August 6, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Land-based aquaculture company AquaBounty Technologies announced it has chosen Pioneer, Ohio, as the location of its planned $200 million large-scale farm for the production of its proprietary genetically engineered salmon. 

“AquaBounty’s decision to choose Ohio for its first large-scale aquaculture facility is more evidence that Ohio is emerging from the pandemic stronger than before,” said J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO, JobsOhio. “This investment will bring 112 new jobs to Northwest Ohio, further solidifying the region’s role as a national leader in agribusiness production and distribution.”

Salmon farming began on an experimental basis only in the 1960’s, according to the Global Salmon Initiative. However, as global demand for protein is expected to climb by 70 percent by 2050, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the salmon farming industry is working to help meet this demand and has seen significant growth in its short existence.

Given a combination of climbing widespread consumer demand and the development of technologies that enable companies to scale up fish farming operations in a sustainable manner, various players have been maneuvering to increase their presence along the farmed salmon value chain. And AquaBounty’s may be the most unique path.

Originally founded in Maynard, Massachusetts, AquaBounty has built its company on two pillars – the first, the successful use of advanced genetics in 1989 by Dr. Garth Fletcher and his team at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, to develop an Atlantic salmon that grows faster during its earliest life stage, reducing the time to market from three years to 18 months.

The second pillar is the integration of the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) of production. This production system was first employed to raise juvenile salmon which would then be raised for another year in sea cages due to cost. However, the accelerated growth rate of AquaBounty’s genetically modified AquAdvantage Salmon allows for the entire process to be completed in 16 to 18 months in a closed, land-based production system.

Today AquaBounty has two farms in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and in Albany, Indiana, United States where it is raising salmon that is free of antibiotics and other contaminants in RAS production systems designed to prevent disease, protect wild populations through multiple layers of containment, and reduce the carbon footprint and pollution risk to marine ecosystems.

This new farm will  be AquaBounty’s first large-scale commercial facility with expected annual production capacity of 10,000 tons – about eight times the size of its farm in Indiana, which has a capacity of 1,200 tons.

Design work on the 479,000-square-foot facility is in its final stages, and construction is expected to begin in late 2021, with the company anticipating commercial stocking of salmon to begin in 2023. 

“We are excited to announce Pioneer, Ohio as the location of our next farm,” said Sylvia Wulf, CEO, AquaBounty. “After an intensive analysis of the site data and the completion of substantial due diligence, Pioneer met our selection requirements. The Village of Pioneer, Williams County, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio and the Regional Growth Partnership have all been a pleasure to work with and are highly supportive of the economic benefits we plan to bring to the community.”

“The state of Ohio currently is finalizing a package of economic incentives to support AquaBounty’s location at the Pioneer site, as the plan for the new farm is contingent upon approval of state and local incentives,” continued Wulf, “Details of the site purchase have been agreed upon and we expect to begin construction by the end of the year.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.