Vancouver-based fish technology company AgriMarine Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: FSH) is launching a commercial-scale project in China to research the rearing of yellow croaker in closed containment, the company announced today.
The project is a joint venture between AgriMarine and Chinese state-held research and development institution Zhoushan Fisheries Research Institute in the People’s Republic of China (ZFRI).
AgriMarine has developed and commercialized proprietary floating closed containment salmon farming technology, which can be applied to other finfish, including yellow croaker.
Under the terms of the agreement, ZFRI will provide husbandry expertise and the facility to house the technology provided by AgriMarine.
The parties have agreed that, if the trials are successful and the market is receptive to the fish, which will be branded as “sustainably raised in a closed containment system,” they will develop a full-scale closed containment farming operation.
According to AgriMarine, the market for yellow croaker in China is of a size similar to the market for salmon in B.C., representing 70,000 tonnes worth US$460 million.
The company states that wild populations of the species in China – where the fish are called “gold fish” – have declined since the 1970s and are now cultured in ocean net cages in Fujian province.
The practices “are contributing to pollution, disease and significant use of antibiotics, resulting in flesh quality issues,” the company said.
Calls to AgriMarine for comment were not returned by press deadline.