Fish farm defends operations, land plan

As a fish farm, there's no doubt Icy Waters has a footprint on the city's water supply, with water flowing from the fish farm into Porter Creek and McIntyre Creek, says Icy Waters manager Jonathan Lucas.

As a fish farm, there’s no doubt Icy Waters has a footprint on the city’s water supply, with water flowing from the fish farm into Porter Creek and McIntyre Creek, says Icy Waters manager Jonathan Lucas.

During a Wednesday tour the Star took of the Fish Lake Road facility, which produces Arctic char, Lucas took issue with opponents who have spoken out against the country residential development Icy Waters is proposing for its land nearby because of phosphates they say Icy Waters is releasing into the water.

During a public hearing on the Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment needed for the development to go ahead, two opponents argued Icy Waters is releasing more phosphates than is permitted under its water licence, and that more phosphates will be released when homes are built off Fish Lake Road with the new lawns leaching more phosphates into the water system.

“We’re a farm; we obviously do some stuff,” Lucas said, referring to Icy Waters’ footprint on the water downstream.

That’s why the farm is required to follow a water licence and hasn’t released more than the allowable amount of phosphates into the water since 2005, he said.

It was argued by opponents that too many phosphates in the water system would destroy fish and other wildlife due to algae growth, which in turn decreases dissolved oxygen levels.

Following pipes from the main farm site up to a pond used for intake into the farm, Lucas pointed out the pond is already heavy with sediment and algae before it heads through the piping into the fish farm.

The recent rainfall has increased and stirred up the sediment, which raises the amount of phosphates in the water.

“It’s not clear water,” he said.

Following the piping back to the fish farm, Lucas notes too much silt and phosphates in the water are a detriment to Icy Waters.

Looking into some of the fish tanks, he noted when there is significant silt in the water, it gets into the chars’ gills, stressing the fish out to the point they don’t eat.

At this time of year, it’s extremely important for the fish to eat properly with their main growth period from April to October.

Lucas estimates the company lost somewhere around $5,000 in feeding on Tuesday when the fish weren’t eating due to the heavy silt level.

On a monthly basis, the 23 tonnes of food cost $30,000 along with the additional $7,000 it costs to transport the trailer full of fish food from Vancouver to Whitehorse.

The food is made primarily for Atlantic salmon, the most widely farmed fish. Having such a small facility, Lucas commented it wouldn’t be feasible for food producers to come up with a specific Arctic char recipe.

The food situation means a bit of experimenting for Icy Waters. While producers claim the salmon grow larger with an oily food, tests so far at Icy Waters seem to indicate it doesn’t make a difference to how fast char can mature.

That works out well for the company because the price of food rises with the amount of oil in it.

While that experiment takes place, Icy Waters is also continuing its partnership with the National Research Council in looking at which of two strains of char are more resistent to disease. Inside the smaller tanks at the facility, fish swim in the same tanks as dead fish, as part of the
ongoing project that will eventually tell farms like Icy Waters which strain of char to breed.

Along with partnering with a national body, a partnership has also developed with a university in France to bring students in to work on the farm through the summer as part of a co-op program.

While that work continues, so does the preparations for the residential development.

Standing on the walkway that runs along the top of the larger, above-ground outdoor tanks, Lucas pointed to the hill separating the farm from the remainder of the land owned by Icy Waters along Fish Lake Road.

The hill will act like a barrier for neighbours, with Haeckel Hill also serving as a residential location.

Many Whitehorse residents often don’t realize how much land off Fish Lake Road is owned by Icy Waters, Lucas pointed out, noting the property was sold off by a former mine and came as a whole with Icy Waters using only a portion of it.

Pointing to piles of older materials used by the farm, he said it is likely what was referred to during the public hearing as an “eyesore”.

As he also pointed out, though, many of the items were scavenged through last year and the items sit on the company’s private property away from the main road.

It does run along a trail often used by the public, though the land is owned by Icy Waters.

The company recognizes the importance of the trail system, he said, pointing out it often hosts sled-dog races through the winter with a few happening in the summer with the dogs pulling carts.

Among the sites to be developed, one would be used for staff housing, he said.

A report is set to come forward to city council in August that will address the public hearing and, in particular, deal with the arguments on the phosphate levels, prior to council voting on the final two readings of the OCP amendment.

The properties would then have to go through zoning and subdivision approvals before work could begin.