ure is planning to start producing its own feed at its yellow perch fish farm.The company has applied for a zoning variance to install equipment for a feed mill, which is not a “permitted use” in the farming zone.
The application to the Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals says raw materials will be brought on site — 11550 E. Gregory Road — to be mixed and then baked.
Because the new feed mill would produce more than Bell needs, the company plans to sell excess feed to other fish farms. The equipment would be installed in an existing barn. Silos to hold the grain and other natural products to create the feed would conform to development requirements in the farming zone.
“Permitted uses” in the farming zone include crops, livestock, barns and sawmills but not “manufacturing,” said Fred Daniel, a planner for the BZA.
The new equipment would not generate dust, odor or noise, Bell says.
Already the nation’s largest yellow perch farm, Bell has plans to expand, according to information included in the application.
The BZA is scheduled to vote on the application at its meeting on Feb. 27.
Bell also sells a soil fertilizer, Fish Rich, made from the remains of the perch raised and processed at its facilities.
Bell’s perch, sold as fillets and nuggets, is rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program as a “best choice,” a category of seafood that is abundant, well-managed and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways.
The only scoring criterion for which Bell Aquaculture does not receive a “green” ranking from Seafood Watch is its feed.
“The feed criterion scored moderately, due to a lack of available data,” Seafood Watch reported after studying Bell in November of 2012. “Some communication was made with Zeigler Feeds (Gardner, Pa.), the company that supplies feed to Bell Aquaculture, however, they could not disclose all the required information due to proprietary laws ...”
Zeigler produces fish food pellets containing marine protein and oil products, processed grain and vegetable products, processed poultry by-products, vitamins and minerals.
The farm-raised fish and shrimp sector remains highly dependent upon marine capture ?sheries for key dietary nutrient inputs, including fish meal and fish oil.
Bell’s effluent, habitat, chemical use, husbandry, biosecurity, disease, source and escape criteria all received “green” rankings from Seafood Watch.
