Salt Spring Musselteers

I can’t prove it, but would be willing bet money, Grant Hunt knows more about shellfish farming then anyone else in BC.

Grant and his wife Ingrid are close friends of mine. When I first met them and asked what they did for a living Ingrid responded “aquaculture.”  I imagined my twenty something self dressed in a full sized salmon suit protesting fish farms in front of Earl’s Restaurant and decided it was best not to delve into this topic.

Grant and Ingrid moved to Salt Spring six years ago to accept jobs with Island Sea Farms mussel hatchery. Grant also works as a consultant for a geoduck hatchery operating near Courtney.

Grant grew up in Nanaimo.  His passion for aquaculture was sparked on a fourth grade field trip to the Nanaimo River Salmon Hatchery.  After he finished high school he completed the Fish Health Technician Program at Malaspina College.

His fourth grade passion came to fruition after graduation when he was hired by the Nanaimo River Hatchery to float down the river in a wet suit counting fish.  He says, “It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever had.”

Grant went on to spend three years as a health technician and caretaker at the United Hatchery in Fanny Bay.  He then spent ten years in the employ of Island Scallops marine hatchery.

At the time Island Scallops was the largest diversified hatchery in North America.  This is where Grant gained his shellfish expertise.  It was also where he met Ingrid, who we affectionately refer to as the ‘algae queen’ because of her unique ability to culture large quantities of single celled phytoplankton.

Salt Spring mussels are proudly featured on many BC restaurant menus and are universally raved about by chefs.  Grant developed an efficient hatchery process for mussel production in an effort to keep up with this ever-increasing demand. Under his management Island Sea Farms won an Mid Island Science and Technology award for being the first successful mussel company in BC history.

The Salt Spring hatchery uses broodstock from two different species of mussels.  They condition the brood to spawn ten months a year by manipulating the temperature and food in their tank.  Once the mussels spawn, Grant collects the fertilized eggs and grows them through a two-week larval stage. At this point the mussels are still microscopic zooplankton.

The tiny mussels are then moved to another tank where they go through metamorphosis and settle to grow on a rope made of coconut fiber.  They quickly come to resemble the shellfish you find on a local beach. After eight weeks, when they are two to three millimeters in length, they are transported to the Cortes Island to finish growing.

People don’t often realize that many of the shellfish species we enjoy eating in BC are not indigenous to our coastal waters but rather were brought here for farming purposes.  Grant says, “Pacific oysters originated in Japan, and the local Manila clam is from, you guessed it, Manila. The galloprovincialus species of mussel were first introduced to BC waters on the hull of Greenpeace’s flagship vessel the Rainbow Warrior when it was moored in Bamfield.”

Shellfish farms, though not without controversy, have some environmental benefits.  Mussels, like all bivalve filter feeders, continually clean the local waters.  Shellfish also require clean water to thrive.  Harsh chemical treatments and antibiotics are not used in shellfish farming. The animals eat a diet of natural phytoplankton almost their entire life.

Mussel rafts may also enhance biodiversity.  Recent environmental impact studies on Cortes Island found over a tone of other life forms thriving on the mussel rafts. The rafts also create a safe haven for small fish.

It’s not surprising then that many BC chefs promote farmed shellfish as a bright solar powered light in the movement for sustainably harvested seafood.

Salt Spring mussels are approved by the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and farmed mussels, clams and other shellfish are designated  ‘best choice’ by Sea Choice.

The issues surrounding sustainable seafood are extraordinarily complex. There is no one solution to the myriad of dilemmas facing ocean ecosystems.  Nonetheless, a simple lesson I’m absorbing is that not all aquaculture is bad for the environment.

BC based environmental campaigns opposing salmon farming have inadvertently tarred and feathered the entire aquaculture industry.  I worked for environmental groups in the nineties and realize I’m probably personally responsible for some of the rhetoric.

I continue to have serious concerns about the effects that salmon farms are having on the wild salmon stocks in coastal BC, and so will not serve farmed salmon it in my restaurant.  I’m also considering removing wild salmon from the Rock Salt Restaurant menus.

If we do remove wild salmon we might replace it with a sustainable, farmed fish like Arctic Char. I also intend to increase the diversity of sustainably farmed shellfish we serve at Rock Salt. I’m hesitant because I know convincing Salt Springers to eat any kind of farmed fish is likely beyond the public relations capabilities of my young servers.

I do however agree with Grant when he says, “The waters of the Pacific Northwest are relatively clean compared to the rest of the world.  We need to protect what we have left. Environmentally responsible farming practices are one way to meet the growing worldwide demand for seafood without overfishing wild populations.”