Taiwanese firm to use empty greenhouses for Canada shrimp venture


Kate Webb, The Province

A Taiwanese company has been granted the first licence to operate a closed-system tropical shrimp farm in British Columbia-- and plans to expand its aquaculture business in the province and beyond.
Empty greenhouses on a hectare of land in Langley have been bought by the overseas firm's Canadian subsidiary, Poseidon Bio Aqua Inc. About $3 million is being invested to convert the greenhouses into giant tanks that will be filled with artificial sea water. The tanks will then serve as nurseries and genetic-testing labs for up to 40 tonnes of tropical whiteleg shrimp per year.
The water used will be treated on site and recycled, with little or no runoff. The B.C. Ministry of Agriculture concluded in June that the operation poses a low risk to native species and their ecosystems.
But 40 tonnes per year is just the beginning. The ministry's support has prompted Poseidon president and CEO Gordon Tseng to ask that the plant be allowed to increase its production limit tenfold, to 400 tonnes a year, Tseng said Friday. He plans to submit a request to the ministry in two weeks.
" I feel this is our honour that we can get this licence, and a big responsibility," said Tseng, whose parent company already operates both open- and closed-pen shrimp farm systems in Malaysia and closed facilities in Taiwan. "A lot of people right now are looking for us to show them that we can use this type of technology to produce seafood that is clean and environmentally friendly. Maybe we will consider [expanding] next time in B.C. or even in other provinces."
Construction at the Langley site is already under way. By the time the plant opens in November it will employ 10 to 20 people. If the ministry permits Poseidon to ramp up production to 400 tonnes per year, the site could employ as many as 100 as early as next year, Tseng said.
Until now, the only aquaculture operations in Langley have been trout farms. While closed shrimp farms are new to B.C., shrimp are the largest-volume farmed seafood product in the world.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that 90 per cent of shrimp consumed in the U.S. are imported, suggesting this could be a viable enterprise for B.C. The whiteleg shrimp to be raised in Langley can grow a little larger than tiger prawns. Larvae to be shipped in from Hawaii meet international pathogen-free certification standards, and each crop will be filtered by geneticists for growth and disease resistance, Tseng said.

kwebb@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2007