$20m boost for six BC companies

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SIX seafood and fish farming companies in the Canadian province of British Columbia are helping to make their businesses a little cleaner thanks to a major funding input from the federal government.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said they are being helped by a special source known as the Fisheries and Aquaculture Clean Technology Adoption Programme
MP Terry Beech, who is also parliamentary secretary to the fisheries minister, said in a statement that ‘strengthening our economy for the long-term will require us to be innovative in our approach to using our natural resources’.
‘These investments will help our fisheries and aquaculture industries further protect our environment, and become more sustainable, by adopting clean technology solutions.’
The companies said to benefit are:

  • Effingham Oysters, which will use the funds to install solar panels and energy storage batteries that will reduce diesel transport and consumption by two-thirds of its current use;
  • Nova Harvest, which will reduce propane use by 95 per cent by reclaiming heat from water outflows with a heat-pump;
  • A new auxiliary engine and upgraded longline strengths at Salish Seas Fisheries will lead to reduced emissions and protect the environment by preventing the loss of hooks and lines at sea;
  • Bee Islets Growers, which will replace styrofoam floatation billets with high density polyethylene floatation billets. This will reduce the environmental impact and provide proof of technology for other aquaculture operators to transition to this cleaner form of floatation support;
  • OM Harvesting, which will use the funding to replace an outdated auxiliary boat engine. The new fuel efficient engine will result in fuel savings of 10 to 20 per cent while increasing dependability for operations in remote regions of the coast;
  • West Coast Fishculture, which will convert a diesel engine, used to wash nets, to an electric engine and replace an old tugboat engine with a high efficiency engine, resulting in reduced emissions and fuel and energy use.

The government said the programme will provide up to $20 million over the next four years. It is designed to help Canada’s fisheries and aquaculture industries incorporate existing clean technologies into their day-to-day operations.
Adopting the use of more sustainable and efficient tools, practices and techniques will reduce the potential environmental impact of their activities.

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