Samonix salmon farm still awaiting key approvals

Sophie Demers 

Samonix, a salmon farm slated for the Pontiac Industrial Park, is still waiting on approvals from Hydro Quebec and Quebec's Environment Ministry’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement. 

According to Rémi Bertrand, Samonix’ senior director of project development, they're hoping for answers in the next few weeks. Samonix may then be able to make important announcements about the project. The project isn't asking for any special considerations and is working within the parameters set by the provincial government.

The salmon farm construction, which requires between 80 and 100 acres of land, will include a water treatment facility and a 13-acre main building where about 12,000 metric tons of salmon will be farmed annually. Samonix aims to be the largest producer of Atlantic salmon in land-based aquaculture facilities in Eastern Canada, marketing to local and international markets. 

The company will use innovative technology to farm salmon in large pools. A Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) will recirculate water using an advanced filtration and water treatment system to ensure it's free of contaminants or bacteria. 

Samonix is a majority Outaouais company that solicited expert partners to work on the project: Smart Salmon, a Norwegian company with expertise in salmon raising; Smogenlax, a Swedish company specializing in the water treatment system they'll use; and Aquamaof, an Israeli company specializing in the technology needed for the operation.   

“Quebec’s goal of producing as close to a hundred percent of food within the province includes this type of fresh-water safe fish farms,” explains one investor.