Nordic Aquafarms edges closer to green light for California

Nordic Aquafarms has passed another milestone in its bid to build a land based yellowtail kingfish farm in California.

The California Coastal Commission has issued a ”Notice of Intent to Issue” a Coastal Development Permit (CDP), which will be the final major permit required for the farm. The decision was passed  12-0 in favour.

It is understood that the CDP is likely to contain further special provisions, but the company is hailing the news as a major step forward towards its goal of operating a RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) farm on the site of an abandoned pulp mill on the Pacific coast.

The Nordic Aquafarms site is located in Humboldt County, northern California, in a rural, densely populated region known as “the home of the redwoods”.

Brenda Chandler, CEO Nordic Aquafarms

The company said the Harbor District, as the landowner, has played a pivotal role in facilitating the project’s progression and will continue its permitting activities for the intake side of the initiative. This next phase is anticipated to be completed by 2024.

Brenda Chandler, US CEO at Nordic Aquafarms, said: “We are extremely proud of the engagement and collaboration with NGOs, local and state governments, and our many steadfast community members. Together we simply made this a better project all around.”

Nordic Aquafarms’ European arm, Nordic Kingfish, has three operational sites in Norway and Denmark for the production of yellowtail kingfish, with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes. The group’s US arm is developing two sites, on the west coast in Humboldt County and on the east coast in Belfast, Maine.

Proposed Nordic Aquafarms plan – Humboldt County CA