New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) has signed a funding partnership with the government of New Zealand which it said will assist in the growth of the country’s salmon-farming sector.
The funding will come through the Sustainable Food and Fiber Futures (SFF Futures) fund which, according to the government, was established in 2018 to support problem-solving and innovation in the country’s food and fiber sectors. According to NZKS, the program will have a total value of NZD 29 million (USD 16.3 million, EUR 15.5 million), with an NZD 11.7 million (USD 6.6 million, EUR 6.3 million) contribution from the government – one of the highest for the program so far.
According to NZKS, the funding will largely help the company’s ongoing efforts to establish open ocean salmon aquaculture. The company started the planning process for the project, dubbed Blue Endeavor, nearly a decade ago and received full governmental permission to proceed with the project in March 2024.
“Having the world’s first king salmon open ocean aquaculture site at Blue Endeavor is a big responsibility; while we are confident it will be successful, there will be some significant lessons learned along the way,” NZKS CEO Carl Carrington said in a release. “This funding partnership will enable us to share these learnings and build industry and investor confidence.”
NZKS has had to grapple with warming ocean temperatures, and in FY 2022, the company faced mortality rates as high as 42 percent as it dealt with the hottest summer on record in the country. Open-ocean aquaculture could help avoid those problems, and according to NZKS, when fully operational, its Blue Endeavor facility could generate as much as NZD 300 million (USD 168 million, EUR 160 million) in new revenue per year.
The SFF Futures funding will help NZKS with three pilots related to its efforts, including a pilot of the Blue Endeavor program, a pilot of recirculating aquaculture system facilities in relation to freshwater hatchery technologies, and new breeding strategies to improve fish resilience.
“With the New Zealand salmon sector poised to grow, the learnings from Blue Endeavor, and the associated technologies, should accelerate the pace of development of the sector,” Carrington said. “While this is a significant partnership for our company, we also realize that to achieve our aspirations, we must prioritize collaboration – with industry, government, suppliers, customers, communities, and beyond. The rewards for New Zealand of getting this right are significant.”
