August 26, 2013 — The first black sea bass and California yellowtail to come from a trial land-based culture method have earned excellent reviews from chefs and consumers.
That's the word from Ed Robinson, co-owner and director of Harpswell-based RAS Corporation. Now plans are in the works to expand RAS's limited trial run of 1,000 each of the two marine species.
RAS was founded early in 2011 by Christopher Heinig and Tap Pryor, marine biologists with long histories in aquaculture-related businesses. The company won two rounds of funding from the Brunswick-based Maine Technology Institute, in September 2011 and June 2012, to grow one tank of black sea bass combined with a prototype system to remove the solid waste from the discharge water.
In December 2012, MTI awarded RAS a third round of financing, this time $125,000. The funds were matched by a loan and equity from Coastal Enterprises, Inc., in Wiscasset.
The financing will allow RAS to buy 10,000 to 12,000 California yellowtail juveniles and grow them in 18 larger tanks over the coming year, with the goal of getting into commercial-scale production in the 2015-2016 timeframe. To be economically viable, initial commercial production would be in the range of hundreds of thousands of fish per year.
RAS has been conducting its initial studies over the past two years at the Franklin-based Center for Cooperative Aquaculture, considered one of the most sophisticated aquaculture development facilities in the U.S.
Read the full story at the Working Waterfront