Land-based salmon farmer Whole Oceans announced plans to build a fish processing facility in Bucksport, Maine, which will support 40 to 50 local jobs in the area.

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The facility will cost between $15 million (€13.6 million) and $20 million (€18.1 million) and will help integrate the land-based farm with the processing unit, reports Bangor Daily News.

Whole Oceans submitted a building permit application on Aug. 16, which was the latest milestone towards constructing its land-based salmon facility in the area where the former Verso Paper mill operated before closing down in 2014.

The two facilities combined will create 140 to 150 jobs, a number that could jump to 250 if additional phases of the farm on the Verso site work out.

Just before the Bucksport Planning Board was due to hold its first public hearing on Whole Ocean's planned fish farm, CEO Jacob Barlett announced the company's plans to process its salmon for the wholesale and retail markets in the area within the next four years.

Prior to that, the company had been thinking of partnering with a nearby processor.

Whole Oceans will apply for a permit to start constructing the processing facility towards the second half of 2021, whereby the company would already be one year into building the Verso site farm.