As consumers continue to look for healthier options for meals, Edgewater Foods International Inc. (EDWT.OB) has a variety of seafood for those on the west coast of North America. Edgewater is the parent company of Island Scallops Ltd. (ISL), a Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) aquaculture company that focuses exclusively on providing seafood items produced in private hatcheries and grown on ocean farm sites.
ISL was established in 1989 to commercialize the Canadian government’s research on the development of scallop aquaculture and was acquired by Edgewater in June 2005 through a non-taxable merger. Over the last 15 years, ISL has been committed to rapidly expanding production while continuing to finance its growth and maintain a healthy marine environment.
At this time, the Pacific scallop is the only product that ISL produces, grows, processes and markets. As the concept of scallop farming is new to North America, ISL is the only producer of both live-farmed Pacific scallops and live sablefish (or black cod) at this time. The ISL hatchery operations have grown and diversified to produce a variety of other shellfish including Pacific oyster, European flat oyster, Manila clam, geoduck clam, eastern blue mussel, Mediterranean mussel, rock scallop, and sea urchin, all of which are sold to third-party shellfish farms.
The ISL facility continues to make strides into expanding its capabilities. Over an eight year period, ISL researched a variety of techniques required to mature, spawn, incubate and rear the larvae of sablefish. The team’s dedication to the effort even produced a proprietary technology to resolve issues faced with egg and yolk sac incubation. The company’s focus has been rewarded by becoming the first hatchery to successfully produce sablefish juveniles for commercial grow-out to third-party farmers. The company continues its efforts to expand seafood production by collaborating with Japanese and Moroccan fisheries and investigating best-practice methods to culture halibut, spot prawn, sea urchin and abalone.
With its environmentally friendly business model and dedication to producing high-quality seafood, ISL continues to be a leader in marine hatchery technology. The company should be able to fulfill consumers’ demand for seafood for years to come.
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