Delivering handsomely on flavor, sole is a highly-prized food fish and therefore has weighty commercial importance. However, due to concerns about the pressure on wild stocks, fishing effort has been scaled back significantly in the past two decades.
In addition to a 50 percent cut in the global sole catch – from a peak of almost 70,000 metric tons (MT) in 1994 to less than 35,000 MT in 2011, more recent efforts to manage EU sole stocks have seen the bloc’s combined total allowable catches (TACs) cut from 30,000 MT in 2012 to 20,000 MT this year, with less than 15 percent coming from fishing grounds considered to be “healthy.”
Recognizing the opportunity brought by a perceived supply void in the European market of around 40,000 MT, Iberian company Sea8 has set about establishing itself as a front runner in the farming of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) and is seeing its product being lapped up by key southern European markets.
“At Sea8, we believe that there’s a real opportunity to fill a very significant supply gap with a premium quality sustainably farmed fish,” said Andre Bravo, business director at Sea8.
“The market has responded extremely well to both the quality of the product and the service level we offer our customers. Sea8 sole is currently sold directly in Portugal and Spain, and very soon in other European markets.”
The company supplies its fish to retail and cash-and-carry chains, foodservice companies, catering businesses and also with some local restaurants, covering pretty much the whole spectrum of channels to market, while the still relatively high price of the product naturally places it at a premium level.
Right for RAS
Senegalese sole is a very similar fish to the common or Dover sole (Solea solea) and both are globally regarded as the two premium sole species, explained Bravo.
“While not without its very significant challenges, of the two premium species the Senegalese sole has so far proved to be most adaptable to farming conditions, revealing interesting performance indicators across its whole life cycle, from broodstock to market size,” he said.
In order to create a hatchery and grow-out facilities, Valencia-based Sea8 acquired the two Portuguese companies, Safiestela and Aquacria, in 2012. What followed was the design of sophisticated husbandry methods for the species, including tailor-made infrastructure and water treatment systems that would provide the ideal environment for broodstock, larvae and fry.
All of its production is based on water recirculation technology (RAS), which Sea8 has been developing and fine-tuning specifically for sole in collaboration with a specialist partner.
This approach has allowed the company to maintain the fish in a very clean, safe and comfortable environment where disease, pollution and predators are absent and fish performance is “always at its best,” said Bravo.
“For the last three-and-a-half years we have been working very hard to bridge the knowledge and experience gap ahead of our competitors,” he said. “Today, we know that we can breed top quality sole fry in a stable and predictable fashion. We know that we have the right technology to grow the fish profitably in a safe and comfortable environment, and we also know that the market enjoys and asks for our end product.”
Fresh focus
The fish are available year-round and the harvests are conducted strictly to order. This, said Bravo, guarantees maximum product freshness and shelf life, which in turn minimizes waste at the point of sale.
“We only hold stocks of live fish,” he said. “Over time, we have seen customers turn to Sea8 on the basis of either service level, product quality or both, while prepared to pay a premium for the package. Our value proposition is quite simple really: always fresh, always available, always at the same price.
“At the same time, we strive to accommodate the requests of each of our customers and often go a long way to satisfy individual requirements. By partnering with third parties, we can now offer a range of bespoke products that include whole fresh fish on ice, various types of fresh fillets, IQF cuts and even canned products.”
Sea8’s existing facilities allow it to breed up to 5 million fry and to sell around 200 MT of market size fish per year. But the company is currently working on a series of expansion plans that will enable it to ramp this up to nearly 800 MT over the next 2.5 years, in addition to an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy that could scale production of sole and turbot up to around 4,000 MT each over a longer timeframe, revealed Bravo.
“To accomplish this, we are now looking for an investor who may share our vision and values and be willing to join us for the coming years on this exciting ride,” he said.
