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 BLACKCOD OVERVIEW
Blackcod
Over the past eight years, ISL has also developed proprietary hatchery technology for the production of sablefish ("blackcod") juveniles. We believe that sablefish will be the next species, after salmon, for successful large-scale commercial farming. Sablefish, which is a premium-quality whitefish with a delicate texture and moderate flavor, is an ideal substitute for Chilean sea bass (currently over-fished in all oceans).
The hatchery infrastructure is in place to produce 100,000 juvenile sablefish annually. Given the current undersupply of sablefish, the company plans to begin sablefish production and rapidly expand into both ocean and onshore farming of sablefish. To date, ISL has marketed a limited number of live sablefish into the Vancouver market. Initial response has been excellent for a small 1-kilogram live sablefish ($10/kg). The ISL sablefish competes very favorably with the live rockfish market.
Blackcod Facilities Expansion
To capitalize on ISL's breakthrough sablefish hatchery technology and our existing juvenile production capabilities, a portion of the offering's proceeds will be used to rapidly expand our existing blackcod production capabilities. We plan to construct a new blackcod hatchery consisting of the following:
- A separate broodstock building with six larval tanks and two spawning and maturation tanks. The larval tanks will be under light and temperature regimes and have separated sand filter, foam fractionation, bio filter and central chilling systems. The spawning and brood maturation tanks will maintain seawater at 6 degrees C and ambient salinity.
- An egg and yolk sac incubation area will be located within the main hatchery building. The area will include 20 tanks with a large reservoir of chilled seawater, an improved reverse osmosis system and foam fractionation and UV systems. In addition, an overhead crane or a tank transport system will be added to facilitate the movement of yolk sac larvae to the larval room.
- A rotifer incubation and enrichment system will also be constructed within the new hatchery. The system will consist of a double row of six 9-ft rotifer tanks with corresponding seawater and heat exchangers and enrichment tanks.
- A larval area consisting of six 12-ft tanks and six 10-ft tanks will also be housed within the new hatchery. The area will be capable of stocking over one million larvae during each production cycle.
- A juvenile rearing section with twelve 12-ft tanks will also be situated within the new hatchery.
- The hatchery will include separate office and lab spaces.
As production and sales increase, ISL will continue to expand its production capability by constructing a four-hectare onshore tank farm consisting of up to 150 12-ft tanks and associated recirculation systems. This area will be used to augment our juvenile rearing area and will house and grow juvenile fish.
Economic Potential for Blackcod
At the present time, worldwide "non-farming" sablefish catches are struggling to meet the worldwide demand (Source: DFOWeb, NPFMCWeb and Pacific Fishery Management Council Website). Currently, there are only two hatchery facilities (Island Scallops Ltd. and Sablefin Hatcheries Inc.) which have produce sablefish juveniles. Current production is only approximately 100,000 juveniles per year. Based on our analysis of present market conditions, increasing worldwide hatchery production tenfold (to roughly 1 million 3-kg sablefish) would fill less than 10% of the current world demand shortfall. Although ISL's expanded blackcod facilities are expected to reach a production of three million sablefish within the next four years, this will fill less than 30% of the overall shortfall. The economic potential for sablefish is therefore considerable.
Given these market conditions and opportunities, ISL decided in 1996 to pursue the development of hatchery technology and is now poised to exploit the farming of this species by developing offshore and onshore sablefish farms. Given the current sablefish market price and production costs, a us $5.3 million investment over four years (for hatcheries and farm production) is anticipated to produce approximately $41.0 million in new revenue through 2009.
Harvesting 1 kilogram sablefish
Blackcod Overview
Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), often called blackcod although not a member of the cod family, is an elongate fish with two dorsal fins and an anal fin similar to and opposite the second dorsal fin. Adults are black or greenish gray, usually with slightly paler blotches or chain-like pattern on the upper back. At 30-61 cm in size they are often greenish with faint stripes on the back.
Sablefish inhabit shelf and slope waters in depths greater than 4,500 ft., from Baja California to the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea. The larger populations of sablefish are centered in northern B.C. and the Gulf of Alaska. Adults favor mud bottoms and feed on benthic invertebrates, squid and numerous fish species. In turn, they are prey for halibut, lingcod, hagfishes and marine mammals such as sea lions. In addition, killer whales have been known to take sablefish from long line gear as it is being retrieved.
Blackcod Growth Profile
Sablefish spawn from January to March along the continental shelf at depths of 800 to 2400 ft. Fecundity ranges from 60,000-200,000 eggs per female, reaching up to one million eggs for a102-cm fish.
Larval sablefish are found in surface waters over the shelf and slope in April and May. Juveniles are highly migratory with significant movement from nursery areas in northern B.C. to the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Sablefish move to deeper waters as they mature. Growth is rapid with sizes at maturity reaching 52-61 cm for five year-old males and 58-71 cm for five to seven year-old females. Sablefish growth appears to be rapid for the first three to five years and slow asymptotically thereafter. Annual natural mortality of adults has been estimated to be about 10 percent.
Blackcod Farming
ISL plans to raise sablefish onshore using shallow ponds or above ground tanks. This system has been successful in Texas for the culture of catfish. Tests have shown that sablefish prove to be very hardy when grown in ponds and have the added advantage of being parasite free. Wild sablefish carry a parasite that does not allow the fish to be eaten raw. (All wild product is frozen.) Island Scallops has already demonstrated the feasibility of onshore sablefish farming and is now poised to capitalize on the farming of blackcod by developing enhanced onshore farms.
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 SCALLOPS BLACK COD  OVERVIEW GENERAL FISHERIES |
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