobinson (for-mer AAC Pres-ident) along

with then graduate students (and future AAC Presidents), JayParsons and Cyr Couturier; making significant advancementsin scallop hatchery and seed collection, juvenile grow-out

and rearing systems. Later, Dr. Robinson continued effortswith soft shelled clam culture, investigating the use of cul-tured juvenile clams for planting strategies and enhancement.Robinson further went on to explore facets of sea-urchin cul-ture in collaboration with fish and shellfish nutritionist, Dr.John Castell.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, Drs. A.F. Chiasson, D.G Wilder,and D.W. McLeese worked on lobster storage and shipment,a necessary precursor to full-fledged culture and grow out.Research by Dr. D.E. Aiken in 1970 demonstrated that lob-sters held at temperatures of < 5°C for several months do notmolt. That information, and a collaboration with Jack VanOlst of the University of Southern California in San Diego,led to a revolution in the lobster storage industry. The devel-opment of land-based low temperature holding systems en-abled the quality of lobsters to be maintained for long periodswith little or no feeding and greatly reduced the risk of dis-ease and of lobsters molting or spawning and becoming un-marketable. In 1974, Aiken designed and built the first andonly lobster grow-out facility to operate as a fully-integratedlobster culture system with year-round production. Other cul-ture facilities existed but they relied on egg-bearing femalesfrom the fishery and none combined all stages from brood-stock to marketable product in a year-round production sys-tem. The St. Andrews facility was independent of thefishery—eggs were obtained from broodstock raised in cap-tivity. It was also fully-integrated, incorporating broodstock,egg, larval, juvenile, adult, and growout to market size.Strategies developed by Aiken and Susan Waddy enabled theproduction of eggs and larvae in every month of the year ona predictable schedule. Their work generated knowledge onthe effects of the environment, especially changes in temper-ature, on reproduction, development, and growth. Today, thatinformation has important implications for climate changeresearch. The Lobster Culture Facility was shut down in 1983

Left to right, the Governor General of Canada,Edward Schreyer, Susan Waddy and Dr. RobertCook touring the lobster culture facility (SABS),1980s

Through selective breeding, staff at the St. Andrews Lobster CultureLaboratory were able to produce strains of distinct colours, includ-ing the red and blue juveniles shown here. Unique colour strainswould be valuable for marketing (branding and product identifica-tion) and could be useful for population studies with wild stocks. Thered one in this photo was raised to maturity, and produced a thirdgeneration of red progeny.




due to reduced funding and re-alignment of regional priorities.A contributing factor was thecontinuing strength of the lob-ster fishery, which, unlike manyother marine fisheries, had re-mained productive. This latterfact eliminated the economic in-centive for development ofcommercial lobster farming.Lobster research as it relates toaquaculture today continues atSABS primarily by SusanWaddy, and Dr. Les Burridge, inthe context of how lobster fish-

eries may be affected by fish farming activities.

Salmon cultureThen there is also, of course, Atlantic salmon culture, now amajor economic contributor for the region. Research on thephysiology and culture of the Atlantic salmon began inearnest in the 1960s. Initial work led by Dr. Richard Saun-ders, pursued aspects of physiology in fresh and salt waterwith parr from DFO hatcheries, to support basic scientific re-search. However, it was soon discovered that this researchwould also be important for culture. Saunders and his teamwould ultimately develop an experimental hatchery and per-form research into the smoltification process which wouldprove vital to farmers. While the development of salmonaquaculture was progressing in Scotland and Norway aroundthe same time, there was some scepticism as to whethersalmon could be successfully overwintered in Canada’scolder waters. Surprisingly, there were few detailed temper-ature measures of Maritime winter coastal waters at the time.Nevertheless, the first step was to find the lower lethal tem-perature of Atlantic salmon. In 1972, Saunders determinedthat the lower lethal limit for Atlantic salmon was -0.7 ºC.Despite a lack of detailed temperature data there was a theory,

that the high hydraulic exchanges of the Bay of Fundy wouldreduce the potential for lower lethal temperatures. This wassoon to be tested.

