The project is led by Dr Thierry Chopin of the University of New Brunswick in Saint John and Dr Shawn Robinson of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St Andrews.

Dr Chopin and Dr Robinson are working with the salmon industry in New Brunswick to encourage the creation of 'whole ecosystem' farms. These farms involve multiple marketable species instead of single-species farms — an idea that stems back to ancient Chinese aquaculture techniques.

“What we are doing is relatively simple with salmon, mussels and seaweeds,” says Dr Chopin. “We will make it a little more complicated with sea cucumbers, sea urchins, worms and all these things. But really, it’s nothing more than recreating a balanced ecosystem, with species selected for their environmental functions and their commercial value.”

And this design has added benefits. According to Robinson, farming filter-feeding shellfish alongside salmon not only significantly reduces nutrients released from the fish pens, but also the possibility of virulent diseases like infectious salmon anemia. Reports from Norway’s Institute of Marine Research, suggest the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, can consume and inactivate the anemia virus with no ill effects to edibility of this shellfish.

The episode 'Dangerous Catch' is part of the National Geographic’s series 'Strange Days on Planet Earth'. The series is hosted by actor and environmental advocate Edward Norton.

The programme investigates the effects of over-fishing and the potential of environmentally responsible aquaculture practices.

"We’re still on the steep side of the learning curve when it comes to global aquaculture," the programme makers state. "Science and effective regulation have simply lagged behind booming entrepreneurship. Progress will require innovation from all directions."

This one-hour episode of a two-hour programme will be aired in North Ameriica tonight.

For more information go to www.pbs.org/strangedays

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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