Mushroom facility becoming fish farm
Thursday, October 11, 2012
by BETTER FARMING STAFF
A project to transform a former mushroom substrate composting facility in Thames Centre, Middlesex County, into an indoor fish farm is about 40 per cent complete, says its manager.
Preparation of the future home of Sand Plains Aquaculture began early last spring and construction on the hatchery began in May says Sean Pressey, who manages the facility owned by Ewart, Edward and Murray McLaughlin. Ewart and Edward own E. & E. McLaughlin Ltd., a company that specializes in property redevelopment.
“We have fish in the system and on the way,” says Pressey. The larger tanks to grow the fish are being constructed. “As fish are coming out of the hatchery they’re being put in tanks and construction guys are keeping ahead of us as far as having tanks finished and ready to grow.”
Once complete, the goal is to produce between one and 1.2 million pounds a year of tilapia fish or roughly 800,000 fish for the live market in Toronto, says Pressey. U.S. growers currently supply that market.
Tilapia is a warm-water fish that originated in the Nile in Egypt and is grown world wide. Pressey describes them as mild tasting and says consumer interest is growing steadily.
Today, during an onsite presentation, Joe Preston, Elgin-Middlesex-London MP, announced the federal government’s contribution of more than $1.4 million to the project.
That amount includes a $1 million loan from Agriculture Canada’s Sand Plains Community Development Fund, and grants of $415,000 and $20,000 from, respectively, the Fisheries and Oceans Canada aquaculture innovation and market access program and the National Research Council’s industrial research assistance program.
A federal news release that followed the announcement puts the total cost of the building refurbishment at $5 million.
It’s the first land-based recirculating tilapia farm in Ontario, Ewart McLaughlin states in the federal news release. "We are very pleased with the contributions from all of our partners. We have a great team that has worked hard to bring this project to fruition,” he says. BF