Salmon Farming In Washington: The Issues and the Potential
by Per O. Heggelund
Printed in: Pacific Northwest Executive, January 1989
A marine salmon farm, simply stated, is a floating structure of one to 20 individual netpens (cages) that is anchored relatively close to shore. Salmon farmers can control the freshness, size, flesh color, fat content, and market availability of their products. During the off-season of commercially harvested Pacific species, for example, Washington's salmon farmers continue to supply consumers with fresh fish.
The saltwater farming operation actually begins in freshwater. Farmers strip ready-to-spawn broodstock from salmon of eggs and sperm in the fall and winter months. Once fertilized, the eggs are stored in trays, boxes and baskets and fitted with mesh and are constantly flushed with water as they develop. The time from fertilization to hatching takes roughly 60 days, although the process varies with each species and is particularly sensitive to water temperature. When fry, or fingerlings, reach the feeding stage, they are moved to troughs or starting tanks.
Rearing fry to the smolt stage, at which time the fish are capable of adapting to a marine environment, takes from four to 15 months. Smoltification changes a fish's body shape and physical coloration. Once salmon reach this stage, the two to three-ounce fish are transported to saltwater netpens to begin the grow-out phase, during which time they are given a commercial diet for from nine months (for coho) to two years (for Atlantic salmon). The fish are typically fed 2 percent of their body weight per day; between one and a half and two pounds of feed produce one pound of salmon.
Washington salmon farmers lose 50 percent, on average, of their salmon between the fertilization stage and the time when they can market fully developed fish. The common causes of loss are disease, predation, physiological maladjustment to the seawater, escape from the net pens, stress, poor environmental condition, and naturally occurring floating plants.
The Washington salmon farming industry is now at a crucial point in its development: the novelty of the process has worn off, farmers have been challenged by commercial fishermen and confronted by neighboring landowners, and the state's government has yet to commit itself to the support and promotion of the fledgling industry. At the same time, the demand for seafood continues to climb, both in the United States and the rest of the world.
Global Expansion
Salmon farming has experienced a remarkable global expansion in the last decade. The world production of salmon in net pens has increased more than tenfold, from 16 million pounds in 1980 to 215 million pounds in 1987. Industry projections for the next three years estimate that the amount of salmon raised in enclosures will burgeon to 490 million pounds. By 1990 the world production of farmed salmon will represent almost 25 percent of the total salmon harvest.
This increase in the production of farmed salmon has occurred during a period when traditional salmon fisheries hit an all-time high. This worldwide peak in the wild catch was recorded in 1985, when 1.8 billion pounds of salmon were taken. Since that time, the harvest has dropped to 1.5 million pounds, and most experts predict further declines by the beginning of the next decade.
The increase in aquaculture has been attributed to a jump in the production of Atlantic salmon - 152 million pounds of Atlantics were farmed in 1986, compared to 26 million pounds of Pacific salmon. By 1990, if current trends continue, it is possible that the world farmed production of Atlantic salmon will exceed 320 million pounds and that the Pacific salmon total will hit the 140 million pound mark.
The Scope of the Industry In Washington
The state of Washington's environmental assets and existing infrastructure make it an ideal area in which to establish a salmon farming industry for both Pacific and Atlantic species. The environment's physical and climactic characteristics are similar to such successful salmon growing areas as Norway and Chile. Numerous coastal inlets, fjords, and embayments provide sheltered areas for floating salmon farms. Ocean temperatures, which vary from 43 degrees to 61 degrees Fahrenheit, are within the optimal temperature range for salmon culture, and Atlantic salmon, for example, can grow to more than 80 percent of their annual maximum attainable weight. The Washington Salmon Growers Association estimates that the Puget Sound's 870,000 surface acres are capable of supporting at least 300 acres of farms, which could generate $225 million in revenue annually.
In addition to the state's geographical features, Washington's Department of Fisheries is noted for its salmon enhancement programs, and the region has well-developed academic, commercial, and scientific communities to support the salmon farming industry.
Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon (chinook and coho), and Donaldson steelhead are grown in farms throughout the Puget Sound region. Pan-sized coho salmon weighing from one-half to three-quarters of a pound are produced in floating marine net pens or in freshwater ponds and raceways. Atlantic salmon, which were introduced from Eastern North America and Western Europe, are grown in net pens in the Puget Sound and are usually marketed in size lots of four to six pounds, six to nine pounds, and nine to eleven pounds per fish.
The largest producer of farmed salmon in the United States and, perhaps, the world's most extensive salmon farm is Domsea Farms, Inc., which operates at Clam Bay near Bremerton. Domsea, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup, produced 5.4 million pounds - 58 percent of the state's salmon total - in 1987. There are 11 other commercial farms, which produced 4 million pounds of fish, in the Puget Sound, and applications for approximately 20 additional commercial farms are pending.
