AquaBounty Begins Production at Albany Facility
AquaBounty operates a facility in Albany
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAfter two years of planning and waiting on regulatory approvals, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AQB) has begun commercial production of its AquAdvantage Salmon at its Albany facility. The announcement comes three months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted an Import Alert that prevented the company from shipping its salmon eggs from Canada.
AquaBounty took over control of the facility after acquiring Bell Fish Co. in a $14 million deal in 2017. The company received FDA approval in April 2018 to raise salmon at the facility, but had to wait until the Import Alert was lifted to begin producing its branded salmon. While it waited, the company stocked the facility with traditional Atlantic salmon.
The AquAdvantage Salmon, according to the company, has been bioengineered to grow to market size in about half the time of traditional Atlantic salmon. The company says it "significantly improves" the economics of producing salmon in land-based contained facilities.
The company received its first shipment of AquAdvantage Salmon eggs last week and expects the first harvest to occur in the fall of 2020.
AquaBounty also announced the appointment of David Melbourne as chief commercial officer. Melbourne, who most recently served as senior vice president of consumer marketing, government & industry relations, and corporate social responsibility for Bumble Bee Foods LLC.