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Field Sites

Deep Bay Field Station

To complement its Nanaimo research facility, the CSR is developing a Shellfish Aquaculture Research and Training Farm in Deep Bay, BC. This field site will be used as a platform to field test CSR research results – as well as for training, technology development and public education.

Overhead map

Overhead map of Deep Bay in Baynes Sound , BC . Green area shows site of future CSR field site; blue areas denote CSR shellfish tenures.

The Centre for Shellfish Research and the associated Deep Bay Field Station will become the foundation to grow a sustainable and profitable industry in BC. By clustering social, economic, environmental and scientific programming in one facility, we hope to create a centre of excellence and innovation that commands the attention of the world’s shellfish growers and consumers.

Deep Bay Field Site

 

 

 

 

Site of Deep Bay Field Station

An Expanded Field Station

This Field Station is anticipated to complement the core CSR laboratory by taking its research into the real-world environment for proof-of-concept application and commercialization.  For example, CSR is currently developing culture techniques for the Native cockle, an important species for First Nations.

wood building
Field Station Building design

CSR has raised an initial $3.3 million for construction of the Field Station’s core research infrastructure, including a small lab and a working shellfish farm.  CSR is now committed to raising additional funding to build a multi-use facility to expand the Field Station’s programs and activities into industry training, community outreach, and tourism and marketing. This expanded mandate of the Field Station — beyond scientific research and technological innovation — will help to foster a fully integrated strategy to grow the industry from the farm to the fork. The activity in this new facility will fall under three new programs:

Key New Programs

  • Training. CSR currently runs 17 courses for industry and First Nation training in shellfish farm husbandry and has received funding to launch the Coastal Citizens Shellfish Aquaculture Training program. Training will also include leadership camps for First Nations seeking to establish sustainable economic development ventures in their communities and First Nations Youth Shellfish Camps for young adults. The Field Station needs a multi-use facility with classrooms and seminar rooms to deliver this on-site training in a real world environment.

  • Community Outreach. The rural area surrounding the Field Station is predicted to grow by 10,000 to 20,000 residents over the next two decades - a significant challenge to the marine environment (especially water quality). Because shellfish are filter feeders and depend on pristine water, they are considered the “canaries of coastal health”. By monitoring water quality and the health of shellfish reared nearby, the Field Station will serve as an early warning system for detecting impending environmental impacts from terrestrial and marine developments. The Field Station, which plans to employ green-building technology, will serve as a model of how various coastal and marine activities can coexist harmoniously. Through kindergarten to grade 12 learning experiences and community outreach (including culinary seafood seminars), the Field Station will promote sustainable development and the integrated use of the marine environment. A 2,000-year-old Aboriginal midden nearby also provides the opportunity to educate the public about the ancient history of shellfish farming in B.C. Read the Archaeological Report

  • Tourism and Marketing. Culinary tourists are quickly becoming one of the fastest growing niche markets in the tourism industry. Roquefort. Champagne. Dijon. Cognac. These places have become synonymous with culinary delicacies—cheese, wine, mustard and liqueur, respectively. Closer to home, the Okanagan Valley has recently become renowned for wine. The Field Station, with its picturesque locale, is the ideal spot to build a British Columbia shellfish brand amongst international gourmands and tourists. The Field Station has exceptional opportunities to provide cultural and culinary offerings to independent travelers and tour groups alike. It could become part of a local cultural and eco-tourism network involving the Milner Gardens, Clayoquot Biosphere project, Tofino Botanical Gardens , Bamfield Marine Science Centre and numerous Aboriginal tourism operators on Vancouver Island.

Growing global demand for sustainable seafood, increased environmental awareness and ever more tourists looking for experiential, life-enriching holidays augurs well for the future of BC’s shellfish industry. The Deep Bay Field Station will be the only facility of its kind in Canada that brings together scientific research, industry training, community outreach, and tourism and marketing in an integrated way. By housing these activities under one roof, CSR hopes to speed up the transfer of laboratory and field research into commercial innovations that will create a more sustainable shellfish industry and fulfill its mandate:  “Creating Wealth from Knowledge.”

Deep Bay Field Station takes shellfish research into the future