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Career Pro le
Salmon Farmer
Kirstyn Nygren
Not all farmers drive tractors or work in barns. In fact, salmon farmer Kirstyn Nygren spends more than half the year oating off the coast of remote Nootka Sound, British Columbia. But she doesn’t mind the solitude. After all, she has as many as 700,000 Atlantic salmon to keep her occupied, not to mention a breathtaking view of the Paci c Ocean.
Nygren grew up shing with her family, and loves spending time outdoors, which is essential to
her job as the Assistant Manager of one of Grieg Seafood’s open-net salmon farms. The ocean can be unpredictable, so you have to be able to “roll with the punches and adapt quickly,” explained Nygren. She has a B.Sc. in Marine Biology and Oceanography, and especially enjoys environmental monitoring, like taking plankton samples and testing water conditions. Fish farmers come from all kinds of backgrounds, but the one thing they have in common is a “respect for the environment that they work and live in,” says Nygren.
Bison, elk, rabbits, and more
Beyond the traditional farm animals to which we’ve just introduced you, Canadian farmers also raise many other types of animals on
their farms, especially for consumers who
are looking for more diverse food choices including deer, elk, bison, rabbit, and duck,
for meat. Wool from alpacas and llamas is prized for its cashmere-like softness, and some farmers milk water buffalo to produce specialty cheeses like buffalo mozzarella.
Horses
In Canada, most horses are used for recreation, but many also work on ranches to help move and manage livestock. Horses eat grass, hay, oats, corn, and barley.
Atlantic salmon farm
Fish farming
Canada has the world’s longest coastline, the world’s largest freshwater system, and the world’s largest tidal range, so it’s little surprise that aquaculture—also called sh farming—is a natural choice for our country.
Canadian sh farmers raise more than a dozen types of sh and shell sh. The main three species of n sh raised are salmon, rainbow trout, and arctic char; mussels and oysters are the most common types of shell sh farmed in Canada.
B.C.’s salmon industry supports approximately 7,000 jobs, and contributes about $1.5 billion to the province’s economy every year. Three-quarters of the salmon harvested in B.C. every year are raised on farms. Environmental and social sustainability are a priority, and the majority of B.C. salmon farms are certi ed, or are working towards certi cation, in independent, globally-recognized standards for salmon production59.
Aqua-what? Growing plants with fish
Some vertical farms that grow plants indoors are also raising sh – and using the waste from the sh as fertilizer for the plants. It’s an approach to sustainable, circular farming called aquaponics.
Grieg Seafood BC
How big are animals really?
Here are some approximate weights of an average, fully-grown male of some common animal species:
Bison 907 kg
Goat 70to90kg
Pig 120 kg
Elk
420 to 600 kg
Chicken 1.8 to 2.2 kg
Turkey 12to14kg
Sheep 55to125kg
Thoroughbred horse 408 to 498 kg
Beef steer 680 kg
Chapter 3: Farm Animals 23