The image of aquaculture changed dramatically as a result ofthe salmon aquaculture team at SABS in the 1970s. As earlyas 1968, there were a number of visiting Norwegian scientistswith special interests in salmon physiology for application toa developing aquaculture industry. Reciprocally, Saundersvisited some aquaculture sites in Norway in 1972, which fur-ther intensified interest on the potential for salmon culture inCanada. A few yearslater in 1976, Dr.Arnold Sutterlin a fishphysiologist at the Sta-tion followed, going tothe University ofTromsø (the world’snorthernmost univer-sity) for sabbatical tolearn about their bur-geoning Atlanticsalmon culture indus-try. Upon his return,Sutterlin and his teamwere sufficiently in-spired to pursue grow-out trials on Canada’seast coast. In the earlyto mid-seventies thebiggest limiting factorfor salmon culture wasan absence of commer-cial hatcheries andconsequently, a supply of smolts. Sutterlin spearheaded a re-quest, backed by then Station Director Dr. Bob Cook, to ac-quire government hatchery smolts (sourced from the DFOMactaquac hatchery) for informal experimentation by the in-dustry and its research partners. Sutterlin and his team raidedthe Station’s ‘Moose Pasture’, where old equipment is placedwith the hope of future usefulness. They built small squareexperimental cages the size of card tables to assist one of theregional aquaculture pioneers, private sector biologist, ArthurMacKay. While an initial attempt to overwinter salmon inBrandy Cove (where SABS is located) failed, they ultimatelyproved that speculation on the overwinter potential in the Bayof Fundy was correct. Salmon were successfully held in cagesduring the winter months (1978-79) at Lord’s Cove, Deer Is-land, NB. These trials and those performed by others in lo-cations ranging from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (NS), downto Grand Manan, NB, indicated that most areas along thecoast, southwest of Saint John (and eventually areas on theNS side of the Bay) could successfully overwinter salmon.

Gene Henderson netting trout at the for-mer Tide Pool facility (SABS). Photo-graph undated.

Dr. Richard L. Saunders, 1975

Left to right, Drs. Dave Aiken and Arne Sutterlin, 1970’s




In 1977, Dr. Brian Glebe joined the Saunders DFO team as apostdoctoral fellow and was charged with identifying the bestwild salmon stock for performance under farm conditions.Two years later, Brian replaced Saunders as Director of theSalmon Genetics Research Program, a farmed salmon geneticimprovement strategy implemented by the Hunts-man Marine Science Centre (HMSC). Glebewould collaborate with numerous researchersthrough the HMSC for many years, before return-ing to the Station. As the smolt supply began to beaddressed (initially supplied by SABS followedby the Atlantic Salmon Federation, in collabora-tion with the HMSC and DFO), and additional re-search (nutrition, fish health, genetic selection)was initiated, a regional salmon aquaculture indus-try began to look promising.

Important research, development, technologytransfer and collaboration on salmon culture con-tinued in the 1980s. At least one Canada – Norwayfinfish (salmon and halibut) workshop was held at the station.A series of international smolt workshops were held everyfour years, beginning in 1980 (with SABS hosting the 4thworkshop in 1992). The development of private hatcherieslessened the dependence on government and association sup-ply of smolts. However, in order to translate research into de-velopment, questions of practicality and implementationneeded to be addressed. To answer questions on the best con-struction materials for cages, best diet, and best age for smoltstocking, the Salmonid Demonstration and DevelopmentFarm (SDDF) was initiated in Lime Kiln Bay, NB in 1986.This project was spearheaded by SABS researchers under themanagement of Dr. Robert Cook, and modelled after the De-partment of Agriculture’s network of experimental farms. The12 cage farm and adjacent facilities under the direction of

manager Gene Henderson, became an important hub forfarmers to liaise on technical aspects and for researchers toconduct experimentation. Upon retirement from SABS, GeneHenderson became the first manager of the newly formedNew Brunswick Salmon Growers Association in 1989, whichassumed responsibility for the SDDF.

