Posted on: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Open-ocean fish farm begins operation off Kona
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fish farming in the open ocean has begun off the Kona coast on the Big Island.
Kona Blue Water Farms photo Kona Blue Water, a division of Big Island-based pearl oyster cultivator Black Pearls Inc., has state approval to lease 90 acres adjacent to Kona's Keahole Airport to grow fish in underwater cages. So far the company, which has raised $4 million with help from state technology tax credits, has built two underwater cages.
The submersible cages are 60 feet tall by 80 feet in diameter. Growing fish in their natural environment is more cost-effective than in tanks on land in part because there's no need for electricity to drive pumps to aerate the water, said Neil Sims, president and chief executive for Kona Blue Water.
"It all relies on the natural movement of water through the area," Sims said yesterday.
The company plans to build four more underwater cages within the year. The cages sit 30 feet below the surface in water 200 to 250 feet deep.
Eventually the Kampachi, which is used as sashimi among other things, will be sold for an undisclosed price to restaurants and retailers locally and on the Mainland.
Currently, the company sells between 500 and 1,000 pounds of fish each week that are grown in tanks on land at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. Founded in 2000, Kona Blue Water has 17 full-time employees.
Sims said the Kampachi sales should help erode a $7 billion U.S. trade seafood trade deficit.
"Anything we can do to reduce that deficit is good for America and good for the fishes," he said.
Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.
Kona Blue Water Farms this week said it stocked its first open-ocean cage with 30,000 juvenile Kona Kampachi fish, which should be ready to harvest in September.
Kona Blue Water Farms has launched its offshore fish farm with the stocking of 30,000 juvenile Kona Kampachi, a type of amberjack.
