September 12, 2023

Ocean Harvest seeks funds to set up salmon farm in UAE's northeast

Abu Dhabi, UAE-based startup Ocean Harvest is looking to raise $180 million for a 100,000 square-meter salmon farming facility in a northeastern region of the United Arab Emirates.

The seafood startup plans to buy salmon eggs from Norway, Iceland and Denmark and begin operations at its first hatchery in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah by 2026, according to The Circuit. The company expects to start selling 3,500 tonnes of Atlantic salmon in its first phase and earn $35.6 million in revenue revenue by 2028. By 2030, it expects revenues to reach $43 million.

"We're looking for strategic investors, sovereign wealth funds, impact investors [and] infrastructure investors because we need those kinds of shareholders," the company's new chief executive officer, Jawad Jamil, told The Circuit on September 10.

Ocean Harvest will use a recirculating aquaculture system from French company Suez. Instead of deploying antibiotics and pesticides, water from the tanks will be cleaned and recirculated every 30 minutes.

- The Messenger