Butha-Buthe Highland region of Lesotho © Pure Salmon

Pure Salmon to build land-based salmon farm in Butha-Buthe

LESOTHO
Thursday, July 18, 2019, 15:30 (GMT + 9)

Pure Salmon has announced a new 20,000-tonne RAS facility in the African kingdom of Lesotho, an enclaved independent country completely surrounded by the territory of South Africa.

Located in the Butha-Buthe Highland region, the USD 250 million farm will be developed in partnership with the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) and is predicted to have annual revenues accounting for 8% of the country’s GDP.

Lesotho is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million

In a press release, Stephane Farouze, board director of Pure Salmon and chairman and founder of 8F Asset Management – Pure Salmon’s parent company – said: “Not only is Lesotho one of the most dramatically beautiful countries in the world, the Highlands are also the source of some of the purest natural water reserves in the world. This directly complements the Pure Salmon pledge to deliver sustainable Atlantic Salmon, free of microplastics, antibiotics, pesticides and other contaminants.

“Through our partnership with the LNDC and investment in the Lesotho site, we hope to provide increased opportunities for the local community through the production of sustainable salmon. Whether that’s providing new jobs, offering training opportunities in the aquaculture industry or contributing to the LNDC’s commitment to diversify the country’s agriculture industry, we look forward to bringing this project to fruition.”

The agreement for the project was signed by LNDC chief executive Mohato Seleke, in the presence of the Lesotho government’s finance, trade and water ministers.

The announcement follows the company’s ambitious launches with a fully operational facility in Poland jointly owned with Pure Salmon’s technology partner, AquaMaof, and projects under way or planned in Japan, China, Bahrain, the United States and Europe. Pure Salmon aims to produce 260,000 tons of salmon per annum globally.

Each Pure Salmon farm uses AquaMaof’s recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology, something which Pure Salmon says will offer a 40% lower cost of production compared to traditional sea-cage farming.  

Source: fishfarmingexpert.com / Read the whole story here

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