Ideal Fish, a Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.A.-based company producing branzino (European sea bass) through a land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), has secured “a significant capital investment” according to 31 May release.
Ideal Fish harvested its first crop of branzino in 2018, after investing USD 10 million (EUR 8.9 million) in its facility. This year, Ideal Fish is on track to produce 175 metric tons of fish, on target with the firm's original projections, the company said in a press release.
The company plans to expand significantly, which is part of what the recent investment from a consortium of U.S.-based and international investors will assist with, the company said.
“This transaction provides the company with growth capital, strengthens its balance sheet and brings to the company a new group of highly engaged investors with significant aquaculture experience and financing resources,” Ideal Fish said in its release “The company plans to expand significantly both within the Northeast [U.S.] region and nationally in the near future and expects to complete additional growth capital raises as it increases the scope of its operations.”
Ideal Fish is the only commercial-scale company in the U.S. growing branzino using an RAS, and according to the company one of “only a few” land-based RAS facilities raising ocean-going fish in salt water. Ideal Fish has also been rated “Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, in addition to being Best Aquaculture Practices-certified.
“We are delighted with the outcome of this important transaction,” Ideal Fish Founder and CEO Eric Pedersen said of the investments. “Our new investors believe strongly in our mission and will bring many resources to the company as we build our business together. We are unified in the belief that the quality and security of seafood available in the U.S. today need to be improved - Americans should be able to enjoy higher quality fish that comes from a safer, traceable and sustainable seafood production system in this country. This includes responsible wild-catch fisheries as well as many forms of well-managed pond and lagoon, ocean cage, and RAS aquaculture.”
