Barramundi to be farmed in Bulgaria – Fishupdate.com
Barramundi to be farmed in Bulgaria Published: 13 November, 2006
WESTERN-AUSTRALIA based Cell Aquaculture Ltd has announced that it is to establish one of the first recirculating, land-based fish farms in Bulgaria.
The company has finalised a deal with a publicly-listed Bulgarian fishing and seafood processing business, Atlantic Ltd, to establish a pilot project at Atlantics existing Bourgas port facility. Once operational, Atlantic will commence with a commercial expansion planned for mid to late 2007.
This deal is expected to generate revenues of $1.5million for Cell Aquaculture, based on the pilot project and commercial expansion phase. Cell Aquaculture will be supplying all essential equipment, most of which is manufactured in Western Australia, as well as the installation, training and on-going technical support services. It will also be air-freighting fingerlings from Australia to stock the facility. It is expected that the pilot facility will be installed by January, with the first batch of fingerlings due to arrive in February.
With Bulgaria due to enter the EU in January, Atlantic Ltd is driving an expansion of its frozen, processed seafood business to include premium fresh fish. Commenting on the move, Petko Roussinov, Chairman of Atlantic Ltd, said: By utilising the advanced Cell System for production of barramundi we can grow this premium Australian table fish in Europe to satisfy the increasingly high value fresh seafood market that is developing in central and eastern Europe.
The declining state of the wild fishery means that seafood businesses must look at recirculating, land-based aquaculture as a means to supply premium fish products in the future.
This deal will result in the second Cell System to be developed in Europe, behind the joint venture facility in Tolbert, The Netherlands, which will begin selling barramundi in the coming months. Negotiations are also underway regarding a large scale facility in Spain to service the western European market.
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