Cermaq Canada signs three year agreement to supply smolt to land-based salmon farmer Kuterra

Emergent Holdings, a private investment partnership, began leasing and operating the Kuterra facility in 2019.

In a press release, Cermaq Canada writes that it has signed a three-year agreement with Emergent Holdings, lessee and operator of the land-based salmon farm Kuterra, regarding the provision of smolts.

Kuterra is located in ‘Namgis First Nation traditional territory on northern Vancouver Island, near Port McNeill, BC.

“We have been providing our smolts to Kuterra since 2014, but this agreement marks the formalization of the arrangement and greater business certainty for all organizations involved. We are happy to be in a position to be able to support a fellow local farmer and food supplier,” said Cermaq Canada Managing Director David Kiemele.

“The recent Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated how important local food security is and emphasises the importance of working together for the benefit of local communities and the province,” added Kiemele.

Emergent Holdings is the parent company of Whole Oceans, which is developing a RAS facility on North America’s East Coast, in Bucksport, Maine. It bought a majority stake in Kuterra and signed a 15-year lease to run the facilty last year. In 2019, the 250-tonne-a year facility harvested its first crop of 3 kg-fish after a 13-month hiatus.

“In investigating possible options, it made sense to formalise the purchase of smolts from Cermaq Canada as we have been happy with the quality of the smolts provided, and the overall health, growth, and performance of the smolts provided to-date. The agreement will run from October 2021 through to October 2024 which will ensure business continuity and the ongoing supply of high-quality salmon for our farm,” said Emergent Holdings CEO Jacob Bartlett.

In 2019, Emergent Holdings said that it aims to capture at least 10 percent of the North American market for Atlantic salmon by developing vertically integrated facilities close to consumers.

Whole Oceans is currently preparing to begin construction of the 50,000 tonnes-a-year land-based salmon farm at the former Verso Paper mill site, Bucksport, Maine. The company said that it has already has pre-sold 100% of its total production for the next 10 years.

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