Two new salmon farms have been officially opened in Marlborough, New Zealand, marking the first new space allocated for salmon aquaculture in Marlborough in nine years.
The Pelorus Sounds farms at Waitata and Kopāua are both operated by operated by New Zealand King Salmon. A third farm in the Tory Channel, Ngamahau, has begun operating and an official opening is expected later in the year.
The sites add to the operating farms the company already has in the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Tory Channel – Ruakaka, Otanerau, Te Pangu and Clay Point.
The three new farms will enable New Zealand King Salmon to approximately double salmon production from around 6,000 metric tonnes to 12,000 over the coming years.
The extra production is destined to fill the strong demand from international markets, in particular North America. The first harvest from the Waitata farm took place this week, producing excellent quality salmon averaging more than four kilograms in size.
The farms are located on sites where the water is cool, deep and with high flow, optimal conditions for raising salmon.
“Our environmental credentials are in demand and internationally recognised through our accreditation with the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, and we are in an elite group of less than one per cent of salmon farmers recommended as ‘Best Choice’ by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch and Ocean Wise”, said NZ King Salmon CEO, Grant Rosewarne.
The new sites are in the first stage of farming with small increases allowed every three years in accordance with resource consents and environmental conditions, Mr Rosewarne says. It will be up to 16 years before each is fully productive.
Once fully operational, salmon farming in Marlborough will generate around $230 million in direct revenues plus flow-on business for local companies supporting the industry.
