Something’s Fishy in Kona

Kona Kampachi, a yellowtail fish akin to Kahala and Japanese Hamachi, isn't a widely recognized fish, but it may be soon. On Sept. 1, 4-year-old aquaculture firm Kona Blue's first harvest from the company's two new offshore fish farm cages off the coast of the (NELHA) Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaii ocean science and tech park should yield 1,000 pounds of Kona Kampachi. It isn't the volume of the harvest that's significant, however, it's the timing.

"It's really a race to market with the different species of high-end fish," says Kona Blue chief executive officer Mike Wink. "And right now, I think we're certainly ahead of all the competition for Kona Kampachi. The addition of the cages means we're going to be putting out some pretty sophisticated numbers of fish really soon."

TO MARKET, TO MARKET, TO BUY A FAT FISH: Kona Blue's Mike Wink, Neil Anthony Sims and Dale Sarver show off their Kona Kampachi. Photo: Macario

Kona Blue purchased the cages (which each hold approximately 50,000 fish) last year using part of the $4 million in funding it secured from a group of investors. The company plans to add four more cages by the end of the year. When all six cages are harvesting at capacity, the company expects to be producing 35,000 pounds of fish per week. That's a 35-fold increase over the 1,000 pounds it harvested weekly at its land-based operation, prior to the use of fish farm cages. Since the company will initially focus its sales efforts in Hawaii, selling whole fish for $4.75 to $5.75 per pound to local restaurants, retailers and distributors, it's likely that locals and visitors to the Islands will be growing much more familiar with Kona Kampachi. "It's our advantage and our disadvantage that it's not a well-known fish," says Fink. "People are looking for a new product, but we also need to do a lot of education as to how good the product is and what the benefits are," says Wink.

>> AQUACULTURE FAST FACTS

Aquaculture in Hawaii

Year No. of Operations Total Sales Value (in Thousands) 1999 100 $18,102 2000 85 $22,170 2001 80 $22,200 2002 70 $25,180 2003 85 $27,650

Source: Hawaii Agriculture Statistics Service

One benefit of the Kona Blue-farmed Kona Kampachi is that, while most other aquaculture companies catch adult fish in the wild and transfer them into cages, Kona Blue's broodstock is reared at the company's sophisticated marine fish hatchery. The hatchery's technology, created in 2001 by company co-founders Neil Anthony Sims and Dale Sarver, allows Kona Blue to monitor and control the fishes' diets from the day they're born to the day they're harvested. "The hatchery gives us the edge in terms of quality, because by controlling the diets of our fish, we can drive its fat content up to approximately 30 percent [vs. Kahala, which has around a 3 percent fat content]," says Wink. Controlling the diet also makes Kona Blue's fish far less susceptible to parasites and ciguatera, which are common problems with wild fish. He says, "With the worldwide demand for seafood increasing fairly rapidly, especially in the U.S., where people are starting to recognize the health benefits of certain fish, we think Kona Kampachi will soon be a household name."

>> AQUACULTURE FAST FACTS

Aquaculture’s contribution to the agriculture industry

Type of Crop 2003 Total Sales (in Thousands) Coffee: $24,070 Aquaculture $27,650 Seed Crops: $50,470 Sugar: $64,400 Flowers/Nursery: $97,686 Pineapple: $102,849

Source: Hawaii Agriculture Statistics Service

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