Land-based salmon producer AquaBounty has broken ground on the construction of its first 10,000-tonne Atlantic salmon farm in Pioneer, Ohio.
The project is estimated to cost between US$290 and 320 million, including a reserve for potential contingencies of $30 million, with the company anticipating that the commercial stocking of salmon eggs will commence in late 2023.
Once in full operation, the farm is expected to bring more than 100 new jobs to the region.
“We are pleased to have officially begun building our next-generation, highly productive facility in Pioneer, Ohio, which will serve as a model for the aquaculture industry and our continued expansion,” AquaBounty CEO, Sylvia Wulf, said. “This milestone comes after many dedicated teams completed extensive scientific investigation, analysis, testing, modelling and regulatory review.”
Wulf also highlighted that the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) and overall facility design, combined with the close proximity to major markets, would generate a lower carbon footprint compared to flying in salmon that had been produced overseas, and would also help ease the pressure on wild salmon stocks.
Engineering company CRB is leading the design and construction of AquaBounty’s new facility, while aquaculture tech specialist Innovasea is designing its RAS technology.
“AquaBounty’s facility demonstrates the bold vision necessary to defeating food insecurity on a global scale,” CRB President, Ryan Schroeder, said. “We are extremely humbled and grateful that our integrated ONEsolution approach is playing a key role in uniting that vision with execution methods designed to deliver projects on schedule, on budget and with high quality.”
Innovasea CEO, David Kelly, said that the new farm was important to the advancement of US aquaculture, and added that the state-of-the-art facility would “go a long way to proving that commercial land-based aquaculture can be scaled up and remain both profitable and sustainable”.
