• Healthy Fish
  • Life Cycle of Farmed Salmon
  • Salmon Breeding
  • Improved Feeds
  • Salmon Farm Management
  • Salmon Health Management
  • Infectious Salmon Anemia
  • Sea Lice
  • Aquaculture Bay Management Areas
• Quality Assured
  • Introduction
  • The Healthy Salmon Program
  • The Quality Management Program
  • Traceability Program
  • Farmed Salmon: Safety Approved
  • Farmed Salmon is Safe
  • Carotenoids: Essential for Normal Growth and Development
• Healthy Communities
  • Healthy Communities
• Healthy Industry
  • Healthy Industry
  • Canadian Production of Atlantic Salmon
  • New Brunswick Production
• Delicious/Nutritious
  • Why are so many people choosing farmed salmon?
  • Availability
  • Affordable
  • Consistent High Quality
  • Versatility
  • Convenient
  • Nutritious
  • Buying and Storing Farmed Salmon
  • Cooking Farmed Salmon
  • Cooking Method Determines Type of Seasoning
• Healthy Environment
  • Sustainability through Cooperation
  • Site Selection and Monitoring
  • Healthy Sites
  • Feed Monitoring
  • Improved Feed Digestibility Reduces Waste
  • Sustainable Management of Wild Populations
  • Fish Containment

Salmon Farmers Invest in Green Technology

Press Release Well Boat Will Reduce Therapeutant Use and Improve Sea Lice Management St George – The Ronja Carrier, chartered from the Norwegian company Solvtrans, will be in the Bay of Fundy for the next six months to help salmon farmers control sea lice on salmon farms. Salmon will be carefully pumped from the farm enclosure into the hold of the well boat where they will be immersed in a mixture of seawater and approved therapeutant to remove sea lice, a naturally occurring parasite. Fish are then returned to their enclosure. ....View More

NB Salmon Farmers Trigger Over Half A Billion Dollars of Economic Activity Across Canada

Press Release St. George, NB – Based on three key indicators – GDP, employment and labour income a new socio-economic report commissioned by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans demonstrates how the Canadian aquaculture industry generates over $2 billion annually for the national economy with New Brunswick triggering over half a billion dollars of economic activity across Canada. ....View More

Sea Lice Research Development Workshop Report Jan 2010

In 2009 NB DAA, in support of the aquaculture industry, applied to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) for the Emergency Registration (ER) of two bath treatments, ALPHA MAX® and Salmosan®, as alternatives to SLICE® for sea lice treatment. ....View More

Life Cycle of Farmed Salmon

Farmed salmon begin their life cycle as eggs. Eggs are collected from adult salmon (known as broodstock) and are placed in temperature controlled tanks in a freshwater hatchery. After three months in the tanks the baby salmon, known as "alevins" hatch.

When alevins hatch they feed off their attached yolk sacs for about a month until the yolk sac is absorbed. At this point in their life the baby salmon are fed special food and are known as "fry".

After six months of being fed special food the fry become "parr" and acquire distinct skin markings. In the spring the small salmon (parr) are most often moved to large outdoor tanks. At this time in their lifecycle the parr undergo a physical change that allows them to be transferred from freshwater to seawater.

After 18 months in the outdoor tanks the parr have taken on a silvery appearance and are called "smolts". The average smolt is about 12cm long and weighs 100 grams. The smolts are sorted by size and are transferred to large cages that float in the Bay of Fundy. The cages rise and fall with the tide and are cleansed by the rushing tide water. A typical Bay of Fundy salmon farm has about 20 of these net cages. Each cage is approximately 8-10m deep and 70cm in circumference. Depending upon its size, a cage can hold between 10,000 and 15,000 smolts. Over the next 18 months, the smolts grow into adult salmon with a harvest weight of about 4.5kg.


The tiny 100 gram smolt, that just left the hatchery, are fed much smaller food than the up to 5 kilogram adults that have been swimming in the cages for the last year and a half. After the salmon weigh between 4 and 5 kilograms they are harvested, processed, and delivered to the market for the consumer to enjoy.

Like all farm animals, salmon need healthy living conditions and nutritious food in order to grow to maturity and yield high quality food products. Farmers, therefore, have a strong incentive to provide the best living conditions and food that science and technology can provide. By relying upon research in breeding, nutrition, husbandry and health, farmers have made rapid improvement in the care they provide for their fish. These improvements have significantly increased the number of farmed salmon that survive to maturity. Over the past 15 years, survival rates have improved and are now typically around 95%.