Categorized | Business

Hawaii Oceanic Technology to deploy Oceansphere in 2015

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Hawaii Oceanic Technology, Inc., an open ocean fish farming technology company expects to start construction of its first Oceansphere by the end of 2014 with deployment scheduled in 2015.

The company was granted its final permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers last year giving it the green light needed to launch its revolutionary fish farming platform in Hawaii.

All contractors and suppliers are in place and ready to move the project forward.

The company has a 247 acre (one square kilometer) 35 year ocean lease off of Hawaii Island. Yellow fin and Bigeye tuna, known as Ahi in Hawaii, are the fish the company plans to grow to demonstrate the system, but it is also considering additional species.

The company’s biology partner successfully spawned yellow fin tuna at its research hatchery last year.

Though additional work needs to be done, officials are confident that success with egg-to-plate tuna rearing is at hand.

The company is poised to expand globally with its technology to meet anticipated demand for open ocean fish farming equipment, anticipated to be more than a $75 billion market by 2020.

With patents for its technology in U.S., Australia, Canada and Philippines in hand, and pending in Europe and Japan, company officials believe there will be a strong demand for the Oceansphere as consumption of seafood continues to increase worldwide.

Expanding into the global marketplace is the job of recently appointed Vice President of Business Development, Adriaan Zijlstra, who joined the company this year from DSM NV where he was responsible for (among other things) the development of the aquaculture market. DSM Dyneema manufactures, the fiber used in a variety of marine applications including netting for aquaculture sea cages.

The Hawaii Oceanic Technology Oceansphere provides fish farming companies the ability to grow seafood sustainably and naturally in deep ocean settings where fish benefit from lower parasitic loads, better food conversion ratios, and faster
growth.

Oceanspheres operate submerged and are more than 80,000 cubic meters in capacity allowing farming to be profitable for operators after its first harvest. The Oceansphere is not tethered to the ocean floor so it can withstand the harsher conditions of the open ocean and be moved if sea conditions change.

The system is highly automated from feeding to environmental and fish health monitoring that reduces farm labor costs and allows continual remote observation.

Oceanspheres are designed to operate far from shore, minded by a tendership with crew and feed supplies thereby reducing the carbon foot print associated with traditional fishing and fish farming and creating the opportunity for vertical integration of production, streamlined supply chain and clear traceability from ocean to plate.

The market for farmed seafood is expected to surpass $200 billion by 2020.

The company is privately funded and was formed in 2006 as a Delaware C corporation. Its headquarters are in Honolulu, Hawaii.

— Find out more:
www.hioceanictech.com

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