The RMI National Government is totally supportive of these projects and has offered a number of concessions including a five year tax holiday.

Products and Farming Methods

The intentions of the Aquaculture facilities will be to farm Yellowfin Tuna, Reef Fish and Aquarium Species.

The core activities of projects is the development of a yellowfin tuna seacage operations or floating reef fish breeding hatcheries. Species have been chosen that are indigenous to the area.

The juvenile yellowfin tuna are captured by purse seine vessel, transferred to sea cages which are then towed back to the lagoon farm. The fish are fattened using imported or locally caught baitfish over a period of four to six months. The fish are harvested and either, immediately frozen to -60oc and shipped to destination, or chilled and flown to Japan, Taiwan or China.

Reef fish brood stock are captured and then juveniles are bred to be grown out over  nine months and shipped to a holding station in Guam where they are flown live into Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Reef fish farming is a relatively new industry with a number of species (e.g. Coral Trout and Barramundi Cod) being successfully bred and grown in Australia and Indonesia.  

Wastewater is filtered and passed through tanks containing molluscs, sea cucumbers, sea weeds and corals to reduce the nutrient load before it is released back to the ocean.  

The fish will be fed on a diet based on locally caught baitfish or imported pellets.

Leased Land and Water Licences

Sites incorporate 25+25 lease for land licences to adjoining lagoons for sea cages and floating infrastructure. These areas are the natural habitat of yellowfin tuna and reef fish and are ideal for production using environmentally compatible practices. Sites are positioned well away from human habitation.

Staffing

As projects are designed to benefit the local community, the larger portion of all job opportunities will be made available to them. On-site training will be a key focus taking advantage of local Employment Incentives and Traineeship Funding. About 15% expatriate staff will be required in the initial stages with the aim of reducing this percentage to several percent by year ten, at which time we would expect that locally trained staff will be taking on the responsibility of many of the management roles.

Staff have the opportunity to own shares and share in the profits of the operation, to reward them for their efforts and to encourage them to remain as long term employees.


Risks

Every effort has been taken to reduce and manage risk including the siting of the proposed projects. Destructive typhoons or cyclones rarely affect the Pacific region within 10 degrees of the equator.

Two local high value fish species with different establishment requirements have been selected in order to have diversity of production and markets, reducing risk and providing a variety of employment opportunities for local people.

Business systems technology will allow integration between sites and daily monitoring of all sections of the business. The systems are designed to comply with ISO9001 Quality Assurance, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety and Food Hygiene codes.

Thank you for your interest in Splash Aquaculture Pty Ltd.