Maine aquaculture firm financed for California yellowtail farm

Maine, U.S.A.-based aquaculture firm Acadia Harvest has completed a new round that will give it USD 700,000 (EUR 623,000) to build out a land-based fish farm in Corea, Maine that will have a one-million pound capacity. The Company plans to open its plant in late 2017.

The capital, which comes from a combination of private and institutional investment, will allow the company to fund land acquisition, development and operation permits and some build-out of the farm, which it said would focus on growing California yellowtail it will market as “Maine Hiramasa.”

“This is an exciting time for Acadia Harvest, as we move from pilot scale production to large commercial scale,” Acadia Harvest CEO Ed Robinson said. “We are gratified to have new investors who share our vision of a land-based, indoor aquafarm for marine species. We see a significant opportunity to provide more customers with fresh, high quality products from Maine while bolstering the regional seafood economy with investment, jobs and shipments from our state.”

Acadia Harvest has been involved in fish farming for the past five years, mainly focusing on California yellowtail but also including some production of black sea bass. It began weekly shipments to several distributors in July 2015 and now sells its products to seafood distributors in Maine, Boston and San Francisco.

“Feedback from customers has been very encouraging and the company will expand its presence in additional markets,” Robinson said in a press release.

Acadia Harvest is also researching the use of fish waste as nutrition for other commercial species, and in developing sustainable aquafeeds, it said in the release.

New investors in the company include the Maine Angels and the Bangor Angels, and the company also received additional debt from Coastal Enterprises Inc. of Brunswick, Maine, which was an early investor in the company.

“We’ve had our eye on Acadia Harvest for a couple years and welcome their expansion in the Downeast region,” Bangor Angels representative Fritz Oldenburg said. “The company has a solid management team and a sound business plan to move forward in coming years. “

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