Can Barramundi Become \"The Salmon of The Tropics\"?

One of the world’s largest fully integrated barramundi\r\nfarming enterprises has been achieved by the merger of Barramundi Asia and\r\nAllegro Aqua, which was announced today.

The merger of Barramundi\r\nAsia (BA) and Allegro Aqua (AA),\r\nintegrates the efforts and successes of several multi-year R&D programs\r\nundertaken by both companies – including sustainable farming practices,\r\nselection of superior traits using genomics and marker-assisted breeding,\r\nautogenous vaccines, grow-out, downstream processing, and global market reach\r\ninto one concerted value chain.

Andreas von Scholten, CEO of Barramundi Asia, says: “Allegro\r\nAqua’s expertise in life sciences research and innovation will empower\r\nBarramundi Asia to realize synergies from improved genetics. With this merger,\r\nBarramundi Asia’s quest to make barramundi the ‘salmon of the tropics’ has been\r\nfurther advanced. Our end to end, in-house expertise will now span barramundi\r\ngenomics, proprietary autogenous vaccines, Best Aquaculture Practice’s highest\r\n4–star rated nursery-cum-husbandry practices, best-in-class grow-out\r\ncapabilities, as well as EU-compliant post-harvest processing.”

The merger follows BA’s success in scaling up its production\r\nand distribution of its barramundi products globally – both from Singapore and\r\nAustralia - while it also has plans to expand in Brunei too. The merger will\r\nsee additional synergies coming from enhanced productivity, reduced mortality\r\nand the improved feed conversion ratio from using selected superior fingerlings,\r\ncustomized vaccines and operating across recirculating and bio-secure hatchery,\r\nnursery and grow-out pens on and near the Southern Islands of Singapore.

With a commitment to environmental stewardship and\r\nresponsible farming, the merger is expected to strengthen food fish production\r\ntargets and introduce sustainable practices across diverse geographical\r\nregions, to better meet the food security needs of Singapore and the region.

BA’s fish stocks are already vaccinated by proprietary\r\nautogenous vaccines produced by UVAXX, a subsidiary of BA, which provides\r\ncustom autogenous vaccines and health monitoring support. Combined with AA’s\r\nelite St John’s sea bass fry and fingerlings, production volumes will be\r\nenhanced. As the only farm in Singapore with the highest 4-star Best\r\nAquaculture Practices rating, BA’s commitment to sustainability and\r\ntraceability has seen their filleted fish, marketed under the trade name\r\nKühlbarra, widely endorsed by multiple Michelin-rated chefs, celebrity\r\nrestaurateurs, and premier hotel chains.

AA will now put greater emphasis to continue to work with\r\nUVAXX and the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) to develop future\r\ngenerations of vaccinated barramundi fingerlings for BA’s nucleus of regional\r\nfarms; as well as other barramundi farms in Singapore and the Southeast Asian\r\nregion.

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Andrew Kwan, director of Barramundi Asia, says: “What will\r\nbe truly industry-transforming is the plan to supply superior vaccinated\r\nbarramundi fingerlings to other farmers in Singapore. This will be coupled with\r\na guaranteed buy-back program when the fish are ready for harvest. To this\r\nend, farmers who opt-in on this scheme will follow a strict prescribed feeding\r\nprogram and adhere to the international standards of husbandry practices\r\nadopted by Barramundi Asia because it will be a branded product.”

Source: The Fish Site