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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe new owner of an eastern Indiana fish farm says it plans to restart production there next year.
Maynard, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies has acquired the facilities formerly used by Bell Aquaculture near the Delaware County town of Albany for $14 million.
AquaBounty spokesman Dave Conley said the last Bell-raised fish, rainbow trout, were harvested before the sale closed. He said AquaBounty plans to use the facility about 75 miles northeast of Indianapolis to produce its genetically engineered salmon, for which it received federal approval in 2015.
Conley said salmon grow to market size faster than conventional Atlantic salmon with 25 percent less food.
AquaBounty expects to start production next spring, with its first harvest in 2019. It estimates growing 2.6 million pounds of fish a year, which would mean more than $10 million in annual sales.
Bell Aquaculture, founded in 2005, was growing into one of the country's major players in aquaculture until running into several lawsuits in recent years, including complaints for unpaid debt.
Bell announced plans for a $30 million expansion in 2014 and billed itself as nation's largest yellow perch aquaculture facility. But Dallas-based private equity firm Trive Capital acquired a majority stake in the firm last year after it ran into more financial trouble.
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