Project Sea Dragon, promoted by the Seafarms Group, will see up to 10,000 bears of prawn ponds production and 180,000 tones of prawns will be shipped overseas.
The first stage will cost $281 million and export 6,000 tonnes of prawns in the first year of operation.
The Group has already signed agreements with companies in Europe and Japan. Deals with America, China, and Korea will follow.
Project Sea Dragon's chief executive Chris Mitchell said: "People will be happy to pay a premium for the Territory-bred prawns. Because they will be the best quality, large and produced in Australia, which has a reputation for clean, green food."
The team, led by the chief executive, has driven the $1.5 billion project from conception to the start of construction
At full scale, Project Sea Dragon will create about 1,500 jobs in Northern Australia, including 1,000 in the local territory.
Seafarms chair, lan Trahar, confirmed: "We are committed to employing local people and businesses. The project will have significant economic benefits for the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Australia as a whole."
On the other hand, Chief Minister Michael Gunner added: "Projects like this put the Territory on the map as Australia's comeback capital."
Finally, NT Agribusiness and Aquaculture Minister Nicole Manison noted: "We know how much this will strengthen the industry right across the board. Build confidence to attract new projects, and create more jobs."
The facility will have a founder stock and quarantine centre in Exmouth Western Australia. Here wild-caught prawns will be tested and bred to produce the disease-free stock. Also, a breeding centre and broodstock maturation centre at Bynoe Harbour, 100 kilometres southwest of Darwin by road.
In addition, a hatchery at Gunn Print which will have spawning and rearing tanks for producing disease-free pot larval prawns to stock a grow-out facility.
Furthermore, a processing plant and 300-bed workers village at Kununurra, Western Australia. These harvested prawns will be received, frozen, packaged, and despatched to port for export.
Finally, it will count on a gow-out facility on Legune and a working cattle station near Timber Creek, to grow and harvest more prawns.
Seafarm has operated a pilot prawn farming enterprise in north Queensland since 1988. The Crystal Bay business, which harvests up to 1,800 tonnes a year is one of the largest prawn farm producers in Australia.
Seafarms Group Limited operates as an aquaculture company in Australia. It operates and sells fresh and frozen farmed prawns under the Crystal Bay Prawns and Crystal Bay Tiger Prawns brands. Also, with the development of land-based aquaculture projects.
