Fish farming project in Bécancour | An investment of 102 million blocked by Quebec

A major “highly eco-responsible” terrestrial trout farming project in the Centre-du-Québec region could be abandoned because it has been stuck in the administrative maze of the Quebec Ministry of the Environment for more than three years.

The CanAqua group aims to build the largest fish farm in Quebec in the Bécancour industrial and port park, where approximately 800,000 rainbow trout would be raised, i.e. an annual production of 3,000 tonnes.

The $102 million project is called Wôlinak Aquaculture, after the Abenaki community of Wôlinak, in Bécancour, which holds a 5% interest in the joint venture formed for the occasion – Wôlinak means “the river with long detours” in Abenaki.

A second phase would eventually double production.

But the project risks falling through, as the procedures for obtaining environmental authorization are dragging on, deplores the CanAqua group.

“I’m not saying there have to be shortcuts, but we’re in our fourth year [de démarches] laments Guy Bouchard, president of CanAqua, a Côte-Nord company that presents itself as “the Canadian leader in eco-responsible aquaculture”.

The two-and-a-half-year purchase option that CanAqua had on the land of the Bécancour industrial and port park expired on April 30, and land there is becoming scarce with the Legault government’s desire to develop the Quebec battery sector to electrify transport.

“It shows that this extraordinarily long delay is compromising our project,” regrets Mr. Bouchard, who finds the slowness of the process “difficult to understand”.

A scary project

Wôlinak Aquaculture took steps in January 2020 with the various ministries concerned, including that of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) and submitted its application for authorization in June 2021. environmental, a document of 200 pages accompanied by 3800 pages of studies and analyzes in appendix, she says.

“It’s the core license”, which makes it possible to obtain the others, including that of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), explains Guy Bouchard.

The MELCCFP has since sent three requests for clarification, the last of which dates back to March 31 and totaled 63 pages.

“I have the impression that we will never see the end of all this, that we will never be able to sufficiently reassure the scientists of the Ministry of the Environment, who see in this project something enormous” , says Mr. Bouchard.

CanAqua maintains that the MELCCFP is asking it for “things that do not exist”, such as a modeling of the odors of its project, which “has never been done by any fish farming site” and for which there is therefore no data available, says Mr. Bouchard.

Guy Bouchard believes that the size of the project, “unprecedented in Quebec”, scares the Ministry of the Environment, but points out that it is a very small project compared to fish farms that are being built abroad. , whose annual production ranges from 25,000 to 100,000 tons.

The MELCCFP did not respond to questions from The Press at the time of this writing.

“Highly eco-responsible” project

The Wôlinak Aquaculture fish farming project would use the RAS2020 fish farming system from the multinational Veolia, “the technology that leaves the lowest environmental footprint in the world”, indicates Guy Bouchard.

“It is a technology that has proven itself” for more than six years, which is used in Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, he underlines.

The facilities would consist of a plant to treat water before and after use, a hatchery for fish birth, two grow-out tanks and a processing plant.

This system in a closed land environment allows reuse of 99.6% of the water, filters 99% of fish waste and thus “very clearly exceeds the environmental requirements” concerning the release of contaminants into the water, such as phosphorus, points out CanAqua.

“The discharged water will be of higher quality overall than the pumped water,” the company’s documentation says.

In addition, fish farming in a closed environment avoids the vagaries of the weather, predators and viruses, parasites or pathogens, which reduces losses and limits the use of chemicals, in addition to reducing the risk of fish escape to zero. breeding in the environment.

Food autonomy

The Wôlinak Aquaculture project responds to the main priorities of the Legault government, lists Guy Bouchard: it would create around thirty good direct jobs, it involves the First Nations, it is part of the green economy and, above all, it promotes food self-sufficiency. .

“We would reduce imports by about 50%”, indicates Guy Bouchard, affirming that this would not encroach on the market of the few existing fish farms in Quebec, such as the Ferme piscicole des Bobines, in Estrie, whose production annual is 210 tons of trout.

Wôlinak also plans to export its fish to northeastern North America and to the Asian market.

“The planet is short of fish, I have no market stakes,” said Mr. Bouchard, pointing out that the market for salmonids (salmon, char and trout) has grown by 5% on average for 17 years. . “It’s an extremely strong market. »