Land-based salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire on Friday announced it signed an agreement with Norwegian group Hofseth Biocare to establish a joint venture at the company's Miami farming site to produce byproducts from the company's offcuts.
The two firms plan on entering a definitive agreement in the first quarter of next year, with a target of limited byproducts production in the fourth quarter once Atlantic Sapphire kicks off the first phase of its planned 20,000 metric ton production.
The joint venture will use Hofseth Biocare's expertise to produce refined products such as salmon oil, proteins and calcium products for the feed, pet and human consumption market.
“Utilizing the whole fish has been our vision since we founded HBC in 2009 and with our plants in Norway now running at stable, high volumes, a joint venture with Atlantic Sapphire is a right step in the direction of being a global producer of nutrition from fish off-cuts,” Hofseth Biocare CEO Roger Hofseth said.
"The development dovetails with Atlantic Sapphire’s vertical integration and sustainability strategy," Atlantic Sapphire CEO Johan Andreassen said.
“Refining Atlantic Sapphire salmon off-cuts on-site into high quality products ensures that 100 percent of Atlantic Sapphire salmon is processed into value-added products. We see a large potential in developing the US market.”
Last month Atlantic Sapphire reached a new landmark at its Miami Bluehouse site when 500,000 fish reached the post-smolt phase and were moved from fresh to saline water in one of the largest recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in the United States.
