Overwintering Carrying Capacity Study

Project Status: Completed

Funded by: Aquaculture Component of the Economic Renewal Agreement

Overview: In the winter of 1996, the Newfoundland Salmonid Growers Association (NSGA) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Science Branch set out to address issues related to the overwintering carrying capacity of the Bay D'Espoir region. The funding for this program was provided by the Aquaculture Component of the Canada-Newfoundland Branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The goal was to identify a production capacity for the three overwintering sites in the Bay D'Espoir region. This would not only provide industry with a perspective on the expansion potential but also address the issue of an extended environmental monitoring program. The overwintering carrying capacity is a multidisciplinary research program with the following components: the collection/archiving of existing data, a physical biological oceanoographic fields program, benthic studies, carrying capacity modeling, numeric circulation modeling and ice monitoring.

The Newfoundland Salmonid Growers Association is very pleased with the results to date. It has been determined that the largest overwintering site, Roti Bay, has the overwintering carrying capacity of approximately 9000 metric tonnes. The second overwintering at Vyce Cove has the capacity for approximately 1600 metric tonnes. The third overwintering site, Northwest Cove, is presently occupied by only one farm. The Bay D'Espoir salmonid aquaculture industry is presently producing approximately 2200 metric tonnes. Therefore, the salmonid aquaculture industry holds potential for an expansion of approximately 8400 metric tonnes. The results to date have also provided valuable baseline data, which can be monitored as the industry expands. The continuation of this program is presently being addressed and a proposal for an extension is being developed.

This project was able to leverage a variety of specialized services and expertise. The NSGA would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Geologic Survey of Canada and the Canadian Hydrographic Service for their work. In addition, the NSGA would like to extend appreciation to the work term students from the Marine Institute and Memorial University that were involved in this program.

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