Namibian company Benguela Blue Aqua Farming is ready to advance the country’s first offshore salmon farming project after securing $20.3 million (€20 million) in the first round of financing.
The offshore farm is envisioned to produce 25,000 tons of Atlantic salmon within 10 years at a site located 5 nautical miles west of the Namibian coast.
“Ambitous maybe, but doable,” said company director Johannes Aldrain. “The excellent water quality is the driving force to go offshore.”
The company will install submersible net pens from Innovasea. The Boston-based developer of open-ocean fish pens helped the company do an economic analysis and site selection.
“We are now at proof-of-concept stage. We are looking for strategic partners, preferably partners with background in offshore salmon farming,” said Aldrain.
If all go according to plan, the project will commence operations in the second quarter of 2024. The initial harvest is envisioned to be around 500MT.
Calling Namibia the “Switzerland of Africa,” Aldrain said his country has “excellent legal and finance structure” and is stable.
“We will be the first ones to utilize opportunities of the Benguela current and we encourage other companies to follow suit. There’s huge growth potential as demand in Africa is expected to rise above global rates,” he said.
He added aquaculture is where significant growth of seafood production will come from. “The sector is expected to deliver the largest share of new production. It will provide traceable, sustainable high- quality salmon to Europe and Asia,” he said.
