AKVA Group has been awarded a contract together with the Malaysian-based construction company Erat Semarat Sdn Bhd for the building of a marine hatchery for the Malaysian Authorities. 

The National Hatchery will be built in Rompin in the province of Pahang, Malaysia, and is designed for the production of 5 million marine fish fry, and initially planned production of Tiger Grouper and Asian Seabass.

The fry will mainly be delivered to local fish farming companies in the Pahang province.

The equipment delivered will be of UNI recirculation technology and other AKVA group technologies. The contract value of this delivery is of about NOK10 million (US$1.4 million) for AKVA Group, and delivery will take place over the next 12 months.

The contract is part of Malaysia's plan to reduce the country's dependency on fish imports, and to expand its seafood export industry. Malaysia plans to increase its fish output from 320,000 tonnes to 650,000 tonnes by 2013.

With this contract, AKVA Group can now formalise its presence in Malaysia and the group is now looking forward to the potential of clinching several more projects in the future, according to company CMO Trond Severinsen.