First open-ocean farmed tilapia project

The company has begun site preparation at its Gulf of Panamá ocean site in the Republic of Panamá.

“Our project has been gaining traction since we announced it last year and, thanks to additional seed funding, pre-ops can start,” said James F. Reilly, president and CEO of Aquasense.

According to Sjef van Eijs, chief operating officer of Aquasense, “We are excited about getting in the water for site preparation and we expect to do this work on time and on budget.”

Aquasense Panama is an early-stage aquaculture company with the mission of contributing to meeting the rising food needs of a growing world population in a sustainable manner.

“We have developed a non-traditional farming method for tilapia based on our preliminary research,” said Mr Reilly. “That research showed that, when tilapia are reared in the full salinity of the open ocean and given nutritious food, the result is a much-improved fish product in terms of both taste and texture. In 2007, we set out to change the paradigm of fish farming by bringing our operations to the pristine waters surrounding Panama.”

The project responds to predictions about world population growth and demands for seafood.

“We see this project as a sustainable solution to a global problem,” said Mr Reilly. He said that with the global population predicted to reach 8 billion by 2020 - and commercial fishing fleets unable to meet the growing demand - the only viable solution is aquaculture.