In autumn, this salmon RAS site was under 9 feet of water
Great Northern Salmon, which plans to produce approximately 7,500 gutted weight tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in the northeastern United States, has released a photo showing the progress of its site preparation work.
The company will build its RAS on the strengthened bed of a drained 27-acre lagoon associated with the former Great Northern Paper Company’s mill at Millinocket, northern Maine. Work to prepare the site began in September last year and re-started earlier this month after a pause for the winter.
“This was all under 9 + feet of water last fall,” the company said in a LinkedIn post featuring a picture of the site.
Sludge and cement
“We, along with involved partners, are now draining out the last of the winter water from the large lagoon. Then we are removing the remaining aeration systems and sludge that is being mixed with Portland cement to create a stable fill material in situ. The final result later this year is a fully excavated site ready for construction, with some very nice cost savings.”
Great Northen Salmon (GNS) was founded by husband-and-wife team Erik Heim and Marianne Naess, who previously had executive roles with Nordic Aquafarms Inc. which had planned a 33,000-tonne salmon RAS facility in Belfast, Maine. Nordic abandoned the project earlier this year - more than two years after Heim and Naess split with the company in summer 2022 - after a court win for a group of opponents that blocked the sites access to the sea for intake water and discharges.
After parting ways with Nordic, Heim and Naess soon re-emerged with a new holding company, Xcelerate Aqua, and the intention to promote smaller RAS projects that had lower risk and investment levels than the Belfast RAS.
GNS is raising $20 million for the remediation work and has secured approximately 60%, Naess told Fish Farming Expert earlier this month. “We are raising the remaining now in addition to capital to finish detailed design, construction planning and estimation.”
