A new land-based steelhead farming operation in British Columbia planned for a defunct lumber mill is getting closer to approval from regulators, another baby step in the province's move toward more land-based salmon growout projects.

Gold River Aquafarms, headed by land-based industry expert Rob Walker, is planned for the former site of the Gold River lumber mill, which closed in the later 1990s.

If approved, the project could produce 3,000 metric tons of fish annually of around 3-4 kilograms each, Walker told IntraFish.