Kingfish Zeeland, a Dutch aquaculture company has settled on Jonesport, Maine, for the site of its first facility in the U.S.
The company operates a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in Kats, The Netherlands with an annual production of 600 metric tons of yellowtail and plans on launching a much larger RAS facility by 2021.
Representatives from the company have been working with town officials in Jonesport for months, according to a report from the Free Press. The company is expected to unveil more detailed plans for its facility at an event at the Peabody Memorial Library in Jonesport on Wednesday, 20 November.
Kingfish Zeeland officially opened its doors in May 2018 after attracting more than EUR 20 million (USD 24.7 million) from private investors and Rabobank in 2017.
Jonesport town officials are withholding comment until the company presents its plans, said Town Selectman Billy Milliken.
Maine has been a landing spot for two other larger RAS projects – those of Whole Oceans and Nordic Aquafarms. Cooke Aquaculture has three aquaculture permits in Eastern Bay and Aquabanq announced plans for a RAS salmon farm at the former Great Northern Paper Co. mill in Millinocket to produce 5,000 to 10,000 metric tons of salmon.
Nordic Aquafarms has faced some public opposition for its plans for a 13,000- to 33,000-metric-ton salmon farm in Belfast, Maine — publicity that Milliken said the town of Jonesport is trying to avoid.
“What we want to avoid is that,” he told the Free Press. “We want good information provided and objective decisions made by the public. We don’t want a media frenzy.”
In May, Kingfish Zeeland CEO Ohad Maiman told SeafoodSource that production was now between six and 12 metric tons per week, and the company is selling out its product to the point where it recently had to begin placing limitations on buyers and “optimizing on price.”
In addition to its move into the U.S., it is also planning to expand its facility in The Netherlands to accommodate 5,000 metric tons of annual production by late 2020 or early 2021.
Photo courtesy of Kingfish Zeeland
