West Coast Salmon, a project backed by feed giant Nutreco and private equity group Bregal, announced Monday it inked a deal with a supplier to design and engineer the facility.
Canada-based PR Aqua will spearhead the development of the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) project, which is planned for a site in Nevada.
The first phase of the operation will produce 14,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon, and the companies said in announcing the deal that they are hoping for a 2022 construction start. The first harvest is planned for 2025.
Ultimately, the group is targeting an output of 50,000 metric tons of head-on, gutted production.
In addition to the growout facility, the company plans an on-site processing facility.
Netherlands-based Nutreco, one of the world’s largest aquaculture feed producers, joined German-owned private equity group Bregal Partners, a key investor in US firms American Seafoods and Blue Harvest Fisheries, in anchoring a private placement in the project.
Bregal recruited two executives from its portfolio to join the West Coast Salmon board of directors: Blue Harvest Fisheries CEO Keith Decker and Bristol Bay Seafoods CEO Amy Humphreys. Both executives sit on the American Seafoods board, and Humphreys has held an equity stake in the group since 2015. Both executives will also take an equity stake in West Coast Salmon.
The placement also included Beach Point Capital Management and land-based salmon farming equipment supplier AquaMaof, though it is unclear if they remain involved given that rival PR Aqua is now involved.
Chairman Hallvard Muri told IntraFish at the time that the group would consider an initial public offering (IPO) in late 2021 or early 2022, but said it was dependent on a number of factors, including finalization of engineering and construction plans.
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