Nordic Aquafarms (NAF) has announced that its salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) plans in Humboldt County, California have been expanded to equal the size of the project planned for Belfast, Maine.
The announcement is part of a “bi-coastal U.S. strategy” that NAF plans to employ. The company’s California facility was the first of its size to be announced on the West Coast of the U.S., and the expansion is “aligned with the company’s U.S. strategy to build its facilities close to the regional markets it plans to serve,” according to a release from the company.
“With both Maine and California in progress, we are developing the two largest RAS projects on each Northern U.S. coastline,” NAF President Eric Heim said. “Although size in itself is not our main objective, long-term expansion potential, scale advantages, and quality production are. NAF Inc is committed to creating long-term sustainable businesses in our chosen communities.”
According to the company, the development of the project in California is “progressing nicely,” and the company has released high-quality renderings of the planned buildings, giving nearby residents the first look at what the facility could look like.
“We are very pleased that we have been able to work with the local community to execute our plans on the west coast,” Executive Vice President Commercial Marianne Naess said. “Despite not being able to be present in Humboldt right now, the collaborative relationships in Humboldt continue to grow and we find the community very constructive to work with.”
With the announcement of the expansion, the project in Humboldt is now potentially in competition with the project in Maine, according to Heim.
“Maine is essentially in competition with California at this point with the good progress we are making in California,” he said. “We are committed to both locations, but investment priority with regards to timelines and phasing in both locations will be subject to further consideration this year.”
The expansion announcement comes as the local city council in Belfast, Maine, sent a letter urging the state’s Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) to make a decision on permits necessary for the USD 500 million (EUR 457 million) project that is planned to be located there, according to a report in The Free Press.
Nordic Aquafarms has faced local opposition in Maine, with legal challenges, formal objections to leases, criticism from local nonprofit groups, and more. In February, a Maine judge denied a civil complaint against the company, citing the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, which prohibits parties from filing an inordinate number of lawsuits on one related issue.
Council members in Belfast speculated that without the delays caused by legal challenges, the project could have been underway, during a time when COVID-19 has impacted resident’s livelihoods.
“Someone pointed out to me that if it hadn’t been for all the delays and the delaying tactics, then there would probably be good families in this area right now living off of the proceeds of working on site,” City Councilor Neal Harkness said, according to The Free Press.
According to Naess, the decision in California had nothing to do with the permitting process in Maine.
“We work on optimizing all our projects independent on the other projects in the portfolio,” Naess told SeafoodSource via email. “Having said that, our ability to expand the facility in California and the long permitting process in Maine, have resulted in the Maine project losing both its size and time advantage to the California project.”
For now, the Maine project is left waiting on the BEP to deliberate and make a decision regarding the project.
“We have submitted all information, all public hearings have taken place and the applications have been confirmed complete,” Naess wrote. “We are now waiting for the authorities to complete the deliberation [and make] its decision.”
Image courtesy of Nordic Aquafarms
