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Diego Ibarra — an instructor in the department of biology at Dalhousie University — said Canada has been slow to catch on to the aquaculture trend, perhaps because we have a strong fisheries industry that has overshadowed more innovative pursuits.

“Other countries have been ramping up production long before Canada, but now I think it’s catching on here,” Ibarra said.

Farming shrimp inland has its own environmental effects, Ibarra said, including the large amounts of salt and water required, and the sustainability concerns around the volumes of fish feed required for aquaculture.

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Still, he said these effects pale in comparison to the environmental price tag that comes with harvesting shrimp in Thailand and shipping it around the world. He added doing aquaculture on the Prairies also minimizes the chance that an unwelcome virus could spread from a fish farm to the ocean.

“When you’re doing sea water farming in a place where there’s no sea, it’s a lot safer,” Ibarra said. “I think it’s a great idea.”

Ranjan Pradhan, president of Shrimp Canada — an Ontario startup whose goal is to make inland shrimp production self-sustainable in that province — said there’s no reason Alberta couldn’t have a strong seafood farming industry.

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“You have greenhouses, so how is that any different?” Pradhan said. “It will be slow, but it is going to grow. People are getting familiar with the idea of local produce and are concerned about quality. There is very strong potential, that’s for sure.”

Waterford Farms held its grand opening on Wednesday. It is the second large-scale fish farm to open in the Calgary area in recent months. In late December, Deepwater Farms became the city’s first commercial aquaponics facility, raising leafy greens and freshwater fish such as sea bass in a warehouse-like facility.

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