AgriMarine promises salmon for California grocer
AgriMarine at last count had some 53,000 Chinook salmon swimming in its 3,000m³ floating, solid wall tank moored at Middle Bay just north of Campbell River. The fish are currently approaching one kilogram (~2.2 lbs) in average size, and mortality levels are reported to be low. Plans call for the fish to be grown to an average harvest size of some four or five kilos each, resulting in the California-based grocery store chain getting about 450 thousand pounds to sell a year or so from now, if most of the fish survive the high densities that this business plan calls for.
In a Press Release issued today, AgriMarine recognized the funding obtained from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Coast Sustainable Trust “to support the development of clean technologies that will contribute to the strengthening of the environment”, as well as contributions from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a not-for-profit foundation created by the Government of Canada.
“The Company(AgriMarine Holdings Inc) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, AgriMarine Industries Inc., has signed a four-year agreement with a major California-based food retailer for the supply of Chinook salmon raised at the Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute's (MBSAI) Campbell River rearing facility in British Columbia, utilizing AgriMarine's environmentally sustainable rearing system” stated the release.
The company earlier today had a market cap of CAD$ 15.4 million (~€ 10.3 million), and its shares have been traded in the mid- 20 cent range, down from $0.60 in February this year, shortly after the floating tank was installed and filled with fish in January. AgriMarine is also producing Chinook salmon and Rainbow trout in tanks floating in freshwater reservoirs in China, where the tanks were fabricated.
