Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.-based Caviar & Caviar has acquired Northern Divine Aquafarms, a Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada-based firm that farms both organic white sturgeon and organic coho salmon.
Northern Divine is a fully integrated land-based fish farm and hatchery for both white sturgeon and coho salmon. The company produces both caviar and meat for international markets, including cured salmon and sturgeon roe. The company is also a supplier of fertilized, all-female coho eggs for other aquaculture operations.
“I’m very pleased about this acquisition and its timing,” Caviar & Caviar CEO Michael Jalileyan said in a release. “We’ve spent over a decade in pursuit of the most ideal aquafarm and setting. This farm was a pioneer in sturgeon and its owner, Bernie Bennet, who is now retired, spent over three decades in perfecting this operation and took up sturgeon farming in its inception in the early ‘90s.”
The focus for the acquisition, according to the company, is to continue developing the sturgeon stock. The farm, based on 60 acres of land along British Columbia, Canada’s “Sunshine Coast,” currently has over 6,000 mature and caviar ready white sturgeon, and tens of thousands of sturgeon in the nursery at various age groups, Caviar & Caviar said in a release.
“The company is capable of producing over 18 tons of fine caviar for the market,” the company said. “The goal is to reach a steady annual production of 25 tons of caviar per year.”
Jalileyan told SeafoodSource the company has been “shopping around for quite some time” to find a farm that met the company’s standards.
“This specific farm is unique, as it’s 100 percent certified organic by ProCert,” he said.
Northern Divine, the company’s website states, was the first caviar producer in North America certified organic and the only producer of organic Fraser River white sturgeon in Canada. Its products are also recommended by Ocean Wise and recognized as “best choice” by SeafoodWatch, the company said.
Jalileyan said the quality production combined with Caviar & Caviar’s existing supply chain, will help the company obtain a “strong position” in the marketplace.
“Furthermore, with continued restriction of open-net sea farms, we plan to explore our options on expanding our salmon farm with both meat and salmon caviar supplies,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Michael Jalileyan/Northern Divine Aquafarms
