New Zealand King Salmon to shift processing from Nelson to Blenheim.
New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) has acquired a commercial site in Blenheim for NZD 8.14 million ($4.86 million), with plans to relocate its primary processing operations from Nelson to Marlborough.
The site, located in Cloudy Bay Business Park, is expected to become the company’s main processing facility as production increases from Blue Endeavour, its planned open-ocean aquaculture farm. The company said the new factory could eventually create 70–100 jobs in Marlborough, according to local news site, The Press.
Blue Endeavour, which will be New Zealand’s first open-ocean aquaculture site and the world’s first for Chinook salmon, will be located 7km off Cape Lambert in Cook Strait. Two pilot pens currently in Pelorus Sound will be towed to the site next month. At full scale, the farm is projected to produce 10,000 tonnes of King salmon annually, with anticipated revenue of NZD 350 million ($209 million).
Chief executive Carl Carrington told staff on Tuesday that no immediate changes were planned for Nelson-based operations, with any transition at least three years away.
“Our Nelson infrastructure is the heart of our research, development and innovation and will continue to be so,” Carrington said. “Having our primary processing operations in Blenheim takes a lot of truck movements off the road and better future-proofs our operations to be more resilient to extreme weather events, earthquakes and other things that affect road transport.”
NZKS said the Blenheim location was chosen after a two-year search across Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough, citing proximity to farms in the Marlborough Sounds and improved transport links via State Highway 1 and international airports.
Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor said the move would strengthen the region’s role in aquaculture. “This new investment very much consolidates their position here,” she said.
