Norwegian company revives project to build salmon RAS in United States
AquaCon has new site with new incentives in Maryland
A Norwegian company is seeking to raise $5 million to move forward with a revised plan for a 20,000-tonne land-based salmon farm in Maryland on the east coast of the United States.
AquaCon originally planned to produce 45,000 tonnes of salmon in RAS facilities at different sites in the town of Federalsburg, 90 miles east of Washington DC. But it ended its interest in the town in 2022 after facing opposition from local people over its plans to release up to 2.3 million gallons per day of treated water into a watercourse called Marshyhope Creek which was home to locally endangered wild sturgeon.
The company has now found what it says is a better location on a former US Navy training base site near Port Deposit, 90 miles to the north of Federalsburg and more centrally located between Philadelphia (67 miles), Baltimore (41 miles), and Washington (80 miles).
The development site is owned by the state and has existing infrastructure for power, water, and discharges. AquaCon recently secured a water discharge permit from the Maryland Department of Environment and requires only standard construction and building permits – and most importantly finance - to begin work on the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility.
$600m price tag
The company will be allowed to sell tax-exempt bonds up to the value of $350 million to attract investment for the $600m project but must complete the design and construction engineering before it gets permission to do so. AquaCon is now seeking $5m for that purpose, on top of $14m that it has already raised in equity.
Another incentive for AquaCon is that it will have tax-exempt status, meaning any equipment or materials it buys for construction of its facility would not be subject to sales tax.
Chairman Henrik Tangen told seafood website IntraFish that he is currently investigating whether the tax-free status extends to any potential tariffs on goods imported from overseas. The Norwegian company AKVA, which signed a non-binding agreement with the company in 2020, remains AquaCon’s preferred supplier.
AquaCon envisages construction beginning by the end of 2025, with eggs in place by the end of 2026, and the first harvest of 5kg fish in 2028, reported IntraFish.
Separate buildings
Pål Haldorsen, AquaCon’s chief executive, told Fish Farming Expert that the company had not yet decided whether the full 20,000-tonne capacity of the RAS facility would be built in one go, or in phases.
A huge warehouse-style building dominates the site, but Haldorsen told FFE that was not the building AquaCon intended to use.
“That is not our building. We will have separate smaller buildings connected with pipes,” he explained in an email.
Ova will be imported from a biosecure facility in Iceland, confirmed Haldorsen. In 2020, salmon ova producer Benchmark Genetics announced that it had signed a five-year agreement to supply AquaCon from its Iceland facility.
