AgriMarine signs MoU with Siping City Government in China

AgriMarine Holdings Inc. announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (the “Memorandum”) with the People’s Government of Siping City and Tiedong District, Jilin Province, China (“Siping”), for the development of salmon rearing operations and associated feed supply and processing industries utilizing AgriMarine’s solid wall closed containment technology and operations expertise.

Under the terms of the Memorandum, AgriMarine will investigate potential site locations in flood control and power reservoirs in the District of Tiedong for the purpose of developing closed containment salmon rearing operations and infrastructure facilities including feed mills and processing plants in the City of Siping. AgriMarine will conduct environmental suitability studies and develop a business planning report.

Siping will contribute extensive reservoir water resources, infrastructure, land and will provide assistance with regard to licensing and operating permits as required.

Pending favorable outcomes of the environmental and business studies, AgriMarine will design, build and install closed containment rearing facilities; creating a salmon aquaculture production presence in the region.

Jilin Province, located in northeast China, occupies 180,000 square kilometers of land and has a population of 27 million people. The region has a strong agricultural base with well established farming, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries and associated support industries. Current commercial fishery production is 155,000 metric tons per annum.

Situated in the heart of Songliao Plain in southwest Jilin Province, the city of Siping (a five hour train connection from Beijing, the capital of China) is a key material distribution center and a critical transportation hub in Northeast China, with direct rail, air and express highway transportation links to major commercial and consumer markets. Siping enjoys significant water resources with 17 large and mid-size reservoirs and 102 small reservoirs providing approximately 16.6 billion cubic meters of water for the city and surrounding countryside.

“The region’s pristine water resources present a significant value proposition and provides a perfect aquatic environment for establishing a salmon aquaculture industry”, said Chief Executive Wang Yu of Siping Municipal Government. “We look forward to implementing AgriMarine’s revolutionary closed containment rearing technology, allowing the culture of large fish for the growing food service and retail sector serving the top tier cities of China, while preserving and safeguarding the natural environment.”

“We are very proud to be working with the regional authorities of Siping City and Tiedong district,” said Richard Buchanan, CEO of AgriMarine. “The agreement signed today represents a further strengthening of the Company’s footprint in China, and, consistent with the theme of Prime Minister Harper’s message during his recent visit, exemplifies the opportunity for Canadian companies to increase business relations with China.”

AgriMarine’s solid-wall containment technology was developed to solve many issues faced by traditional net cage rearing practices that are used worldwide. The AgriMarine system reduces pollution of the receiving water systems through the capture of waste feed/feces and facilitates improved feed conversions; mitigates environmental effects on wild fish through the prevention of escapes and avoids proximal contaminations such as marine parasites.