By the 1990s, the salmon culture industry in the region waswell underway, but it was not without its hardships. Diseasemanagement figured prominently and there was an increasingawareness that in some cases, salmon culture had the poten-tial to impact the environment. Bay Management Areas(BMAs) were introduced by the Province of New Brunswickin the early 1990s to help partition aquaculture leases intodiscrete areas based on minimal water exchange overlap, asa means to reduce disease transfer potential between farms.In 1996 Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) appeared in NewBrunswick and made history by being the first disease in theaquaculture sea-cage industry in Canada where a mandatoryeradication order was issued. Such events prompted furtherrefinement of BMAs. Over the next decade, Dr. Fred Page’steam of oceanographers at SABS used circulation modelsvalidated with field data to help predict the potential spread

of ISA, and this work was largely responsi-ble for defining the latest reorganization ofBMAs in 2006. These revised BMAs incombination with a mandatory one year fal-lowing period and only single year classstocking, have largely thwarted the potentialfor ISA epidemics in the region. Additionalwork by Dr. David Wildish and his group (inconjunction with Dr. Barry Hargrave of theBedford Institute of Oceanography) on ben-thic hydrogen sulphide monitoring devel-oped pivotal monitoring techniques forsulphides under cages (beginning in 1985on until the early 2000s) which were ulti-mately adopted by the Province of New

Brunswick as part of their regulatory monitoring protocolsfor fish farms. Since the retirements of Drs. Wildish and Har-grave, environmental monitoring has been continued byPage’s team.

New finfish aquaculture species development pro-gram

Another prominent aquaculture initiative during the 1990swas the, Canada-New Brunswick-Nova Scotia, New FinfishAquaculture Species Development Program (funded prima-rily by the Cooperation Agreement on Economic Diversifi-cation between Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia),which occurred from 1995-2000. This initiative was a largecollaborative venture to promote aquaculture of new finfishspecies in the Maritimes. Several relatively new culture

Left to right, Dr. John Anderson, Tom Siddon (Minster of Fisheriesand Oceans), Gene Henderson, and Dr. Robert Cook during theopening of the Salmonid Demonstration and Development Farm atLime Kiln Bay, St. George, NB, 1986

Drs. Wendy Watson-Wrightand Dr. Dick Peterson, 1990s




species were pursued and SABS researchers partnered in var-ious projects with HMSC, Nova Scotia Agriculture College(NSAC), the New Brunswick Department of Fisheries andAquaculture (NBDFA) Aquarium and Marine Centre, theNova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Na-tional Research Council’s (NRC) Institute for Marine Bio-sciences, researchers from Dalhousie University and theUniversity of New Brunswick (UNB), as well as several in-dustry partners. Station Director Wendy Watson-Wright(1992-1997) was co-chair of the initial Steering Committee. One project built on halibut culture research started by Dr.

Ken Waiwood in the late 1980s (eventually taken over byDebbie Martin-Robichaud in 1995). Wild broodstock werecollected, maintained and spawned, and SABS’ halibut hatch-ery became a major supplier to other hatcheries and researchprojects supported by the program. The halibut research team

at SABS was the firstin North America tosuccessfully raise alllife cycle stages underlaboratory conditionsand those fish ulti-mately became thefirst F1 (first filial gen-eration of offspringfrom an arrangedcross) cultured brood-stock in North Amer-ica and these arecurrently being usedby industry. Additionalresearch included:techniques for collec-tion of wild halibut forbroodstock, determin-ing the timing, qualityand quantity of wildzooplankton produc-tion for larval nutri-tion, and developingstrategies for main-taining halibut yolk-

sac larvae in low ambient salinities. Martin-Robichaud andcollaborators also developed techniques to produceall-female halibut to improve the growth potential for cul-ture. Again, these broodstock are currently used by the in-dustry for commercial production.

