Study to evaluate flesh quality in farmed and wild BC salmon

St. John’s, NL — 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. <br>
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Rideout, who also serves as executive director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, says 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.<br>
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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.<br>
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“[The study] supports AquaNet’s overall objective of reducing uncertainty associated with the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector in Canada,” says Rideout. “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.”<br>
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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.<br>