Preparation for Panama open-ocean fish farm
OPEN-OCEAN tilapia producer Aquasense Panama, an affiliate of the U.S. holding company Aquasense International Corp., has begun site preparation at its Gulf of Panamá ocean site, where the company plans to develop the seafood industry’s first-ever open-ocean project for farm-raised saltwater tilapia products for the US market.
“Our project has been gaining traction since we announced it last year and, thanks to additional seed funding, pre-ops can start,” said James F. Reilly, president and CEO of Aquasense.
Sjef van Eijs, chief operating officer of Aquasense, said: “We are excited about getting in the water for site preparation and we expect to do this work on time and on budget.”
In March, the company signed a letter of intent with Miami-based Gamma Seafood Corporation, a division of the Alfa Gamma Group, to market and distribute products Aquasense Panama is an early-stage aquaculture company with the mission of contributing to meeting the rising food needs of a growing world population in a sustainable manner says a company statement “We have developed a non-traditional farming method for tilapia based on our preliminary research,” said Reilly.
“The research showed that, when tilapia are reared in the full salinity of the open ocean and given nutritious food, the result is a much-improved fish product in terms of both taste and texture,” he said.