The first of the 30,000 juvenile Kona kampachi placed in open-ocean cages off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii should be on customer’s plates by September, according to the company growing the fish.

Kona Blue Water Farms LLC “planted” the 30,000 2-inch-long juveniles last week in a cage installation that sits 30 feet below the ocean surface in waters 200 to 220 feet deep, a half-mile offshore of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii (NELHA) in Kailua-Kona.

Kona Blue is the first integrated hatchery and offshore farm in the country, and the only open-ocean farm to be growing Kona Kampachi, or Seriola rivoliana, a succulent fish prized for sashimi and noted for its rich taste and smooth texture.

“Kona