Looking for the Ideal Salmon
The ideal salmon probably doesn't exist, but researchers and growers have experimented with four different salmon species - coho, Atlantic, chinook, and Donaldson steelhead to determine which is best suited for farming in the Puget Sound. The biology of salmon and trout is better understood than most other cultivated fish, and this scientific and technical insight has been used to manipulate and advance the aquaculture of these species.
The prominent status of salmon farming in Washington, relative to other regions, is based on the state's long history of scientific research in this field. In 1960 the first salmon farming experiments occurred simultaneously at the Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) in Seattle and at the Bergen Aquarium in Norway. In fact, a strain of rainbow trout developed by Professor Lauren Donaldson of the University of Washington gave Norway's commercial salmon farming industry its start.
Coho Salmon. In the late 1960s, Domsea Farms, in conjunction with the National Marine Fisheries Services, conducted a feasibility study to investigate the production and marketing of pan-sized salmon that had been raised in saltwater net pens. By the mid-1970s, Domsea Farms was joined by Pacific Ocean Farms, Mariculture N.W., and Aquasea. The Weyerhaeuser Corporation conducted its own feasibility study in Henderson Inlet near Olympia, and later purchased Oregon Aqua Foods, a large producer of pan-sized coho and a leader in the ocean ranching business. As the saltwater farming industry developed, the demand for coho smolt rose, and a number of small freshwater growers went into business.
Swecker Salmon Farm, located near Rochester, Washington, was one of the early leaders in freshwater smolt production; the operation began in 1974, with a contract to produce 200,000 half-ounce coho smolt. Today Dan and Debbie Swecker's annual production of coho totals 200,000 pounds of 7 to 12-ounce pan-sized salmon and 400,000 fingerlings and smolt. The Rochester area, known for its high-quality aquifer, is the site of three hatcheries, which produce smolt for their own saltwater operations, and two other salmon farms that raise pan-sized salmon - Steelhammer Salmon Farms and Carlson Salmon Farms. The Rochester operations use circular ponds or tanks and pump ground water from local wells. Two other freshwater growers near Morton, Washington - Cascade Aqua Farms and Glenoma Trout Farms - divert stream water through manmade ponds to raise pan-sized Salmon. Cascade, like most other salmon farms in Washington, has recently de-emphasized its production of coho in favor of Atlantic salmon.
Atlantic Salmon. The National Marine Fisheries Service has selectively bred and domesticated Atlantic broodstock for more than 15 years. At the Manchester Research Station, which is headed by Conrad Mahnken, researchers have noted that Atlantics have a number of advantages over chinook and coho salmon. Mahnken reports that Atlantics grown in a netpen can weigh more than 20 pounds. Coho and chinook, however, are not likely to grow heavier than six pounds. Adult chinook can be afflicted by diseases that are foreign to Atlantics. The Atlantic salmon are tame, due to their long domesticated history, but the wilder chinook need deeper and wider netpens to mature. Both species are fed an identical diet, and they taste about the same. Given the Atlantic salmon's relative ease of farming and the similarity in taste, Mahnken comments, "Why farm peacocks, when you can farm chickens?" Most salmon farmers in the Puget Sound have taken that advice to heart.
The popularity of Atlantic salmon has a long legacy in the Pacific. Early in this century, biologists in British Columbia unsuccessfully introduced Atlantics in an effort to build additional wild salmon runs. Conrad Mahnken and his staff started farming Atlantic salmon in the Puget Sound in 1972, when the National Marine Fisheries Service began developing aquaculture. Mahnken obtained his first Atlantic, a Canadian strain from the Gaspe Peninsula in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, from the Wizard Falls hatchery in Oregon. The Wizard Falls hatchery had been raising salmon in ponds since the 1950s and used them to improve sport fishing in the area.
Washington's salmon farms have obtained Atlantic eggs for their hatcheries from Mahnken's project and from other superior overseas broodstock. Scan Am, one of the first farms in the Puget Sound to emphasize Atlantic salmon, plans to produce 4.5 million pounds annually within the next two to three years, and Seafarms of Washington, located in the Port Angeles harbor, intends to harvest approximately 1.5 million pounds in the same time period. Global Aqua, the new owner of Domsea's netpens and a supplier of salmon smolt for local farms, has abandoned coho smolt production in favor of Atlantic salmon. Swecker Salmon Farm plans to increase its production of smolt to 800,000 by 1989.
Chinook Salmon. The popularity and success of Atlantic salmon farming in Washington has created a demand for Atlantic smolt that has, during the last few years, far surpassed the local supply. This scarcity has prompted Northwest farmers to experiment with raising local chinook stocks in netpens.
