Aquafeed manufacturer Skretting has come to an agreement with Atlantic Sapphire to supply its Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based recirculating aquaculture system growing Atlantic salmon for the next decade.
Stavanger, Norway-based Skretting will construct a facility nearby the farm to produce specialized feed designed for land-based salmon, it said in a press release. The plant’s construction is contingent upon Skretting receiving the permits required to build and operate the facility, it said.
“With the long-term agreement that Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire have established, we are committed to increasing capacity to facilitate future growth of the land-based salmon industry in the U.S.,” Skretting CEO Therese Log Bergjord said. “Atlantic Sapphire has been a leader in the land-based salmon revolution, and I am extremely confident that we can deliver on our shared aspirations, and that the Bluehouse technology will continue to thrive. We are proud to deliver the feed that will ensure fresh and local supply of Atlantic salmon to the US market.”
Atlantic Sapphire produced its first Bluehouse Atlantic salmon in September 2020, and achieved 700 metric tons head-on gutted-weight salmon production in Q3 2021. It hopes to produce as much as 25,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon at the farm by 2023.
Skretting said building a feed-production plant nearby will minimize the carbon footprint of transporting the feed to the facility, and is expected to cut Atlantic Sapphires logistics cost, and thereby its cost of production, by approximately USD 0.30 (EUR 0.26) per kilogram of head-on gutted salmon.
The agreement between the two companies will see Skretting finance and build the feed plant, on the condition Atlantic Sapphire source the majority of its salmon feed from Skretting for the next 10 years. The agreement will also see the two companies cooperate on incorporating novel ingredients into the plant’s feeds that use no marine ingredients while maintaining high levels of omega-3s in the finished product. The contract requires the all-in feed price to be predetermined based off the production cost per specific diet, and “contains contractual mechanisms to ensure that Atlantic Sapphire always has access to market-leading salmon feeds in terms of both quality and value, while Skretting continues to exceed industry standards,” Skretting said.
“The long-term feed agreement commits both parties to a close cooperation on R&D and development of Bluehouse feeds of the future, through both financial commitments and sharing of knowledge from and between the two organizations,” it said. “Accessing the right feed quality and diet is critical for the biological performance of the fish and for the water quality within the RAS facility. Skretting and Atlantic Sapphire expect continuous improvements going forward that will result in better fish welfare, higher product quality, improved sustainability, and lower cost of production.”
Atlantic Sapphire CEO Johan E. Andreassen said the move will allow his company to cease sourcing and transporting its aquafeed from Canada.
“Atlantic Sapphire’s business case is centered on technological development and in-market production of delicious and healthy salmon with significant sustainability benefits compared to conventional ways of salmon farming,” he said. “Having our most important production input locally fits perfectly with this strategy, as it reduces production cost and GHG emissions significantly, while at the same time accelerating the technological development of a customized feed for our Bluehouses that we expect will lead to higher productivity and output. Further, we see this agreement with the world’s leading salmon-feed producer as a strong sign of confidence in our business case and future growth.”
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Sapphire
