Boulogne site for new land based salmon farm

PURE Salmon has chosen France to site its biggest facility to date. The 175million plant will be built in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, the seafood gateway to Europe, and aims to produce 10,000 tonnes of salmon a year.

The RAS farm will create 160 permanent new jobs, said Pure Salmon, which announced the development at the Choose France Summit, in the Château of Versailles, hosted by French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Pure Salmon France, which will be the largest salmon RAS facility in the European Union, has received significant support from the French government.

The unit will be fully integrated from hatchery and grow-out to processing and smoking. Construction of the site is due to start in Q4 2020, with the first harvest of market size salmon expected in 2023.

The company said France, one of the largest consumers of salmon in the world, was a natural choice for its second site in Europe. Fish from the Boulogne site will be sold primarily to the French market in a variety of forms, including smoked salmon and fillets, said Pure Salmon.

Boulogne-Sur-Mer is the leading fish processing and distribution centre in Europe, providing a strong network of support businesses, infrastructure and logistics, with specialised workforce and training facilities.

Pure Salmon has ambitions to produce 260,000 tonnes annually across the globe.