Creative Salmon staff, along with visiting Tla-o-qui-aht Ambassadors monitor the smolt delivery.
Creative Salmon’s egg-to-plate process is underpinned by the company’s ability to raise its own smolts at its own facility—Sea Spring Hatchery in Chemanius. Sea Spring is where the fish grow until they are smolted (a physiological process) and are ready for transport to Creative’s ocean pens.
For one group of Creative smolts, this journey happened in June.
Ready for transfer to salt water, the smolts were transported from Chemainus to the Eagle Bay farm site in Tofino. According to Alvin Mati, Creative’s Eagle Bay Site Manager who led the delivery, the smolts arrived happy, healthy, and free of diseases and parasites.
“It went very smoothly,” says Alvin, “one of the best I have ever been involved with. The smolts are settling into their new home and are taking well to feeding.” The transfer happened under permit from the Department of Fisheries and Ocean, which has a rigorous transfer application, fish health screening, and review process.
Creative’s capable crew will continue to help the fish grow until they are ready for harvest in summer 2023.