Waiwood also began to expand on his initial haddock re-search from the early 90s. The first haddock production inthe program occurred at SABS in 1993, with haddock ulti-mately held and studied by partners at the NBDFA MarineCentre (recirculation), NRC (flow-through tanks) and, Har-

bour Deloutre Products Ltd. (sea cages, Campobello Island,NB). Dr. John Castell (and partners) worked on larval nutri-tion for haddock and winter flounder which prompted aworkshop held in St. Andrews, on the use of live feeds in lar-val fish culture. Research on halibut and haddock involvedgraduate students from Memorial University of Newfound-land, UNB and the University of Maine. In another project Dr. Dick Peterson tested culture require-ments of striped bass, continuing this work with partners(NSAC, HMSC, NBDFA) in the 90s and ultimately produc-ing a culture manual in 1996. Peterson also pursued first feed-ing of American eel elvers with Debbie Martin-Robichaud,through this program. Additional details of the Canada-NewBrunswick-Nova Scotia, New Finfish Aquaculture SpeciesDevelopment Program can be found in Chang1.

Other aquaculture projects and developments

There are a number of other aquaculture related research pro-grams of note. Martin-Robichaud and Peterson pursued as-pects of lumpfish culture in the early 90s. Around the sametime, Dr. Peter Lawton studied the potential impact of salmonaquaculture on lobster populations, and followed up with re-lated studies in the early 2000s on possible effects to lobsterjuveniles and abundance. The interaction of aquaculture withthe herring weir fishery has been the subject of numerousstudies, mainly by former Station Director, Dr. RobertStephenson (2005-2010). In 2000, the Aquaculture Collabo-

rative Research and Development Program (ACRDP), wasinitiated by DFO and continues today. This collaborativeDFO-Industry research initiative is modeled on the MatchingInvestment Initiative approach of Agriculture and Agri-FoodCanada. Numerous ACRDP projects have been led or haveinvolved SABS staff, and details of these projects can be

Former St. Andrews BiologicalStation researchers and gradu-ate students who have served

on the Aquaculture Associationof Canada’s Board of Directors:

Dave AikenJohn Anderson

Neil BourneIan Butts

Cyr CouturierChris Hendry

Terralynn LanderMatthew Liutkus

Debbie Martin-RobichaudBrian Muise

Sharon McGladderyJason MullenJay ParsonsChris PearceGregor Reid

Shawn RobinsonRichard SaundersArnold Sutterlin

Joy WadeSusan Waddy

Dr. Brian Glebe and Nellie Gagne (DFO, Gulf Region) in the SABSContainment Laboratory, used for fish disease studies, 2011




found at the following DFO website: http://www.dfo-p o . g c . c a / s c i e n c e / e n v i ro / a q u a c u l t u re / a c rd p -pcrda/projects/projects-eng.asp (see Maritimes/GulfRegion). In 2001, Dr. Brian Glebe returned to SABS to fillthe position vacated by Dr. Saunders when he retired. At thistime, as a variety of pathogens plagued the salmon industry,fish health in aquaculture became a research priority. A level2 containment laboratory was built at the Station and has beencontinuously operated since to study novel fish vaccines andthe genetic basis to disease resistance. Aspects of invertebraterelated Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) havebeen investigated by Dr. Shawn Robinson and his team since2002. Over the last several years, Dr. Ed Trippel and his labhave been key researchers in the Atlantic Cod GenomicsBroodstock Development Project of Genome Canada. In2007, the Centre for Integrated Aquaculture Science, a virtualnetwork of DFO aquaculture expertise from around the coun-try, was headquartered at SABS, headed by Dr. Fred Page.Finally, a number of SABS researchers are presently involvedwith the Canadian Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network(CIMTAN), a Natural Sciences and Engineering ResearchCouncil of Canada Strategic Network, which is partiallyfunded by DFO. The Station hosts a number of CIMTAN stu-dents and personnel on projects ranging from co-culturedspecies nutrition to temporal and spatial patterns of nutrientdispersion from fish cages.

