Closed System Aquaculture (CSA) is defined as, “Any system of fish production that creates a controlled interface between the culture (fish) and the natural environment.”¹

Closed containment offers a promising solution to many of the problems caused by open net-cage farming. In closed containment systems, there is a barrier between the farmed fish and the marine environment. This barrier helps protect the environment and its wild stocks from the wastes, disease, parasites, and other impacts of industrial salmon farming.

CAAR supports the move to closed-containment systems for salmon aquaculture in BC. Based on the results of initial trials and of reviews of similar closed system technology, closed containment in BC should eliminate:

• solid waste to the marine environment
• contamination of the area under the tanks
• escapes from the rearing facility
• marine mammal deaths due to interactions with farmed fish and nets

Closed systems will help control:

• disease and parasite (e.g. sea lice) transfer between wild and farmed fish
• detrimental effects on farmed fish from algae blooms

Closed systems may also significantly reduce:

• water column pollution
• feed waste
• the need for antibiotics and chemical treatments of the fish

Read more about the Economic Case for Closed Containment, Containment Technology, Closed Containment in BC and Examples of Closed Systems.

Read the 2008  report, Thriving Economies, Healthy Oceans, a summary of a Global Assessment of Closed System Aquaculture (summary pdf), (80 page pdf).