The plant will serve Atlantic Sapphire’s recirculating system (RAS) operations in Homestead in Miami-Dade County.
Under the terms of a new agreement, Skretting will build and finance the feed plant, while Atlantic Sapphire will commit to source the majority of its salmon feed demand from Skretting over the contract period, which is set to span 10 years.
The Miami based RAS salmon producer plans to grow, by 2031, 220,000 annual tons of salmon. Feed is the company's largest cost component.
Skretting is currently supplying feed to Atlantic Sapphire and other RAS orientated salmon producers in North America via its Canadian operations.
Having a local feed source will reduce production costs – by around USD 0.3/kg head on gutted (HOG) - as well its GHG emissions significantly, according to Atlantic Sapphire.
Awaiting permits
The construction of the new feed plant is subject to Skretting receiving all the necessary building permits
In terms of timelines, a spokesperson for Skretting told FeedNavigator that while it doesn’t have precise visibility on when construction would start, it expects that it would take roughly two years to have the facility up and running after all necessary documentation is obtained.
She would not disclose expected production volumes for the proposed plant but said Skretting was intending to build “sufficient capacity for the entire sector, which is an exciting prospect as we expect the demand for salmon to continue to grow in the US.”
The fish feed manufacturer currently has a number of collaborators in the land-based sector.
The planned feed volumes for the facility, added the spokesperson, would allow Skretting to stay ahead of the expected increases in demand.
RAS feed innovation
The agreement between Atlantic Sapphire and Skretting also contains contractual mechanisms to ensure the salmon company has continual access to feed of the highest quality and nutritional value.
The producer said it has chosen to work with Skretting due to its unparalleled track record in R&D; the two firms have committed to co-operate to develop specialist RAS salmon diets.
As well as reducing their carbon footprints, they plan to work together to add novel ingredients to the feeds – in a bid to use zero marine ingredients in the salmon diets, while still maintaining high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the finished product.
“The all-in feed price will be determined by the actual cost per specific diet,” they said.