Present dayPreviously, data from small scale pilot projects run by scien-tists were extrapolated to an industry culture scale, severalorders of magnitude greater, while accounting for commer-cial deliverables to help build an industry. Today the salmonaquaculture industry is now of sufficient size and scale thatthey have their own resources and research capacity. As a re-sult, DFO has now moved away from production based re-search. However, recent events in the region havedemonstrated that information exchange between researchers,industry, academia and other stakeholders continues to be justas imperative now as ever. While BMAs were designed forand have been effective with ISA, they have not been as ef-fective with sea lice. Since 2009, SABS researchers haveonce again been at the forefront of unprecedented time-sen-sitive sea lice research involving aquaculture companies, in-dustry associations, provincial ministries, and other federaldepartments. Fred Page’s group, embarked on an intensiveseries of dye dispersal experiments to track sea lice therapeu-tants released from tarped salmon cages and salmon in “wellboats” undergoing treatment. Dr. Les Burridge’s and SusanWaddy’s groups investigated the potential of therapeutanttoxicity to lobsters. Dr. Shawn Robinson’s group is investi-gating the consumption of free living larval stages of sea lice,by blue mussels. The combined research output from all of

the participants in such a short time was impressive and de-tailed online in sea lice workshop reports (2010, 2011) by theAtlantic Canada Fish Famers Association.

SABS aquaculture legacyThis brief history of aquaculture at SABS has focused mainlyon personnel at the project leader level for the sake of brevity.Attempting to ensure all participants from the last centurywere appropriately noted would be a daunting task and be-yond the scope of this article. Nevertheless, it is important toacknowledge the contribution of various support staff at alllevels, as they were and are, crucial to the success of so manyaquaculture projects. One of the greatest contributions theStation has made to aquaculture-related research, is the train-ing and education of students. Many a research or academicleader involved in aquaculture have passed through the Sta-tion doors as a student and gone on to industry, the provincialgovernment, academia or remained with DFO.

Finally, the reader is encouraged to “keep an eye out” for theupcoming book commemorating 100 years of research atSABS, and Dr. Cook’s chapter. Specifics of numerous SABSaquaculture research projects can also be found in back issuesof the Bulletin of the AAC and Aquaculture CanadaOM con-ference proceedings (see http://www.aquacultureassocia-tion.ca/publications).

References

1. Chang B., 2001. Canada-New Brunswick-Nova Scotia, newFinfish Aquaculture Species Development Program, summaryreport 1995-2000. Canadian Industry Report of Fisheries andAquatic Sciences 260, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, pp 51.

Author

Gregor K. Reid works with the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network. His day to day activities occur atthe St Andrews Biological Station. E-mail correspondence maybe directed to [email protected] .

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to several former and current SABS researcherswhose suggestions and edits helped improve this article im-mensely. Special thanks to Henrik Kreiberg, Blythe Chang,Tammy Blair, Dave Aiken, Dick Saunders, Ken Waiwood, CyrCouturier, Pamela Parker, Dave Wildish, Robert Cooke, RobertStephenson, Suzanne Taylor, Jay Parsons, Debbie Martin-Ro-bichaud, John Castell, Susan Waddy, Fred Page, ShawnRobinson and Charlotte McAdam.




The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) was formed in1982, when the International Atlantic Salmon Foun-dation (IASF) of Chamcook merged with the Atlantic

Salmon Association (ASA) of Montreal for the purpose ofimproving and maintaining the health and habitat of wild At-lantic salmon populations. Their headquarters and Interpre-tive Centre are located in Chamcook, just outside St.Andrews, NB. Many people today think of salmon aquacul-ture as large-scale commercial ventures in cages. However,it is important to acknowledge that salmon aquaculture tech-niques were initially developed to rear fish for wild stock en-hancement. ASF got into smolt production as a means toaugment natural populations and, along with their researchpartners, were among the early pioneers in developing aqua-culture expertise in the region. In his book, “The SalmonConnection”, published by Glen Margaret Publishing, the lateDr. John Anderson touches on the pivotal role ASF has hadin the development of Atlantic salmon aquaculture. Severalof the following historical details of ASF’s involvement aresummarized from Dr. Anderson’s book and the reader is en-couraged to peruse this work. Dr. John Anderson was a for-mer ASF Vice President of Operations and Chief ScientificAdvisor to the President, and was instrumental in locating theASF headquarters in St. Andrews.