The initial reports from the Washington and British Columbia farms express cautious optimism. Canadian salmon farmers, who are restricted by federal and provincial regulations from importing Atlantic salmon seed stock, are particularly hopeful about the commercial applications of chinook. Washington farmers have found that chinook salmon are a better alternative than coho for aquaculture, especially if Atlantic smolt are in limited quantities and part of the farmer's grow-out facility is idle.
The chinook is far from domesticated, and these salmon must be raised in conditions that provide them with a greater volume of water per fish than the Atlantics require.
This drawback limits the number of chinook that can be raised per facility, because farms in Washington State are regulated as to the number of surface areas they can cover. In addition, salmon farmers typically sell chinook for 35 to 50 cents less per pound relative to Atlantics. Chinook are similarly priced with Donaldson steelhead.
Donaldson Steelhead. This steelhead is perhaps the first designer salmonid ever produced. The steelhead-rainbow trout hybrid has a genetic trail that leads back to Lauren Donaldson's superspawner, a fish named Susie, developed at the University of Washington. Donaldson produced his cross in the early 1960s, and fertilized eggs from the hybrid were exported to Scandinavia, where the steelhead has become an important contributor in the commercialization of the salmon farming industry, particularly in Finland.
Although the hybrid hasn't been fully commercialized in Washington, the Finns produced 30 million pounds of this species last year. In recent months, innovative Washington salmon farmers obtained permission to import Donaldson steelhead eggs from Finland. Dan Swecker of Swecker Salmon Farm has demonstrated that he can produce a Donaldson steelhead smolt in six months, which is less than half the time it takes to raise Atlantics to that same stage. In the Puget Sound, the steelhead has outperformed the predictions of the most optimistic experts, and the strain appears to be more disease resistant and faster growing than Atlantic salmon.
Markets and Competition
More than three decades ago, the oceans, we thought, contained an enormous untapped supply of seafood. Between 1950 and 1970, the world catch increased from 46 billion to 145 billion pounds, and per capita consumption grew from 19 to 39 pounds. The percentage of annual growth in the total catch outpaced world population increases until 1970. From 1970 to 1985, the world's catch increased 29 percent, and population grew 33 percent. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations projects that global demand for aquatic species could reach 250 billion pounds by the end of the century, but production estimates for the same period total only 210 billion pounds. The seafood supply will need to grow at rates well above those of recent years to keep pace with anticipated increases in demand.
The global demand for seafood has important implications for U.S. markets. Consumer demand for seafood in the United States has grown steadily: between 1980 and 1986, per capita consumption rose from 13 to 15 pounds, an increase of almost 15 percent. The rise in consumption has been the result of increases in income, changing lifestyles, and a greater awareness of the health benefits of seafood.
America's growing appetite for seafood is satisfied by a combination of domestic supplies and imports. As U.S. catches of ground fish, salmon, shrimp, lobster, and crab have approached or exceeded the species' maximum biological limits, seafood from foreign fisheries and aquaculture has been imported to meet the increase in consumption. The net result is a persistent seafood trade deficit that has grown from $2.6 billion in 1980 to
$7.1 billion in 1987 and shows no sign of diminishing.
If the upward trend in seafood demand continues, the United States is going to need new sources for seafood in the 1990s. Based on recent projections by the Department of Agriculture, per capita seafood consumption will increase between 5 and 17 percent (above the 1986 base) by the century's end, boosting per capita consumption to between 16 and 18 pounds. In the last decade alone, U.S. imports of fresh-farmed salmon rose from 1.6 million pounds (worth $3.9 million) in 1980 to more than 28 million pounds (almost $78 million) in 1986. The U.S. catch of salmon increased 60 percent between 1970 and 1986, but the quantity of salmon available for the domestic market actually declined. Salmon exports in those same 16 years jumped from 28 million pounds to 352 million pounds.
The world's leading salmon farming nations are Norway, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In 1986 these three countries produced approximately 90 percent of the world's farmed salmon. Norway's Atlantic salmon farms have shown the most dramatic growth from 9 million pounds in 1980 to 100 million pounds in 1986 - and that country's salmon farming industry accounts for 75 percent of the world's commercial production of Atlantic salmon.
The key to the short-term global production of salmon is Norway, which could farm as much as 220 million pounds of Atlantic salmon by 1990. The United Kingdom, too, has expanded its production and has superseded Japan as the second largest producer of farmed salmon. Other countries that are rapidly expanding their pen-farmed salmon industries are Ireland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Canada, and Chile.
Chile and British Columbia, in the future, are most likely to become Washington's strongest competitors in the U.S. market. British Columbia's advantage lies in the province's positive investment climate for salmon farming, effective trade barriers that protect the fledgling industry, and the region's proximity to the U.S. market. Chile's growth cycle before it matures. As a result, Chilean salmon can be harvested at an ideal time for a northern market.
