Project Scale:
Design to be capable of 100 tonne annual production of Tilapia.

Where:
Courtenay, BC, Canada

When:
The first grow-out module was constructed and began producing fish in 2001. The facility has been slowly expanding production since then.

Project Description:
Redfish Ranch is the first tilapia production facility in BC. Tilapia is a warm water species that thrives under conditions that allow almost complete recirculation of the culture water. When completed, the facility will consist of an incubation cell, two fry rearing cells and two grow out cells capable of producing 100 tonnes of marketable fish - 50 tonnes twice per year.

Services Provided:
PR Aqua provided facility design, equipment supply, and construction phase design support.

Project Features:
To economically heat the culture water to 28°C despite the Canadian climate, all systems were designed as intensive Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), exchanging less than 5% of system volume per day, and were housed in an insulated building (by others).

Both fingerling and grow-out production systems were provided, each designed as a series of small modules each with independent water treatment. Filtration systems consisted of a combination of tank side and centralized treatment processes for solids removal, biofiltration, gas balancing and oxygenation. Low head microbead biofilters were used to reduce power requirements, and to meet with the specific water quality requirements of Tilapia.

Challenges and Solutions:
The economies of Tilapia production in Canada require that construction costs and recurring operating costs be minimized. As such, filtration systems were designed to minimize costs as much as possible. Small modular culture and treatment systems were used to allow the use of small, inexpensive and readily available filtration vessels. Low head technologies, such as microbead biofilters, and multiple pump loops with inexpensive low head pumps, were used to reduce energy costs.

Results:
Redfish Ranch has been successfully supplying tilapia to local markets since 2001. Since that time, PR Aqua has assisted in continued efforts to expanding production and achieve improved economies of scale at Redfish Ranch.