Everything from eggs to harvest happens indoors at the Nordic Aquafarms facility. Fish swim in pipes from the hatchery/smolt facility to the grow-out buildings. When the fish grow and the stock is divided into more tanks, the fish are transferred through pipes within the buildings. Before harvest, the fish swim through underground pipes to the purge and processing facility where they are harvested and processed.

 

No. Nordic will not be discharging any effluent into the bay. Fully treated and filtered water will be discharged 1.55 miles into the ocean using an existing outflow pipe currently used by the Samoa waste water treatment facility, and the DG Fairhaven facility.

No. Nordic engaged renowned Tsunami expert Dr. Gary Chock to assess the site and make recommendations on how to build a safe, structurally sound and escape proof facility. Study results confirm that a 2,500 year tsunami event will not overtop or breach our fish tanks or result in the escape of any fish from the facility.

Nordic will be raising all fish inside buildings in closed tanks on land. Nordic uses recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) that treats water from the fish tanks so it can be reused within the tank. Nordic raises the fish in sea water in its grow-out tanks. This dramatically reduces the amount of freshwater required to produce salmon at the facility.

RAS features:

• All production takes place indoors.
• Water is recirculated and continuously treated to maintain good water quality for the fish.
• Water exchange is maintained through intake and discharge of moderate volumes of water per pound of fish.
• Feeding, light, water quality, and temperature are constantly monitored and optimized.
• Production staff have close contact with fish to monitor health and welfare.
• Back-up systems ensure reliable operations.

While lights are used inside the facility to create a stable environment for our fish, the facility does not include windows or skylights that allow light to escape at night. Walking paths will be lit with downward facing lights for employee safety. Most entrances and walking paths are in between buildings.

Humboldt County is uniquely positioned with infrastructure necessary to support RAS and other aquaculture facilities – presenting an opportunity to grow this important industry cluster on the West Coast.

The North Coast offers:

• Clean, abundant fresh and sea water
• An existing industrial water line that can deliver fresh water from the Mad River directly to the project site
• Existing sea water intakes (sea chests) that can be utilized to deliver sea water to the Nordic facility
• An existing outflow pipe that can be utilized to discharge filtered, disinfected effluent water into the ocean 1.5 miles off shore
• The community has a strong fisheries heritage, academic institutions and interest in environmentally responsible emerging technologies and innovation.
• California has a good reputation of quality, sustainability and food safety.