USA TODAY International Edition

Eel farm may wriggle into Michigan

Florida company looks to build $30 million facility

- Rachel Greco

A Florida-based company wants to construct a $30 million eel farm in St. Johns, Michigan, and it’s eyeing land in the city’s industrial park for the project.

The start-up firm behind the proposal, Aqua Vida Aquacultur­e, has been working to establish a commercial eel farm in the United States for more than four years.

The facility, if establishe­d, would be the first commercial eel farm that raises eels for food in the state and possibly the country, said Dr. Stephen Hussey, aquacultur­e and poultry program manager for the Michigan Department of Agricultur­e and Rural Developmen­t.

Company founder and managing partner Kit Munday said the facility would produce farm-raised, African longfin eel and American eel for customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, using a “recirculat­ing aquacultur­e system.”

The facility could occupy as much as 2 acres, he said, and create an estimated 25 jobs of varying skill levels. Eel are a source of “high quality protein” in Asia and Europe, Munday said. It is often eaten grilled, stewed or roasted.

To move forward, the company will also have to meet extensive state requiremen­ts for a aquacultur­e research permit, Hussey said.

Growing eels

Aqua Vida Aquacultur­e’s proposed eel farm would be a “self-contained facility,” where the water would be recirculat­ed and reused, Munday said last week. The eels raised there would have no contact with lakes or rivers, he said.

“I think Michigan and the Midwest (have) a huge potential for land-based agricultur­e,” Munday said.

State officials first heard from Munday in 2016, Hussey said.

“We’re not aware of anyone in the U.S. that’s growing eels,” he added.

Staff with the Michigan Quality of Life Team, which includes staff from the state’s department­s of Agricultur­e and Rural Developmen­t, Natural Resources and Environmen­tal Quality, spent two years conducting a “risk analysis” of the proposal, Hussey said.

It included an assessment of the potential for the eels to spread disease or harm the environmen­t, he said.

Last June, officials finalized a document outlining procedures the company would have to follow in establishi­ng and

operating an eel farm in Michigan.

Hussey said the requiremen­ts address how eels should be screened and quarantine­d when they are brought into the state, as well as security and constructi­on of the facility.

Requiremen­ts would also include a site visit by state agencies after the facility

is constructe­d, “but prior to the arrival of eels, verifying compliance with previously agreed requiremen­ts/permits,” and annual state inspection­s.

“The QOL team has consulted with colleagues at both the state and federal level and has conducted a risk analysis and has high confidence that this project will be successful, while also protecting Michigan’s environmen­tal resources,” state officials wrote in a June 6 letter to Munday.

Next steps

To date, the state has not received any formal applicatio­ns for licensing or permits from Aqua Vida Aquacultur­e, Hussey said. The city hasn’t received a formal site plan from the company either, St. Johns’ Deputy City Manager and Community Developmen­t Director Dave Kudwa said.

“It’s been a project we’ve been talking to a representa­tive about for 18 months to two years,” Kudwa said.

Munday said his company hasn’t purchased any land in the city’s industrial park yet, but he isn’t actively looking at any other locations. Kudwa said there are 16 acres available in the city’s 205-acre industrial park.

There is no timeline for the project yet, Munday said, and Aqua Vida Aquacultur­e is still securing financing.

“We’re doing something very new here,” Munday said.

 ?? ROBERT KILLIPS/USA TODAY NETWORK ?? A Florida-based company wants to construct a $30 million eel farm in Michigan, and it's eyeing land in the city's industrial park for the project.
ROBERT KILLIPS/USA TODAY NETWORK A Florida-based company wants to construct a $30 million eel farm in Michigan, and it's eyeing land in the city's industrial park for the project.
 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Eels are a protein source in Europe and Asia.
GETTY IMAGES Eels are a protein source in Europe and Asia.

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