AquaBounty’s product revenue hit USD 3.14 million (EUR 2.95 million) in FY 2022, a 167 percent increase over the USD 1.17 million (EUR 1.10 million) it posted in 2021.
The company’s losses for the year decreased slightly to USD 22.16 million (EUR 20.8 million), compared to USD 22.32 million (EUR 20.9 million) it lost in 2021. In Q4 2022, its losses were flat at USD 6.07 million (EUR 5.7 million), and it had revenue of USD 451,000 (EUR 424,000) – a slight increase from the USD 418,000 (EUR ) in Q4 2021.
AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf said the company’s improved Q4 2022 results were the result of an experienced staff.
“The quarter began with a challenge to our daily operations, as the roof of the processing building at our Indiana farm required extensive repairs,” she said in a release. “Through the efforts of the farm team, not only did we not lose a single fish, but they were able to complete the planned harvest of the fish in the building. It was an example of their dedication to the company, to the farm, and to the fish in their care.”
Speaking with SeafoodSource during Seafood Expo North America, running from 12 to 14 March in Boston, Massachusetts, Wulf said her company has initiated a renewed emphasis on training its personnel from top to bottom.
“We’ve implemented lean and continuous improvement practice throughout the business,” Wulf said. “We’re training the farm teams on all that practice and putting in all those tools.”
The training program includes teaching of critical-thinking skills, Wulf said.
“We have a problem-solving methodology called an A3 practice, so any time we’re hit with a challenge we do a root cause analysis and we’ve trained pretty much the whole farm team, both in Indiana and Canada, on how to do that and it’s really exciting to see how the team has rallied to it because we have a very young team,” Wulf said. “They’ve embraced the methodology and they really are delivering results.”
The Indiana facility’s use and purpose continues to evolve as the company has come to rely on it more heavily it as a test bed for its technology.
“We’re doing a bit of a reset on Indiana, and I think it’s important,” Wulf said. “What you will find is, it is an aged facility with dated technology.”
The company is still producing fish at the rate that it wants, but it is planning to use the facility to test new equipment like AI-lead feeding, water-quality managements systems, and more as the company continues to construct its larger farming facility in Pioneer, Ohio, U.S.A.
Additionally, Wulf said it is following through on the plan to transition its Prince Edward Island, Canada, facility to a broodstock facility.
“Our 250-metric-ton production facility that’s now completely transitioned to broodstock,” Wulf said. “We’re building a second broodstock facility next door to that building.”
Media reports the company is no longer producing genetically engineered salmon in Canada are exaggerated, as it still producing genetically modified eggs and broodstock there. The company is actually expanding its capabilities with the facility transition, and the R&D center at Prince Edward Island continues to innovate in both genetics and breeding to develop fish that can thrive in the unique environment found in the company’s recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farms.
“If you can design a fish that thrives in that environment, regardless of whether it’s our fish or a non-transgenic fish, you’re setting up RAS for success,” Wulf said.
Regarding AquaBounty’s previously announced goal for international expansion, it has applied for an extension of its permits to continue performing field trials in China. Wulf told SeafoodSource in 2019 about its plans to build an RAS in China, but Wulf said the Covid-19 pandemic had complicated AquaBounty's pursuit of business opportunities there. Israel, meanwhile, is still a prime candidate for a future salmon RAS, Wulf said.
In regard to other species, the company continues to do research and development on shrimp aquaculture.
“We’ve been doing a thorough analysis on shrimp, because we believe shrimp will be the next species in this environment,” Wulf said.
Overall, the RAS industry has begun to show that it can be a viable industry as more companies begin producing salmon successfully, Wulf said.
“We’re operating consistently and harvesting. Salmon Evolution has proven they know how to do it as well. Proximar has eggs in the water, [so] we’ve seen that facilities can be [operated],” Wulf said.
RAS development has been more expensive than expected for a lot of companies, but the costs of net-pen farming have also been going up, Wulf noted. She said she expects RAS will still be a viable solution to deal with an expected salmon supply crunch in coming years.
“We’ve got to look at all production methodology, but RAS is going to be an increasingly bigger component of meeting demand, and we’re ready for that,” she said.
Photo courtesy of AquaBounty
