Yellowtail grower signs deal for South African trout and salmon farm

In the first phase the plant will be able to produce 1,800 tons of sea trout per year, but the construction will facilitate the production of salmon in the future.

The plant will contain a hatchery, first feeding, fry, a pre-smolt unit, a smolt and grow-out units and a purge system. It will have the capacity to grow from egg to a final slaughter weight of about 5.2 kg.

CNC said the location of the plant in South Africa should be viewed in the light of an increased demand for fresh fish on the African markets. Every year Africa imports huge quantities of salmon and trout from Europe, with the annual import of fresh Norwegian salmon alone amounting to several thousand tonnes.

Major opportunities

“That is why we see major opportunities for the local production of land-based, sustainable fresh fish for the South African market at competitive prices,” said Erik B Rasmussen, Danish director of CNC and one of four investors in the project.

Rasmussen is also a director of Sashimi Royal A/S, which produces yellowtail kingfish in a land-based facility sited near the Danish port of Hanstholm, and chairman of its sister company, Maximus A/S, which produces Sashimi Royal’s yellowtail fingerlings.

CNC’s three other investors are South Africans with respective backgrounds in the wind, oil/gas and IT sectors.

The company has signed a contract with Danish design and construction firm Gråkjær for the supply of a conceptual design package for the farm. The package comprises design, processing equipment, supervision, project management, fish farm support, training and start-up. 

Local grants

Financing of the plant will be a combination of shareholders’ capital, bank loans, export credits and local grants. 

Gråkjær has been building on-land fish farms since 2015 but up until now has now has been using external contractors for water treatment systems.

“Since Gråkjær’s decision in 2015 to expand its fish farm construction activities, the strategy of the Aqua division has been to ensure the development of expertise and competencies on a par with those of our agricultural division,” said Morten Malle, director of Gråkjær Aqua.

“In September 2017, Gråkjær Aqua announced that we now also possess the expertise and competencies it takes to deliver the water treatment system for the land-based fish farm. In other words, our first contract represents a benchmark, since its main focus is on the provision of the water treatment system for a large fish farm for CNC.”   

The fish-slaughter plant will be powered by wind energy located centrally in relation to production. Bio-waste from production will be used as fertiliser on the farmland that surrounds the plant. 

“That means we will satisfy Gråkjær’s goals in terms of climate and the protection of marine life, which are two of the UN Global Goals,” said Morten Malle.