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Benguela Blue Aqua Farming, a company focused on aquafarming, is targeting to start its salmon farming operation in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the first salmon harvest anticipated in the same period of 2026.
The farm is located eight kilometres offshore from the town of Lüderitz. While water conditions at the site are ideal for raising salmon, strong surface currents and wave heights often over two metres require the use of submersible pens that can be submerged to avoid most of the wave energy. The Benguela current, which sweeps up and along the coast of southern Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Angola, carries cold, nutrient-rich water from the southern Atlantic Ocean, but also creates challenging conditions. The project, which began in July 2022, seeks to raise 35,000 metric tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually in submersible net pens.
Benguela Blue Aqua Farming management expressed its confidence in the company’s environmental practices, citing collaboration with scientific experts to ensure sustainability. Regarding financing, the company plans to secure commercial funding by the end of 2024, enabling construction and equipment acquisition. The management refrained from disclosing exact figures but noted the substantial resources available.
Benguela Blue Aqua Farming, Co-founder and Managing Director Johannes Aldrian highlighted the importance of aquafarming for the future of the fishing industry, stating that aquafarming is the future of fishing.Despite being a small company, Aldrian said their success as project developers is guaranteed with the support they are receiving and thanked the Namibian government for its support. The Benguela Blue Aqua Farming, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said with the potential to create 600 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs, the project will bring the country closer to attaining the objective of addressing youth unemployment
The Namibian Government has forged a deliberate plan to diversify our economy to address one of the pressing challenges negatively impacting its economy. One of the strategies to be undertaken is the development of new sectors and products in the economy. From that perspective, Benguela Blue Aqua Farming is exactly the profile of investments Namibia aims to attract and nurture, for many reasons. It is closely aligned with the objectives to develop new sectors and products. Additionally, it will position Namibia as a producer and an exporter of premium salmon products in the world, she added, highlighting the project’s alignment with government objectives.
She also emphasised the project’s potential impact on local agricultural development noting that every tonne of salmon produced will require 1.2 tonnes of fish feed.60% of fish feed content is plant-based proteins, which eventually will be produced in Namibia, thus stimulating the local agricultural development,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/namibia-approves-new-offshore-salmon-farm/
https://trendsnafrica.com/fao-project-to-promote-aquaculture-in-nigeria-response-encouraging/
The open ocean is the future of fish farming and provides a healthier, more natural environment for fish by reducing their exposure to pathogens. But it requires robust equipment like the SeaStation and our submerged grids to withstand the day-to-day punishment of the sea.
