Holland land-based yellowtail kingfish producer Kingfish Zeeland is expecting its first commercial harvests this year, the first step in a strategy that could lead to 2,000 metric tons of production annually by 2020.

The project started in 2015, when CEO Ohad Maiman, former Marine Harvest CEO Hans den Bieman and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) expert Kees Kloet partnered to produce year-round yellowtail kingfish, moving away from seasonal imports of the species to supply EU markets.

It started quietly, and it's been nearly two years of preparations, but with the necessary approvals and funding in place, the land-based project is ready to move forward.

The ambitious plan involves four farming modules, each of them with a capacity of 700 metric tons a year and a research and development (R&D) complex with several independent recirculating systems initially being used to support this year’s production.

The first module is currently under construction, and the other three modules will be developed in the coming years, with production expected to grow from limited volumes in 2017, to 700 metric tons next year and up to 2,000 metric tons by 2020, Maiman told IntraFish.

“Once the main site is at full capacity, the R&D facility will be solely used for ongoing A/B testing of various feeds and growth conditions, and to develop additional premium marine seafood species for production on our second site," he said.

The idea to start with a premium product made sense to justify the high level of investment required to implement the RAS technology, Maiman said.

The next step is an expansion into mid-market products as production costs decline and market demand grows.

The product will first be introduced in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Switzerland and Norway may also get early volumes.

“We expect to begin introducing the product to the premium EU market in limited quantities by the end of 2017, to be available at first direct to leading chefs and via a select group of premium restaurant suppliers,” Maiman said.

Land-based makes sense

Taking into account the growing concerns over seafood sources and sustainability practices, and the possibilities offered with water recirculation, the move into RAS aquaculture was right from an environmental point of view, Maiman said.

Coming from a VP position at a private investment firm with a focus in energy in the agriculture business, Maiman was moved by the similarities between the evolution of agriculture from field to greenhouse and the possibilities of land-based aquaculture.

“Looking at previous manufacturing revolutions from cage farming to greenhouse agriculture, and the inherent challenges restricting additional traditional production capacity, I am convinced that RAS is poised to become a substantial ‘third way’ to meet the growing global seafood demand,” he said.

Of course, there are challenges ahead. The unexplored sector lacks the "rule of thumb cost per unit" that is available in well-established industries, and hands-on knowhow is still scarce for specific biological challenges, something the best technology and business decisions can’t solve on their own.

“RAS remains a complex endeavor: site and species-specific factors largely affect design and production costs, and therefore require substantial development investment before a final capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expense can be determined,” Maiman told IntraFish.

Kingfish Zeeland RAS was developed in two steps by partner Kees Koet, who provided the knowledge on the biological demands of the species, and Billund Aquaculture, which completed the design of the project.

The recirculation system offers water exchange rate and purification capacity “far higher than the norm,” Maiman said.

According to him, land-based aquaculture recirculating water systems show potential but the different obstacles make of it a very risky investment.

At the moment, a few encouraging projects are underway, he said, and there will be a u-turn in the process that will turn this method into an investable return on investment.

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Aquaculture

Kingfish project backed by former Marine Harvest CEO nears commercial production