It is our intention to revive and fully develop the entire aquaculture industry in Palau, including eventually a feed mill, processing facilities and transportation systems. We will grow only high value fish and will export them to live seafood markets in Hong Kong, China and Tokyo.
Marine aquaculture is not new throughout the globe. Surface cages, mostly near shore, have been used for decades to grow select species. However, in some cases, these techniques have proven to compromise the surrounding marine and estuary environments. Moving to the deeper waters reduces environmental impacts significantly, but can make logistics of running the business much more difficult, particularly with surface cages. This has led to the development of submerged cages for the open ocean. These recently developed technologies protect the fish from air and marine predation, protect the cages from hurricanes and surface conditions, provide excellent security, and maximize the health of the surrounding ecosystem.
Submerged cage design continues to improve, with the rigid polyhedral Aquapod™ by Ocean Farm Technologies being the most recent and advanced cage system. Aquapods™ maximize the volume for cost and are also predator proof.
This recently proven cage technology, used to conduct marine aquaculture in deeper waters away from shore, allows us to produce large volumes of fish with a much lower risk of disease. These predator proof cages allow a greater density of fish to be grown and provide unparalleled security. Additionally, the smaller Aquapods™ will allow Indigo to employ more economical methods for deployment, mooring, and cage management using smaller support vessels and equipment, and will allow greater employment of local workers.
Our commitment to sustainability also extends to the choice of feeds for the fish. More efficient feeds have also been developed, allowing greater growth rates than in the wild. Substituting soy, algae and other sustainable protein sources into the fish feed will decrease pressure on wild caught sources of fishmeal protein such as sardines and other forage fish. We will make use of these diets to maximize product quality and taste, while boosting our oceans’ sustainability.
