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Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2019
Aquaculture
The aquaculture sector is fast emerging as a
potential source of revenue and job creation
in the oil-dependent economy of Brunei, with
Barramundi Asia, a Singaporean fish farming
firm, set to invest BND300 million to rear
barramundi, or sea bass, in large cages on
Brunei’s open seas.
Barramundi Asia
Barramundi Asia is one of the largest barramundi
farming companies in the world which draws on
world-class sustainable fish farming practices
and aquaculture technology.
Joep Staarman, the Managing Director of
Barramundi Asia, stated that the company is
building an offshore cage farm to grow kuhlbarra
barramundi using technology adopted from
salmon farming in Norway. The company chose
Brunei for its clean, almost virgin territories,
which will make be an advantage for export.
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism
(MPRT) said the signing of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between the Department
of Fisheries and Barramundi Asia Pte Ltd
formalised the intention of the company to
invest and develop an area of 6,613 hectares
at the Nankivell Offshore Aquaculture Site,
while establishing a hatchery and a fish nursery
capable of supplying high-quality sea bass
juveniles to offshore fish cages, in addition to a
processing plant.
For the land-based operation, the company
would be allocated an area of 21 hectares at
Sungai Mangsalut in Kampong Tanah Jambu.
The hatchery is expected to be in full operation
by 2021, producing 40,000 tonnes of barramundi
fish valued at BND300 million per year, which
will be exported to Singapore, Australia and
Europe.
The company will begin operations by importing
disease-free juveniles from Australia which will
take three years to grow to four kilograms. Most
of the output of the farm will then be exported.
Yamako Pacific Brunei
The local fisheries industry also witnessed a
major new development when Yamako Pacific
(Brunei) Sdn Bhd, a local seafood processing
company specialising in processing yellowfin
and skipjack tuna, launched its own processing
plant and fishing vessel.