I spent this weekend in Victoria where my wife and I, along with friends and family, joined the last leg of the Get out Migration. The migration was led by legendary environmental activist Alexandra Morton who set out from Sointula, 500 kilometers north of Victoria, on April 23rd to lead a human migration that honored the yearly runs of BCs wild pacific salmon. These runs have been increasingly threatened by environmental degradation and habitat destruction on BCs coast. Many leading marine biologists, sport fishermen and Morton herself believe the greatest source of degradation and habitat destruction comes from the Norwegian owned open net cage farms; breeding grounds for sea lice with as much sewage-like waste output as your average BC city. As recent pilot projects have proven, a viable alternative exists, and this alternative may create opportunities for urban economic stimulus and job creation too.
These tanks designed by Canada's Agri Marine, can hold up to 50,000 trout
A recent study suggests that not only will we have to move to closed containment to allow our marine ecosystems to heal, but it will also be a sustainable and profitable move. Growing Power have already proven that aquaponics is a feasible practice on a smaller and medium scale while a larger scale closed containment aquaculture project in China launched just this past December has piqued interest world wide. Canadian company AgriMarine created the technology being used for the fish farm in China where 50,000 trout are currently housed, needless to say, some Canadians are now asking why their own technology found a home in China before it did here?
Another project that Vancouver (and BC) may consider drawing inspiration from is Cityscape in San Francisco. Cityscape, an urban agriculture organization in San Francisco is looking to create market-scale aquaponics operations (that include fish) in the Bay Area -south San Francisco in particular. Restaurants, keen to include locally sourced and sustainably farmed products are apparently eager to support this initiative. Go here for a great article on Cityscape and the impossible logic of urban food production.
So can we imagine a Vancouver where urban agriculture and aquaculture contribute to our world class dining culture? I sure can. One word sums it all up for me FRESH.
It’s a fresh idea that will create fresh new jobs, and of course year round fresh food. And let’s not forget the extra fresh air we’ll all enjoy from a decreased need to truck industrial foods from one end of the continent to the other!
For more information on the exciting urban farming initiatives here in Vancouver you can also visit these sites:
Greening the Inner-city 
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