Emergent Holdings, the parent company of Whole Oceans – which is planning a large salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Bucksport, Maine – announced today that it has signed a 15-year lease with Kuterra LP, giving access to its salmon production facility in British Columbia, Canada.
Kuterra LP established the first commercial-scale RAS operation in North America. According to a release from Emergent Holdings, Kuterra has already been working under the leadership of Emergent Holdings and Whole Oceans. The British Columbia facility recently “had a successful harvest of sushi-grade salmon for commercial scale,” according to Emergent Holdings.
Emergent Holdings had been aiming for a majority stake in Kuterra for months, a bid that was initially shot down by the ‘Namgis First Nation which owns the facility in a 103 to 95 vote. However because the new lease period is for 15 years versus the previous 75-year proposal, the agreement didn’t trigger a vote of the ‘Namgis. Votes are only triggered if a proposed lease would be longer than 49 years, Kuterra LP media contact Angie Helton conformed to SeafoodSource.
“This will be a smooth transition as Emergent Holdings and Whole Oceans have been financially and operationally managing the facility for the past year,” Whole Oceans CEO Jacob Bartlett said in the release announcing the lease. “Emergent Holdings and Whole Oceans look to bring advancements in technology to Kuterra to make it more effective, productive and stable.”
Kuterra had its launch in 2014, and its salmon has been designated as a “Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and SeaChoice.
“Given Kuterra’s successful proof-of-concept along with experienced staff, Whole Oceans stands to gain valuable insights and synergies to advance the company’s workforce training and will also benefit from the technological and marketing expertise of Kuterra,” Bartlett said.
Photo courtesy of Kuterra LP
