Canary Islands .- The Nordic firm Nortuna confirmed this Tuesday the launch of operations this year in Gran Canaria in order to enter the business of bluefin tuna farming. Jan Helge Dahl will implement a plan this year following the experience he already has in the islands with Fortuna Mare.
In particular, the idea is to develop pilot operations that will be complemented in Norway with the valuable bluefin tuna, which on the market would have a price of up to 50 euros per kilo, according to the financial estimates to which ABC has had access. The temperature of the water is essential for the investment to be profitable and self-financing.
The investment in the islands is pending to close the entry of new partners in the capital of the company and where there will be no presence of Spanish capital. There is a Norwegian public investment fund involved in the company.
The challenge is to obtain high quality fish, good growth and a good survival rate and establish a new kind of fully sustainable commercial production. There will be a test phase in Gran Canaria and a development phase in Norway. The staff will be from the island.
The infrastructure on land and sea in the Canary Islands is now ready. There little need to invest in land or hire specialized personnel from the island universities. In Gran Canaria there is a Faculty of Marine Sciences. The reasons for starting upon the islands are costs and the fiscal framework of the archipelago.
NORWEGIAN CAPITAL
As partners, Nortuna in the Canary Islands has the backing of the Innovation Norway public fund and of what would be equivalent to the Spanish National Research Council. So far, 90% of the capital has already been covered.
Jan Helge Dahl has already had an entrepreneurial adventure on the islands with Fortuna Mare, in which the capital from Murcia was present and, among others, businessman Alexander Vik, owner of the Canary Islands chain Vik Hotels and former shareholder of IFA Hotels.
The new company of Nortuna in the Canary Islands will have as partners Industriskjell AS and Svein Løken. In this new process, 100% of the plant will be Nordic controlled.