The assets of the bankrupt Catalina Sea Ranch, the only permitted aquaculture facility in U.S. federal waters, will reportedly be sold to southern California investment group Pacific6 in a deal valued at USD 1.75 million (EUR 1.61 million).
The 100-acre offshore farm, located about six miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, California, was founded by entrepreneur Phil Cruver. In 2015, the company was granted the first permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to practice aquaculture for commercial use in federal waters. The operation was focused on mussels, kelp, scallops, oysters, sea urchins, and spiny lobsters.
While the company seemed set to pioneer offshore aquaculture in the country – it was featured in the documentary, “They Say It Can’t Be Done” – it filed for bankruptcy in December 2019. In court filings, the company claimed that it had essentially run out of money in June 2019. At that time, the company let go the majority of its employees and was in danger of losing its one-of-a-kind permit.
According to the California Aquaculture Association, the company’s assets, including all its aquaculture equipment, boats, monitoring systems, and office equipment, were sold pursuant to bankruptcy court approval on 24 March, 2020. The association noted that Catalina Sea Ranch had filed for eight provisional patents related to the methods and systems for offshore monitoring and shellfish hatchery and cultivation innovations. The patent applications have since expired but may be subject to reactivation by filing a “petition to revive.”
In December 2019, a USD 10-million (EUR 9.2 million) wrongful-death claim was filed against Catalina Sea Ranch by the family of a man who died in January 2019 after his fishing boat capsized. According to a report by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, fisherman Maynard Poynter, 71, was fishing on a friend’s boat 3 January, 2019, in the area of Catalina Sea Ranch when his 25-foot boat overturned after a broken underwater line belonging to the farm wrapped around its propeller.
“Had CSR simply cut the broken line at least 20 feet below the ocean surface, Maynard’s boat would not have capsized on 3 January and he would still be alive with his family today,” reads a letter from his family, filed in court.
Pacific Mariculture, a subsidiary of Long Beach, California-based investment partnership Pacific6, was the only qualified bidder for the Catalina Sea Ranch in March. A deal is expected to be finalized soon.
Pacific6 and Catalina Sea Ranch did not respond to requests to comment on the deal.
Cruver, Catalina Sea Ranch’s former President and CEO, is listed as the co-founder of Syntheseas, a Los Angeles, California-based company focused on using microbes to build products and sequester carbon dioxide.
Photo courtesy of Catalina Sea Ranch
