Kingfish Company gets final OK from Maine town for RAS farm

Yellowtail production facility aims for 8,500-ton annual production capacity

The Kingfish Company announced on Monday that the town of Jonesport, Maine, approved its building permit application for a land-based recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) production facility.

With the Kingfish Maine project fully permitted by state and federal regulatory agencies, the local building permit was the final step required for the Netherlands-based company to begin pre-construction design and engineering on its new facility in the United States.

The town of Jonesport is now drafting its findings of fact and the planning board is expected to formally adopt and sign the building permit in early November.

Kingfish Maine is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kingfish Company and will deploy the same advanced technology and operations as in the Netherlands. Once the Jonesport facility is fully operational, Kingfish Maine will be the largest producer of yellowtail kingfish in the country.

“With the final approval of our Jonesport building permit, we look forward to replicating our EU success in the U.S. with local production of high-value yellowtail,” said Ohad Maiman, founder and CEO of The Kingfish Company. “The Jonesport community has supported our project from day one and our commitment to the town has never wavered. We value our continuing partnership with the town as we build out our sustainable land-based technology in the U.S.”

The keys to making land-based and offshore aquaculture work? Scale, scale, scale

The Kingfish Zeeland facility in the Netherlands produces 1,500 metric tons (MT) of yellowtail each year, with expansion underway to increase capacity to 3,500 MT in early Q1 2023. The U.S. facility aims to produce 8,500 MT.

The company’s RAS production – which uses seawater and is run on 100 percent renewable energy, sourced from wind, solar and biogas – protects biodiversity, ensures biosecurity and enhances animal welfare, as the fish are grown without antibiotics.

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