Baja Aqua Farms, subsidiary of Umami Sustainable Seafood Inc, has sold and delivered approximately $50 million worth of northern bluefin tuna harvested at the company’s Mexican facility.
The price paid per kilo of tuna has increased 38% on last year.
Harvesting at Baja began in late August and finished last week. Traditionally, harvesting at Baja takes place from November to March, but the company says that the new harvesting schedule provides clients with additional options going forward.
Harvesting at Kali Tuna, Umami's Croatian operation, is planned to start in December, and is projected to be substantially complete by early March 2012.
Oli Steindorsson, chairman and chief executive of Umami, said: “The successful change in of Baja's harvesting schedule is another example of why the merger of the Kali and Baja operations is beneficial. Umami can now offer its clients premium sashimi-grade bluefin tuna eight months out of every year, instead of the previous three month window. It also means that Umami's annual cash flows are stabilising and the company will become less dependent on short-term debt.
“In addition to the 38% rise in tuna prices this year as compared to last year, improvement in our operations and other factors have helped to improve our profit margin on sales contracts. We are especially pleased that our fish farming process has matured enough so that we are now able to shift and extend our harvest schedule in order to take maximum advantage of current market conditions."