ASF is a role model for successful research collaboration. In1973, Dr. Wilfred Carter, then Executive Director of IASF,organized construction of the research hatchery in Chamcookusing private funds. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) pro-vided operating funds, and the Huntsman Marine ScienceCentre managed the staff and scientific program as part ofthe Salmon Genetics Research Program. When this occurred,of course, the commercial cage culture industry for Atlanticsalmon had not yet developed. It was not until the fall of 1979that the first cage-cultured Atlantic salmon in the region wereharvested out of Lords Cove, Deer Island. The growth ofcommercial production was threatened by a lack of smoltavailability. ASF, the only entity besides DFO involved insmolt production at the time, supplied smolts from theirChamcook research hatchery to salmon farmers because theyfelt that the development of an aquaculture industry wouldtake away the market for commercial fisheries for wildsalmon that were impacting vulnerable populations. ASF andtheir partners continued to pioneer a number of advanced sci-entific breeding and genetic programs for Atlantic salmon.

In many areas of the world,including Canada, commer-cial salmon culture and wildsalmon share the samewater, even if only season-ally. Consequently, potentialnegative impacts betweenwild and cultured salmonare a concern and a respon-sibly for all involved par-ties. Described in theirpolicy statement on aqua-culture, ASF and its Re-gional Councils work withthe salmonid farming indus-try and government regula-tory agencies to achieveenvironmentally sustainable salmonid farming. In the early1990s, ASF invested in a commercial-scale evaluation of theuse of reproductively sterile salmon in cage culture. Escapedsterile fish could not breed in the wild, eliminating one riskto wild salmon. More recently, close to 500 Atlantic salmongrilse were released near the northern side of the inner Bayof Fundy, in collaboration with the Atlantic Canada FishFarmers Association, Parks Canada and DFO. These fish,which were captured as smolts and then reared in sea cagesbefore their release, were implanted with acoustic tags toallow tracking of their movements. The intent of this studyis to determine if cage-reared fish will return to rivers inwhich they smoltified.

While ASF no longer operates salmon hatcheries, relation-ships with the aquaculture industry and associated stakehold-ers continue. Many of the staff and students who have workedfor ASF have also worked within the aquaculture industry.There is a compelling case to be made that this overlap andexchange of personnel has helped improve knowledge trans-fer and facilitate understanding among diverse stakeholders,which is arguably the first step required for successful col-laboration.

In 2003, the Atlantic Salmon Federation Boards updated pol-icy in regard to salmonid farming aquaculture to minimizethe industry’s impacts on the environment. More on ASF’saquaculture policy can be found at: http://asf.ca/docs/poli-cies/aquaculture-policy2003.pdf. ASF believes that the future

The Atlantic Salmon Federation and their Work with Aquaculture in the St. Andrews Area

G.K. Reid and T.J. Benfey




of sustainable salmon aquaculture is in closed-containmentsystems and, to this end, is conducting research on freshwaterclosed containment on land in partnership with The Conser-vation Fund Freshwater Institute in West Virginia. For moreinformation, visit, http://asf.ca/docs/uploads/closed-contain-mentbackgrounder.pdf

Dr. Wilfred Carter’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In hishonour, the ASF has named its Interpretive Centre the Dr.Wilfred M. Carter Atlantic Salmon Interpretive Centre(http://salarstream.ca/). If you are in the area drop by and seesalmon “face-to-face”.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the ASF and in particular, Muriel Fergu-son and Sue Scott for their valuable input.

Authors

Gregor Reid is with the Canadian Integrated Multi-TrophicAquaculture Network ([email protected]); Tillmann J. Benfeyis a professor at the University of New Brunswick, Fredric-ton.


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