Aquaculture , probably the fastest growing food-producing sector , now accounts for nearly 50 % of the world ’ s food fish , according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ). AgriMarine Technologies Inc . ( ATI ) is looking to leverage on this growth by creating , innovating and building the most advanced marine-based aquaculture systems in the world .

“ In the early days , we were net cage farmers off the west coast of Vancouver Island . We also ran a large hatchery , a processing plant and a small truck fleet . Through a number of circumstances , mostly natural factors , we ended up losing our farms and eventually closed the processing plant . We got involved in the enclosed system farming business in the year 2000 ,” states Rob Walker , COO .

“ We didn ’ t want to leave the farming industry behind ; we really liked what we were doing but wanted to find a better way , so we began looking at containment systems for the farm . We ran a project on land actually – a pump ashore system – for about five years , and learned an awful lot about containment farming .

62 December 2017

Food Magazine December 2017 | Page 62

Canada-based AgriMarine has developed innovative aquaculture technology for finfish farming . COO Rob Walker discusses how the company ’ s systems can combat the twin challenges of sea lice and toxic plankton blooms