January 29, 2007

Atlantik to invest in barramundi and mussels

Atlantik, a fish and seafood producer based in Bulgaria, is planning to invest up to EUR10 million in aquaculture projects over the next five to seven years.

To implement the projects, the company said it would rely on support from various EU programmes.

A company spokesman said Atlantik is focusing on aquaculture projects in view of ever declining fishing quotas worldwide. The company's immediate projects include a mussel farm and a hatchery for barramundi fish on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

The mussel farm, to be completed this spring, costs EUR 800,000 and is co-financed by an EU programme. Its first harvest is expected in the spring of 2008, with annual production to total around 600 tonnes a year.

Atlantik has also started constructing a fish hatchery for barramundi, costing EUR500,000. The hatchery will be completed in March this year near Atlantik's fish port in Burgas.

Currently, in the EU, only the Netherlands is breeding barramundi. Atlantik hopes to introduce barramundi to the Bulgarian market and export the fish to the rest of Europe.