The Danish construction company, Graakjaer, has signed an agreement with Cape Nordic Corporation (CNC) to build a land-based fish farm for sea trout close to Cape Town.
Graakjaer will provide design, process equipment, supervision, project management, fishfarm support, training and startup for CNC.
The fish farm is expected to produce 1,800 tons of sea trout per year. Slaughter weight will be up to 5.2 kg. Expansion is planned. Even though the focus now is on sea trout, the fish farm is also being built for atlantic salmon.
Increasing fresh fish demand
The builder, CNC, says the reason for setting up the fish farm is due to the increasing fresh fish demand in Africa.
“We see big opportunities in producing land-based, sustainable fresh fish to be delivered to the South African market at competitive prices,” said Erik B. Rasmussen, director of CNC.
Rasmussen is one out of four investors in CNC. The three others, South Africans, have backround from the wind industry, oil- and gassindustry as well as IT.
“A milestone”
The fish farm will be financed by a combination of share capital, bank loans, export credits and local funding.
“We have reached a milestone with our first contract, which primarily deals with the delivery of the water treatment system (RAS) to a major fish farming facility for CNC,” sayd Graakjaer Aqua’s director, Morten Malle.
Construction is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter this year.
