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The Norwegian company Blue Ocean Technology (BOT) has announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Fusion Farms, a company at the forefront of Controlled Environment Aquaponics (CEAq) agricultural innovation based in Puerto Rico. One of the shared objectives is to determine collaboration options to develop and explore effluent system usage, management, integration, optimization and resilience for aquaponics system and vertical farming in food desert environments, joining agriculture and fish farming.
Potential outcomes from the coordination include broadening opportunity for participation in Fusion Farms and BOT organizations accessing federal, state and local municipality and/or private funding, as well as opportunities for collaboration in CEAq modeling and review of BOT system designs for projects.
“BOT is a hardware and software technology provider and has a primary location in Bergen, Norway. BOT is the first provider of a more compact, efficient system for handling sludge in aquaculture. The company is expert in the business of designing, building and operating sludge treatment systems for land and sea-based fish farms.”
Fusion Farms builds and manages modern farming solutions using sustainable, controlled aquaponic environments for communities that face environmental, climatic and economic challenges. Taking advantage of the natural relationship between plants and fish, Fusion Farms can regularly and reliably produce a wide variety of green leafy vegetables, herbs, spices, microgreens, fruits and fish for Puerto Rican communities. Its portfolio of products can be purchased in various supermarkets including Econo Supermarkets and other local stores.
Forward-thinking aquaponic model
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which destroyed 80% of Puerto Rico’s farms, many farmers are now forced to leave the island for work. Food access in Puerto Rico has become increasingly limited, expensive, and precariously reliant on mainland economies, with imports making up more than 90% of the island’s food supply.
Faced with the increasing demand for high-quality, fresh, and highly nutritious produce caused for the Hurricane Maria, Fusion Farms is building and managing modern, sustainable, and hurricane-protected indoor agricultural solutions for Puerto Rico.
As their forward-thinking aquaponic model continues to receive recognition and funding, Fusion Farms has expanded their operation in Mayagüez and begun to evaluate locations in other industrial parks throughout the island, across the Caribbean, the United States and Internationally.
A perfect fit
Hans Runshaug, Daglig Leader/CEO of BOT and his team see a perfect fit between BOT’s mission and Fusions Farms’ business model to bring sustainability, food security and resiliency to the people of Puerto Rico and beyond.
“Anabelle Morales Droz and the team at Fusion Farms can grow 9-12 times the annual yield of traditional farming with only 10% of the water usage,” Hans explains, “and they are already using the highly valuable nutrient water from the Aquaponics system as a completely organic wet fertilizer, so what we give them the ability to do is remove the water from that valuable resource and create an entirely new product category.”
BOT seeks to find strategic partners to help take their technology across the globe, and Fusion Farms was a perfect fit. “We see Fusion Farms paving the way for a more sustainable agriculture model in virtually any food desert anywhere in the world, with environmentally-protected indoor facilities to provide food security and resiliency for the people of the world.”
This agricultural innovation is led byMorales Droz, President and Chief Science Officer at Fusion Farms. “At the company, we have created a model for repeatable, scalable food production while pushing forward extensive scientific research on closed-loop aquaponic ecosystems,” explains, urging investors to consider Fusion Farms as an investment in the future of food security for all mankind.
“This kind of agricultural innovation is becoming increasingly critical for sustaining the food supply of large populations of at-risk communities in the face of uncertain economies and climatic challenges.”