Vikings Label, a Dubai-based firm, is planning to build a land-based salmon farm in the desert of the United Arab Emirates.
Planned for the northern Ras Al Khaimah region of the UAE, the USD 90 million (EUR 78.5 million) facility is expected to be complete by 2020, according to Zawya.
Operated by CEO Lukas Havn and CFO Tore Havn, Vikings Label currently imports salmon to Dubai, but plans the facility to reduce the import costs and environmental footprint.
“Our vision is to create a perfect healthy salmon product, directly in the market, highest quality with no chemicals or antibiotics, and keep the environmental footprint as low as possible,” Vikings Label’s website states. “There is only a few places in the world where the natural environment is suited for salmon farming in the sea. Therefore we believe the next stage in this massive industry is to breed fish directly in the markets that are hard to reach in an efficient and environmental way.”
It won’t be the first time that salmon farming has been proposed inside the desert country. In 2013, Asmark announced it had plans to create a land-based salmon farm in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region.
According to Vikings Label, the facility is projected to initially process 2,500 metric tons of fish annually, with projections for more.
Photo courtesy of Vikings Label
