AquaBounty announces Kentucky as next planned GE salmon farm site

AquaBounty Technologies announced that Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S.A., has been selected as its favored site for a future 10,000 metric ton (MT) land-based salmon farm.

The new farm would be the first large-scale commercial facility for the company’s AquAdvantage salmon – a proprietary genetically engineered Atlantic salmon. The new location would be eight times the size of the company’s existing farm in Albany, Indiana, which currently has a production capacity of 1,200 MT.

“We are pleased to have identified a site in Mayfield as meeting or exceeding all selection criteria for our third farm,” AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf said. “The Graves County community and site location met all suitability and technical requirements. At both the state and local level, we found a welcome economic environment and favorable incentives for our business.”

AquaBounty had the first commercial sale of Atlantic salmon in the U.S. earlier this year, and has been working toward profitability in 2020 now that the company finally gained regulatory approvals for its genetically engineered product and has had an FDA import alert lifted.

The potential site, according to the company, was chosen from 230 candidates.

“Evaluation criteria for the company’s third farm included sufficient water and wastewater volumes, low electricity prices, proximity to major population centers, availability of skilled labor pools and a stable, supportive political environment,” AquaBounty said.

With the selection of the new site, the company is planning to move forward on purchasing and planning, Wulf said.

“We now are negotiating details of the potential purchase, conducting due diligence, and are moving forward as quickly as possible to finalize the transaction,” she said. “This milestone positions AquaBounty to rapidly expand our geographic footprint and meet our long-term production goals, creating value for our shareholders.”

The company is planning to begin construction in 2021, with commercial production expected to begin in 2023. 

Photo courtesy of Paul Sableman via Wikimedia