Nissui-backed shrimp mega-farm brings new industrial director onboard

The Australian producer behind plans for the world’s greatest land-based shrimp farm has employed a brand new industrial director to the enterprise to assist drive funding.

Seafarms Group appointed Peter Fraser to the function of business director, Venture Sea Dragon.

For the previous 14 years, Fraser has been the proprietor and managing director of Perth-based Ocean and Earth Seafoods, specializing in high-end seafood merchandise.

He has additionally served as a advisor to varied international enterprises and has been managing director of assorted seafood firms, together with the publicly listed Marine Produce Australia, and led gross sales, advertising and technique improvement on the Nationwide Prawn Firm of Saudi Arabia.

An accountant by commerce, Fraser was born within the UK and is a twin British-Australian citizen who lived and labored in Dubai for 14 years.

Fraser’s major function will likely be to drive the funding, industrial and operational improvement of Venture Sea Dragon.

“Peter is ideally positioned to tackle the function of Industrial Director having labored with Seafarms as its worldwide enterprise advisor since 2015,” mentioned Seafarms Chairman Ian Trahar.

“In that point Peter has been a useful advisor to the board and govt and has been instrumental in establishing the worldwide market relationships and channels, most notably with Seafarms’ main export companions, Nissui and Primstar.”

Seafarms’s financials took an upward swing within the 12 months to June 30, however ongoing funding in its difficult Venture Sea Dragon nonetheless left the producer sat closely within the pink.

Earnings earlier than curiosity and tax (EBIT) for the group improved 81.5 p.c to a lowered lack of AUD 15.6 million (€9.3 million/$10.1 million).

This aligned with investments in Venture Sea Dragon, which got here to AUD 26 million (€15.5 million/$16.8 million).

“Whereas impacting on our short-term monetary outcomes, [the investments] are a cornerstone of our development technique that’s the goal of the group, and which is able to yield long-term advantages for the group,” mentioned CEO Rod Dyer in September.

Venture Sea Dragon, the large Nissui-backed shrimp farm being constructed by Seafarms within the distant Northern Territories of Australia, accomplished its overview and continues to fund and keep all its licences and obligations to make sure approvals, actual property and key personnel are in place to develop the undertaking.

On June 14 the corporate suggested it meant to re-engage with potential funders and the primary of these conferences occurred on June 21, in keeping with Dyer.

“Preparations for conferences with different funders are effectively superior,” he mentioned in September, though no information has been launched since.

Venture Sea Dragon is a staged improvement of as much as 10,000 hectares of shrimp manufacturing ponds, supported by a collection of geographically separate services throughout northern Australia.