N.Z. rated ideal for salmon farming

Press, 17 April 1979, Page 2

N.Z. rated ideal for salmon farming

is ideally] olaced to “get in on the 1 wound floor” of commercial! fanning of salmon, accord-11 ing to a visiting American j; salmon farmer. | i “I have been here 42 days ! and one of the things that, surprises me is that you|i can't get a trout or salmon, i to eat here in a hotel or res- i taurant,” said Mr Bruce]' Fowler, who owns a 300-': acre farm in the state of Washington. i Mr Fowler’s property is;t being set up for salmon; t farming on an intensive ’ scale by a flour milling com-It pany which is diversifying;' into fish farming. Mr Fow-i: ler’s farm was selected be-' cause it has springs and a' lake. He regards New’ Zealand as ideal for fish farming be-i cause of its number of] Streams. Mr Fowler holds that! there is a big market for; freshwater fish. Fish from; his farm are bought by Alas-i kan Airlines and two catering chains. “They are crying out fori more," he said.

The states of Oregon andH Washington have different ii I laws on fish farming. Ore-]< I gon has passed a law which 11 allows ocean ranching, sim-ii ilar to that envisaged in the!! I South Island. ]< But in Washington thej< [fish farmers have to get fish Is ova from state hatcheries, and supplies are available s only when there is a sur-r plus. II The ova are then hatched ] in commercial hatcheries If and raised it. raceways until ready to go to the salt! 1 water. They are trucked to]' an island off the coast! t where they are released into j 1 I sea water, protected byle I shark and bird netting, and' - 1 are fed constantly. j i When about Ikg they are 'removed, processed and froizen. Mr Fowler said that the i fish farms in Washington I would soon no longer ’depend on the state hatchjeries for ova because they i (would be able to take good 'ova from their own salmon, i Of the Oregon and WashI ington “systems,” Mr Fowler . 'considered that the Wash-I

■ ington one had more advantages to the fish farmer because there was less risk of losses by salmon returning to their spawning grounds from the sea. The Oregon system gave anglers the chance to fish the returning salmon. But under the Washington system the angler could be “pacified' by the farmers agreeing to turn loose a proportion of their “farmed” fish. Mr Fowler said the fear by anglers that fish farming] would lead to poaching was I misconceived because poachers using gill nets always caught net-marked fish. It | would be easy to police the i poachers. The risk of disease was reduced by starting off with local ova which were free of disease rather than relying on imported ova. Any risks were not insurmountable, with the help of fish biologists. For the use of his farm Mr Fowler is paid his land rates and some “pocketmoney.” He is holidaying in Nev Zealand with his wife.