Nova Austral’s subsidiary Sixty South has invested in building a new hatchery 45 kilometers north of Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego.
This state-of-the-art, 4-stage facility will enable Sixty South to produce 12 million smolts of 120 grams per year, or 3 million every quarter. What’s unique is the facilities being all indoors to ensure greatest control over the entire production process, the company said in a press release.
This new facility supports Sixty South’s commitment to growing fish without any antibiotics and in the purest, most natural and clean conditions possible. The hatchery boasts sophisticated monitoring and water quality control systems and strong bio-security reducing the risk of water contamination.
Sixty South has strategically located the hatchery far away from any other farms (which are located further north) to ensure clean water from the Antarctic without any parasites or disease, reducing biological risk and delivering high-quality smolts. The location also enables short transportation time from hatchery to farm.
What’s more, the facility supports water recyclability and recirculation to limit the amount of water used throughout the production process, while also offering superior environmental responsibility benefits.
To date, Sixty South is the only company in Tierra del Fuego using the hatchery’s innovative technology, bringing new advantages and investment to the area.
“This important investment confirms the commitment of the company towards sustainability as this new facility is eco-friendly, with state-of-the-art technology to control the water quality and the emissions to the environment. We expect to secure our smolts supply while improving the biosecurity. Soon 100% of the farming cycle of Sixty South Salmon will be in Tierra del Fuego, in the Magallanes region,” said Nicos Nicolaides, CEO, Sixty South.
The hatchery, which will be the first one for Sixty South’s parent company Nova Austral to own, is currently in final stages of development and is planned to be 100% complete in August, 2019.
Salmon farmer Nova Austral is owned by the PE companies Altor Fund III and Bain Capital. The company’s entire operations are located in Chile’s Region XII, in the Magellan and Antarctic Region, over 2,500 km from Santiago, the country’s capital city.
