Nordic Aquafarms has decided to change the species it will farm in a proposed recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Humboldt County, California, U.S.A.
The company first announced its plan to build a salmon RAS in California in 2019, on the site of a former paper mill near the town of Eureka, California. The company said it still plans to move forward with an RAS – but farming yellowtail, instead of salmon.
The company has already been farming yellowtail at its Danish facilities, and announced a full transition from salmon to kingfish in Norway in 2022. It broke ground on phase two its Sahimi Royal facility in April 2022, which was specifically designed to produce yellowtail. Then, in April 2023, it announced its Fredrikstad Seafoods facility harvested its last salmon after four years of successful production, with the facility shifting to yellowtail.
Nordic's U.S. CEO, Brenda Chandler, said the California-based farm will continue to be a phased project, but that it will “start smaller” than what was initially projected for the Atlantic salmon facility.
“Growth over time will be carefully considered. Nordic’s farm will still use seawater to raise its fish but use less freshwater and energy,” Chandler said. “With yellowtail kingfish, it is a fully closed life-cycle, one that begins with in-house brood stock to produce fertilized eggs and grows fish to harvest weight.”
The company said yellowtail sales saw strong growth in the U.S. market in 2022, and the company expects that to continue. It added that the U.S. currently imports most of its yellowtail supply, and a domestic farm will offset imports and produce a “healthy protein locally” and reduce the U.S. trad deficit in seafood.
“Both strategies are a solid part of the core values under which Nordic Aquafarms operates,” Chandler said.
This isn’t the first time plans for the California facility have changed. The company announced in 2020 that it was shifting its initial plan for the facility and expanding it to equal the size of the salmon RAS planned for Belfast, Maine. The Maine project’s future, however, is uncertain after the company lost a key court battle over land use rights. Since that time the company asked the state of Maine to suspend its permits as it continues to face multiple lawsuits from opponents of the project.
In contrast to the Maine project, Nordic Aquafarms secured key permits for the Humboldt facility, and a county board of supervisors voted unanimously to uphold county planning permissions. The company said it will remain “fully committed” to the California-based project, and that it “looks forward” to breaking ground.
Photo courtesy of Nordic Aquafarms
