Introducing Mowi Canada West Farm Tour 360°
Mowi Canada West is using the latest in 360° digital technology to bring visitors to a remote salmon farm in British Columbia like never before. Farm Tour 360° follows aquaculture technician Samatha Tomkinson (Sam) through her daily life on the farm. Along the way, visitors are immersed in the wild environment that is home to Mowi’s salmon farms in western Canada and taken through a day in the life of a salmon farmer raising salmon to the strictest environmental standards as set by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).
The Farm Tour 360° experience begins much like an actual farm tour, flying into a remote location ideally suited for marine aquaculture. Visitors will see the beauty and expanse of the Traditional Territory of the Gwa’sala-Naxwada’xw Nations off the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the farming site known as Shelter Pass. Upon arriving at Shelter Pass salmon farm, viewers will be introduced to Sam who will guide the tour.
Sam has been working with Mowi Canada West for since May 2018. She began her career as an aquaculture technician at Shelter Pass and has subsequently moved to Mowi Canada West’s Certification Department where she works with all of the company’s farmers to ensure they are meeting the strict standards of the ASC and Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices Certification. Sam is originally from Muskoka Ontario Canada and holds a Bachelors of Science in biology and physical geography from Wilfrid Laruier University in Waterloo Ontario, which she followed up with an aquaculture diploma from Sir Sanford Fleming College in Peterborough Ontario.
“I am very proud to work at Mowi Canada West and be able to lead our virtual visitors through the Farm Tour 360° experience,” said Sam. “I don’t think people realize what life on a salmon farm is like, all of the different things we do on a farm, how much we use our education to understand our environment and the conditions we are raising our salmon in”.
Sam is just beginning her career in aquaculture and sees Farm Tour 360° as a great way for Mowi to connect with younger audiences who might be interested in the industry.
Mowi commissioned award-winning Vancouver B.C. based Perspective Films, a full-service 360° immersive virtual reality studio, to bring the farm tour to the visitor in a real and authentic way.
“While we are using cutting edge technology to showcase a salmon farm in beautiful British Columbia, the key to this project was to connect with the tour visitor in a real and personal way,” said Perspective Films Founder and CEO Chris Bedyk. “When I visited the farm it was really different from what I expected. I met Sam, I knew she would be the perfect person to tell Mowi’s story”.
Farm Tour 360° will make its debut in at the Annual Convention of the Union of BC Municipalities in Vancouver B.C. Wednesday September 25th to Friday September 27th, 2019 giving local government leaders in B.C. an opportunity to travel to a Mowi farm from the BC Salmon Farmers Association booth at the UBCM Exhibition.