Chile's salmon farming industry has shown explosive growth in the 1980s: salmon farming was nonexistent five years ago, yet the industry will produce 18 million pounds in 1988-89. According to Chilean officials, the country now has 100 salmon farms and 25 hatcheries in operation, and these facilities represent an annual production capacity of 100 million pounds of salmon.
The country's geographic location makes it such a formidable competitor. Chile can produce a larger salmon in the off-season, and because of its proximity to the extensive anchovy resource off South America, local farmers have the advantage of low feed costs. In addition to these advantages and savings, Chilean labor costs are only 65 percent of those in North America and Europe.
Chile has the competitive advantage on the East Coast of the United States, and British Columbia holds the dominant position on the West Coast. In fact, when delivering to Western states, British Columbia can reduce its freight costs by 50 percent. These same delivery expenditures double for Chilean and European producers.
This competitive advantage has catalyzed the development of the British Columbia salmon farming industry, which parallels that of Chile in many respects. The Canadian industry was virtually unknown prior to the 1980s. Today, 125 farms and 30 hatcheries are operating commercially in the province, and these facilities have a projected capacity of 70 million pounds of salmon, which is destined in large part for the U.S. West Coast market. This market focus by the B.C. salmon farmers may eventually create conflict with Washington's developing industry.
Conflicts and Issues
In Washington, the salmon farming industry has been confronted by a number of conflicting interests and major issues. Pacific Coast salmon fishermen for example are deeply concerned about the effects of salmon farming on their industry. They see the continued development of net pen farms as a source of competition, both in domestic and foreign markets and in the state's waterways. In some instances, farms occupy the same physical space that fishermen once considered theirs. Fishermen have also criticized salmon farms for the environmental damage that results from the organic wastes produced by floating net pens, for the genetic deterioration of native fish that results from interaction with farmed salmon that have broken free of their net pens, and for the introduction of exotic diseases from nonnative species.
Neighboring landowners argue that the existence of floating salmon farms and their shoreline support structures reduce local property values. Net pens, the landowners maintain, increase the risk of environmental pollution and visually mar the pristine waterways of the Puget Sound. The upland owners, in coalition with local salmon fishermen, have effectively lobbied the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to delay or prevent the department from issuing salmon farm licenses. The lobbying effort, in some cases, has been so thorough that local counties have issued moratoriums on salmon farms within their jurisdiction under the auspices of the Washington Shoreline Management Act.
In addition to these actions, salmon farmers in Washington face an increasing number of nontariff trade barriers. These restrictions stem from a multitude of inconsistent domestic and international regulations that govern the salmon industry. In general, the regulations have been created to protect and preserve the health and viability of marine species. Legislative inconsistencies, however, could pose a threat to the development of the state's salmon farming industry. The federal government, for example, lists salmon as the nation's principal commercial species, with a market value of $600 million, yet, under the terms of the Lacey Act, defines the fish as an "injurious wildlife" species, a designation that typically restricts trade. State regulations make it particularly difficult to trade live salmon products between East Coast and West Coast states. In Canada, federal and provincial regulations prohibit the importation of live fry, smolt, and broodstock from Washington. British Columbia can, however, export these same products to Washington and does so on a regular basis.
Future Prospects
Although these conflicts are troublesome and evoke strong emotions, it is unlikely that they will completely stall the growth of the state's salmon farming industry. To minimize the conflicts, Governor Gardner announced a policy in 1987 to promote aquaculture and, at the same time, maintain Washington's environmental safeguards. The governor also directed state agencies to develop a more coordinated siting process and to reduce current controversies.
While the governor's policy statement is being implemented, the state's salmon farming industry gradually expands. By 1990 the existing farms and the newcomers will harvest 25 million pounds, with a sale value of $75 million. If some of the proposed new technology for fish farming is implemented, this industry estimate may even prove conservative.
At Westport, for example, one company is proposing to establish a land-based salmon farm that will pump seawater into its facility. This venture will eliminate some of the environmental and esthetic objections. Another new high-tech project is proposed for the offshore waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In this unprotected waterway, Seafarms of Washington has been permitted to install ocean net pens for salmon. These enclosures would be located so far offshore that conflicts with landowners would be minimized. Recreational and commercial fishermen, too, should be appeased by this venture's less controversial site.
At some point, however, the introduction of sophisticated technology offers only a marginal return, and salmon farming becomes uneconomical relative to the less technical operations that are based in Chile and British Columbia. Before that happens, Washington's political leadership should assert itself and avoid the narrow focus or half-solutions that have in the past been promoted by the state's regulatory agencies. The salmon farming industry needs a serious aquaculture development strategy based on a positive investment climate. In other states and nations, salmon farming has been successfully promoted and developed by the combined efforts of political and financial leaders. Such leadership could secure Washington's future as the world's foremost supplier of salmon.