The Chilean branch of Oslo, Norway-based salmon farmer Cermaq announced it will begin construction on the second stage of its Chacao Canal Fish Farm (PCC) at a cost of some USD 100 million (EUR 93.5 million).
The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility’s operational launch is projected for the first half of 2026 and will have a production capacity of 14 million smolt a year, which would make it the company’s largest, Cermaq Chile said in a release.
According to the company, the project includes state-of-the-art technology in all its production phases and will look to ensure the highest environmental standards. It will also employ fully automated processes, producing smolts with a minimum average weight of 150 grams.
“Nueva PCC is one of Cermaq's most important projects not only locally but also from a global point of view and is in line with our business strategy in freshwater, where our objective is to improve the quality of our processes by delivering a smolt that maximizes performance in the seawater phase,” Cermaq Chile General Manager Pedro Courard said.
The farm will make use of freshwater, brackish water, and seawater, better preparing the fish for their next grow-out phase, and it will use 11 epidemiological units to improve biosecurity in its production processes.
PCC will also incorporate sustainable waste management through high-tech sludge treatment in order to reduce waste and transform it into a byproduct to be used in fertilizer. The geographical location – on the Chacao Canal, 60 kilometers from the southern Chilean city of Puerto Montt – is also strategic, as it allows direct loading onto wellboats, reducing truck movement and optimizing time and resources, according to Cermaq Chile Production Manager Álvaro Poblete.
Sustainability was also heavily considered in the facility’s construction.
“Concrete will be combined with laminated timber structures, and the construction is intended to be carbon neutral; that is, the CO2 generated will be compensated by the use of wood that absorbs it. All of this will make Nueva PCC the first fish farm in Chile to be certified according to green building certification,” Courard said.
This construction follows Cermaq’s signing of a EUR 60 million (USD 64 million) contract with AKVA Group last year to build a land-based post-smolt facility in Hasvik, Sørøya, Norway. That RAS facility, with a production capacity of 12 million smolt annually, represented the largest-ever contract in Norway for AKVA.
