RUSHVILLE, Ind. – AquaBounty Technologies, the American land-based aquaculture company, announced it is selling its Albany, Ind., farm operation and relocating to Ohio.

The company has been exploring a wide range of financing alternatives to strengthen its balance sheet and increase its cash position. Selling its Indiana farm operation is a first step in this process, company officials said.

“We have been focused on securing funding for our near and long-term needs so we can continue to pursue our growth strategy,” said AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf. “Making the decision to sell our Indiana farm was a difficult one for us. We have built a strong operation there with a passionate and experienced team and I want to express gratitude to our team members in Indiana for the job they’ve done the last eight years. Our focus will be on harvesting the remaining genetically engineered Atlantic salmon for sale over the coming months to ready the farm for a new owner.”

The 122,000-square-foot Indiana facility, designed to produce 1,200 metric tons annually, began operation in 2019 and harvested its first batch of Atlantic salmon in June 2020. The facility shifted to raising genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon shortly after. The company marked the delayed first harvest in February 2021 at 100 metric tons.

The new facility is in Pioneer, Ohio, near the Michindoh Aquifer and the St. Joseph River. The salmon farm is intended to be the company’s first commercial-scale facility designed to produce 10,000 metric tons of salmon annually on a 429,000-square-foot property. Company reports show that the Ohio farm site is roughly 30 percent completed since the team broke ground on the $320 million project in April 2022.

AquaBounty operates a salmon Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). This type of aquaculture uses indoor tanks to grow fish. Companies like AquaBounty work in raising large number of commercial fish.

Then there are smaller fisheries, like the one run by Bill Lynch, of Union County, Ohio. His is Millcreek Perch Farm near Marysville.

Lynch attended Ohio State University where he earned a degree in fisheries management in 1982. Lynch worked for the School of Environment and Natural Resources for 18 years and then Ohio State Extension for another 12 years as the aquatic ecosystem management specialist. Lynch currently serves as the Ohio Aquaculture Association (OAA) president. There are currently 149 members in the OAA.

“When I was at Ohio State, I had a lot of research experience with yellow perch,” he said. “I had a strong background in fisheries and fish management, so in 2001, I started building ponds and then in 2002 we started growing yellow perch.

“We got a call from a pond and lake management company one day and they wanted to buy some of the perch to stock private ponds. It didn’t take long to realize we would be better off to continue selling to private companies for pond stocking, so today we are a wholesaler selling to those types of companies.”

Lynch grows first-year fish, or broodfish. The eggs are collected in March and are then incubated indoors.

“We keep the eggs indoors because one of the leading causes of death to perch eggs is cold snaps. With Ohio weather, it’s pretty common to have some cold days in spring, so we like to keep the eggs in a stable temperature,” Lynch said.

The fish will go through a series of growing stages where they are transferred between indoor and outdoor ponds. Their feed rations change as the fish continue to grow, evolving from natural microscopic material to powder to then small crumbles. The fish will grow to be about four to seven inches by October.

“If everything goes right and we are at full production, we’re capable of producing between 300,000 and 350,000 perch a year,” Lynch said.

Ohio’s start in aquaculture began in the late 1980s when Ohio House Rep. Vern Riffe put forth legislation to create the Ohio Center of Aquaculture Research and Development.

The OAA began in 1990 with the goal to provide educational and networking opportunities to Ohio’s fish farmers. The organization also lobbies for fair aquaculture regulations and laws.

“We are really blessed here in Ohio to have good relationships with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and Ohio Department of Agriculture,” Lynch said.

The ODNR Division of Wildlife operates six state fish hatcheries.

The most popular farmed species of fish in Ohio include yellow perch, tilapia, bluegill and largemouth bass. The last census from Ohio State University Extension found there were 36 species being raised in aquaculture settings, including many fish species, fresh and saltwater shrimp, plants, crawfish and even saltwater coral.

Most of the aquaculture farms in Ohio market their products to pond and lake management companies. A few sell to retailers for food sources.