The mayor of El Puerto de Santa María during his visit to the Futuna Blue yellowtail fattening facility in the city.
Photo: City Council of El Puerto de Santa María
Following the approval last January of the urban planning license for constructing a yellowtail fattening center in the municipality, the City Council of El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, has once again shown its support for Futuna Blue's project with a visit by the mayor, Germán Beardo, to the construction site where the company is preparing to produce up to 4,500 tons of this high-value species.
Located in the Left Commercial Dock of the local port area, the yellowtail (Seriola dumerili) land-based facility - which is being developed by Acuicultura Cádiz EME-450.1 SL, a subsidiary, like Futuna Blue, of the Norwegian group Kingfish Norway - is on a 10,000 square meter plot in the port's aquaculture cluster.
In Phase 1, the Futuna Blue farm foresees an annual production of 450 tons of Seriola using a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). In its note on the mayor's visit to the facilities, the City Council of El Puerto de Santa María stressed that this is "a clean and environmentally friendly technology that guarantees sustainable production with no polluting impact."
As mentioned, the company has also begun preparations for an ambitious Phase 2, which includes expanding the land-based RAS fattening facilities to 4,500 tons per year in an area of 47,000 square meters, which will use cutting-edge technology to further advance the sustainability of the sector.
Thus, after the success in the rearing of Seriola dumerili fry, of which they were pioneers, Futuna Blue will complete the production cycle in this new plant with the fattening of fish to commercial size. It will count on the support and expertise of the majority shareholder, Kingfish Norway, which became a shareholder in 2023.
With a solid track record in the salmon aquaculture industry in Norway, the City Council of El Puerto de Santa María emphasized that the Norwegian business group has chosen this Spanish town as a spearhead for the expansion of yellowtail aquaculture in the European Union.
"With an investment of nearly EUR 20 million, this ambitious project boosts aquaculture and places El Puerto as a world reference in sustainable Seriola farming," said the Andalusian consistory in its statement.
With a strong growth potential based on demand, the project not only reinforces the leadership of this city in the province of Cádiz in the production of yellowtail but also consolidates it as a strategic epicenter of European aquaculture.
Likewise, the release also said that, in addition to generating employment and boosting the industrial network, the Futuna Blue project is presented as a model of innovation and sustainability. This was also highlighted by the mayor of the town, who expressed his gratitude to Kingfish Norway and Futuna Blue for the trust placed in the city.
"This project reaffirms El Puerto's position as a strategic settlement and a benchmark in innovation and sustainable development. Our city continues to move forward with firm steps towards a more prosperous future committed to the environment," Germán Beardo stated.