Bell Aquaculture sold for $14 million

ALBANY, Ind. — The Bell Aquaculture fish farm has been sold for $14 million to a biotech company focused on building better fish.

Bell's trout, perch and coho salmon farm, including two dozen indoor tanks containing 70,000 gallons of water each, had been hailed as a model of land-based, containment aquaculture.

Then Bell faced a series of lawsuits in 2015 and 2016, including complaints for unpaid debts.

The new owner, AquaBounty Technologies, based in Maynard, Mass., in 2015 obtained the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's first approval for a genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for food: AquaAdvantage Salmon. It reaches market size more quickly than non-GE, farm-raised Atlantic salmon. 

Rather than the term GE, "we prefer 'precision bred,' " AquaBounty spokesman Dave Conley told The Star Press. "We have a 28-year experience with AquaAdvantage Salmon, making it perhaps the most studied food in the world. Two major regulatory agencies have concluded it is identical to the traditional Atlantic salmon enjoyed by consumers."

Intrexon Corp. ("Committed to Building a Better World Through Better DNA") is the majority investor in AquaBounty.

Conley said Bell was still producing rainbow trout when AquaBounty acquired it. Those fish were harvested by Bell before the close of the sale.

Jay Julian, president of the Muncie-Delaware Chamber of Commerce, was unavailable for comment by telephone but in an email said, "We are looking forward to working with the new owners of Bell and growing the aquaculture industry in East Central Indiana."

In 2015, Julian called Bell a world leader in land-based, containment aquaculture that was "working through lawsuits that are a result of a problematic feed mill acquisition. With any rapidly growing business, and especially one that is inventing new technology as they expand, occupational challenges occur." By then, Bell had invested nearly $100 million in research and development in addition to its state-of-the-art aquaculture facility, Julian said at the time.

Conley told The Star Press there were "probably many reasons" for Bell's departure, "including an unfortunate fire and loss of production."

Bell's Norman McCowan was quoted in 2015 as saying  the company had invested nearly $100 million of private stockholder funds, with more than $80 million paid directly to Hoosier suppliers. Bell had 79 employees that year.

"Like any rapidly growing business, we have experienced some operational challenges and occasional growing pains," he said.

How will AquaBounty succeed? "We will farm our AquaAdvantage Salmon, which grow to market size in less time than conventional Atlantic salmon and use 25 percent less feed," Conley said. The firm also will implement management controls to protect the fish, the facility and its investment.

"The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data and information submitted by AquaBounty Technologies regarding AquaAdvantage Salmon and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat," Bernadette Dunham, directors of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a news release in 2015.

The FDA regulates GE animals because the recombitant DNA construct introduced into the animals meets the definition of a drug, "in this case the rDNA construct introduces a trait that makes the AquaAdvantage Salmon grow faster," the agency reported.

AquaBounty is estimating employment of 30 people and annual sales of $10 million based on current prices. Production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2018, with the first harvest coming in the third or fourth quarter of 2019.

Annual production is estimated at 1,200 metric tons, or 2.6 million pounds.

The new owner plans to continue Bell's production practices aimed at protecting the environment.

"We will use the same facility as Bell but with a different species …" Conley said. "Our salmon can't escape because they will be farmed in a closed contained recirculation … system where water is re-used, saving millions of gallons per day. Additionally, all our salmon are female and sterile. There are no native Atlantic salmon populations in the state of Indiana. We believe this is the most sustainable and environmentally friendly Atlantic salmon production anywhere in the world."

The grand opening in the summer of 2014 of Bell's fish mill, part of a $30-million expansion, was attended by Ted McKinney, director of the state department of agriculture, Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, Steven Hart, director of the Indiana-based Soy Aquaculture Alliance, and Steven Summerfelt, director of aquaculture systems research for the Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute.

The fish mill's production practices were compared to a dog-food factory or Cocoa Puffs factory. It was designed to feed not only Bell's fish but to help feed other aquaculture businesses in the state.

It might have been the happiest day in Bell's history. A bluegrass band played and guests were served a meal of "Pomegranate Sage Jim Beam Brown Butter Rainbow Trout" raised on the premises.

"With no denigration to the wonderful pork we raise in this state, the wonderful poultry, the beef, the dairy … why in the world can't we, why shouldn't we, make Indiana a global leader in aquaculture," McKinney said at the event. "And you guys are at the forefront of that."

Now AquaBounty is taking the lead.

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.