Land-based salmon farming company Atlantic Sapphire has partnered with Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.-based Acme Smoked Fish Corporation to produce, package, and distribute its smoked U.S. Bluehouse Salmon products.
According to a 17 August press release, the partnership will involve an initial launch of two varieties of smoked salmon – hot-smoked and cold-smoked – under Atlantic Sapphire’s Bluehouse Salmon brand. Cold Smoked Bluehouse Salmon and Smoke Roasted Maple Salmon, which come in three-ounce and four-ounce packages, respectively, “will be available at major retailers in the U.S. in the near future,” the firms said. A foodservice size of the cold-smoked variety will also be available.
“We are proud to launch our all-American Bluehouse Salmon smoked line together with Acme,” Atlantic Sapphire USA CEO Johan Andreassen said. “The combination of Acme’s unmatched reach within the U.S. smoked salmon market and the unique product attributes of Bluehouse Salmon will bring a fantastic smoked salmon option to the U.S. consumer."
Fish sold under the brand are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and are raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones, Atlantic Sapphire noted. Bluehouse salmon is also free of ocean microplastics, the company added.
“We are equally excited to help bring this delicious and innovative American-raised smoked salmon product to market,” Acme Smoked Fish Co-CEO Adam Caslow added. “It is more important than ever to provide a variety of sustainably-raised fish choices to our customers, and we are looking forward to introducing customers to our uniquely smoked varieties of Bluehouse Salmon very soon.”
News of the product launch comes shortly after Atlantic Sapphire announced that it has been forced to initiate an emergency harvest for 200,000 salmon in its Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility. Made on 28 July via a press release to the Oslo Stock Exchange, the announcement said the emergency harvest was enacted because one of the facility’s growout systems was recently stocked “despite not being fully commissioned.” The company said at the time that the exact causes behind the event are still being investigated.
“The exact chain of events is still being investigated, however, disruptive construction work close to the operating environment, including loud sounds and severe vibrations, stressed the fish,” Atlantic Sapphire stated last month. “Additionally, recent challenges of delayed construction and commissioning, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic impact, have resulted in increased risk in the operation at this time. There is no indication of intoxication or disease being the cause of this event.”
The harvest involves close to 200,000 fish, with a total weight of approximately 400 metric tons (MT) head-on, gutted.
A fourth-generation, family-owned smoked fish purveyor, Acme Smoked Fish launched Smoked Atlantic Salmon Candy in January of this year. Billed by the company as a “healthy snack,” the product, which comes in three-ounce packages, offers “a twist on the traditional Pacific Northwest ‘salmon candy,’” Acme said in a January 2020 press release. The offering is rendered via Acme’s special curing and smoking process, thus achieving a flavor balance of both sweet and savory, the firm noted.
