Millinocket, Maine, U.S.A.-based Katahdin Salmon has been renamed Great Northern Salmon and has collected USD 6 million (EUR 5.5 million) in funding to build its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) land-based farm.
The new funding comes in the form of a USD 5 million (EUR 4.6 million) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant and USD 1 million (EUR 921,000) Maine Department of Economic and Community Development grant to cover the cost of remediation and site preparation of the former settling lagoon of the Great Northern Paper Co. paper mill.
“Being selected for a substantial grant like this by the EPA speaks to the high-quality work that our development partner Our Katahdin has put into developing the former paper mill site and also the great potential for Katahdin Salmon to repurpose the site,” Katahdin Salmon CEO Marianne Naess said in a press release.
The grants will reduce the project’s overall capex and will enable the company to begin construction “with a fully prepared and excavated site, reducing the construction cost and timeline,” Naess said.
Naess said construction on the project will take two years, with production starting one year in, and that the remediation will save six months. The company has already put out a request for proposals on the remediation work and will pick a contractor, to be managed by Sevee & Maher Engineering, in the coming months.
The name of the former paper mill at the site inspired the new name of the company, which it portended in a 15 May press statement.
“Katahdin Salmon has been a good name for the initial development phases in Maine. Now that the company is entering into a new phase, it is the right time to transition to a name that reflects the developments of the company and the way forward but that still ties the company to the local community,” Naess said. “The new brand reflects the ties to the community and its history and, at the same time, represents our future ambitions and direction.”
Naess also confirmed Trondheim, Norway-based Nofitech has been selected as the RAS vendor for Great Northern Salmon's Millinocket farm.
“Great Northern Salmon’s experienced production team has a clear vision for our future RAS design and functionality, and Nofitech´s approach was the best fit technically, commercially, and culturally,” Naess said.
Nofitech will begin design work this summer, Nofitech CEO Robert Hundstad said.
This marks the start of a long-term partnership with Great Northern Salmon, based on shared values, understanding, and objectives,” Hundstad said.
Great Northern Salmon Head of RAS Technology Dean Guest said he believed the partnership would be a successful one.
“It became clear as soon as we started exploring future collaboration that we see things the same way and that Nofitech has a design that is compatible with our bioplan,” Guest said. “Nofitech's reputation for delivering on expectations for cost, performance, and schedule, proven through its repeat business with several customers, was also an important factor in the decision.”
Naess said her company is focused on developing the first site in Millinocket but added that the Great Northern Salmon brand “will be scalable to future locations and reflects our ambition to expand to future locations in North America.”
