Minnesota walleye startup Blue Water Farms inks RAS partnership with SIFT Group

"There’s a huge market in the U.S., and we can meet it. But, I really think we need to rely on European companies initially."
Renderings of Blue Water Farms' proposed walleye aquaculture facility
Renderings of Blue Water Farms' proposed walleye aquaculture facility | Image courtesy of Blue Water Farms
8 Min

Blue Water Farms, an aquaculture startup in the U.S. state of Minnesota aiming to develop the first large-scale commercial walleye farm in the U.S., is partnering with SIFT Group to adopt its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology.

SIFT, a Norway-based aquaculture technology company, recently developed and successfully piloted a land-based RAS that features raceways with constant flow to mimic a natural river. SIFT said the system comes at reduced capital and operational expenses when compared to a standard RAS system.

The new partnership with Blue Water Farms marks SIFT’s entry into the U.S. aquaculture industry.

“European companies have been [raising fish] for decades,” Blue Water Farms CEO Clarence Bischoff said. “It’s time we bring the latest technology here to Minnesota to accomplish our goals. There’s a huge market in the U.S., and we can meet it. But, I really think we need to rely on European companies initially.”

The SIFT Group will receive a 30 percent ownership share of Blue Water Farms Aquafood, a subsidiary of Blue Water, in exchange for SIFT’s technology and expertise.

Blue Water Farms, on the other hand, aims to take advantage of the unique design of the SIFT RAS system, which is built so that the raceways can be vertically stacked up to eight levels, like “Lego bricks,” according to Bischoff,  so that multiple species can be raised throughout the system in separate closed loops.

The company is currently in the process of raising an estimated USD 20 million (EUR 19.4 million) to launch its aquaculture operation, and plans to grow walleye – and potentially steelhead trout – using the SIFT system, aiming for 1,000 metric tons of annual production.

However, that’s just a drop in the bucket of local market demand, Bischoff said.

In the Midwest region of the U.S., walleye is a valued fish, but the majority of supply comes from wild-caught commercial fisheries in Canada. The U.S., conversely, has largely prohibited commercial walleye fishing to protect the multi-billion-dollar recreational industry that the fish supports.

Therefore, Blue Water Farms sees a huge opportunity in providing sustainable, locally produced walleye to an underserved market.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of the health issues in our country and are really tuning into sustainability,” Bischoff said. “The benefits of seafood in terms of health are huge. What’s better than walleye protein raised in a RAS system, where you don’t have to worry about pollutants like mercury?”

Preliminary results from a study conducted by Minnesota Sea Grant, a water science research organization run by the University of Minnesota system, found that some people are willing to pay up to 25 percent more for locally grown fish ...


SeafoodSource Premium

Become a Premium member to unlock the rest of this article.

Continue reading ›

Already a member? Log in ›

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
Primary Featured Article