The £100 million Grimsby farm is expected to generate 80 full-time jobs.
Mike Berthet, a former executive with distributor M&J Seafood and one of the directors of Aquacultured, the company behind the scheme to build a 5,000 metric ton land-based salmon farm in Grimsby has said that plans are progressing smoothly for the groundbreaking UK facility.
The farm representing a £100 million investment and the potential creation of approximately 80 jobs, received approval from North East Lincolnshire Council on November 29, 2023.
Speaking to SalmonBusiness at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum in Bergen, Berthet provided an update on the project’s progress.
A minor funding round will be the first step, to get the plans worked up, with the “heavy lifting” to be completed as quickly as possible, the executive said. The company aims to commence physical groundwork by the end of this year or early the following year, he added, indicating a clear timeline for the project’s next phase.
Asked about the noise coming from activists, Berthet was firm.
“We want to produce nutritious healthy protein and we are going to deliver much needed jobs,” he said.
The proposed facility, spanning 440,000 square feet in gross internal area, is designed to incorporate both freshwater and saltwater tanks for salmon cultivation.
Additional features of the development include a water treatment plant, a fish processing line, a feed storage unit, and an on-site energy center. The facility’s layout also provides for bio-security measures, disinfection areas, and landscaping.
Israeli RAS design group Aquamaof is set to provide the systems for the facility.
Directors in the project include former CEO of The Scottish Salmon Company, Craig Anderson; director at Fowey Shellfish James Fox-Davies, and financiers Matthew Clarke and Neil Jamieson.
