Seafarms Group Limited, the parent company behind plans for a black tiger shrimp farm in Australia dubbed Project Sea Dragon (PSD), has sold two farms for AUD 13.5 million (USD 9.1 million, EUR 8.2 million) as it works to continue the project.
According to a release posted to the Australian Stock Exchange, Seafarms Group and its wholly owned subsidiary Seafarm Queensland have entered a binding transaction with Mainstream Aquaculture Property for the sale and leaseback of two different farms. Mainstream Aquaculture is a private company and one of the largest vertically integrated producers of barramundi fingerlings in the world.
"Farms 1 and 2 have been important in our journey toward PSD but have been focused on the production of Banana prawns for the domestic market which is not a part of our strategy going forward,” Seafarms Group CEO Peter Fraser, who took his role as CEO in March 2024, said. “Now is an opportune time to sell Farms 1 and 2, streamline our operations, and focus on the key contributing elements of PSD – breeding, farming, processing, and exporting world-class black tiger prawns.”
Farms 1 and 2 are located in Cardwell, Queensland, Australia, and Seafarm Queensland will retain ownership of some assets needed for the company’s Ingham, Queensland, Australia farm – which includes the processing plant situated on land that the company will lease from Mainstream for 30 years at nominal rent.
After completing the sale, the company said it will focus on prawn aquaculture in Ingham and work to continue developing PSD.
"Farm 3, the processing plant, and the hatchery will continue to be fully utilized, with a particular focus on export,” Fraser said. “This transaction reflects Seafarms' commitment to strengthening its operations and delivering on its strategic objectives in the development of PSD.”
PSD called for the development of 10,000 hectares into what would be one of the world’s largest black tiger shrimp farms, but the project has had a tumultuous few years. In February 2024, an Australian court ruled the company should be liquidated after abusing corporate laws, but a judge later granted a stay of the order as Seafarms appealed the ruling.
