Vietnamese company United Seafood Packer Company (USPC) announced yesterday it had appointed Barramundi Blue Aquaculture of    Bemerside as project managers and technology suppliers to its new $3.5 million fish farm venture at Phuoc Hai in the Vung Tau province.

   See story at 2000 tonne barramundi facility to be built in Vung Tau

   The appointment follows another major export win for Barramundi Blue, which was launched by former Magnetic Island identities Geoff Orpin and    Cynthia Taylor just four years ago.

  The company is involved in a joint venture in South Korea developing a fish farm at Jeju Island with Korea and Australia Aquaculture Company Ltd.

  Mr Orpin said Barramundi Blue had fended off competition from the likes of listed Perth-based Australis Aquaculture to win the contract with   USPC.

  "It's put us on top of the world stage in aquaculture development," Mr Orpin said.

  "In publicity terms, the acceptance of the technology is insurmountable and in monetary terms, it's a healthy contract.

  "More importantly, there are a lot of other companies which have systems out in the marketplace and Barramundi Blue technology has been   accepted over them so we must be doing something right."

  In its statement, USPC said it would take a 65 per cent stake in the SAI-PAC Fish Farm Company Ltd to build a large-scale indoor barramundi and   grouper fish farm using Barramundi Blue's Recirculative Aquaculture System (RAS).

  USPC is a Vietnamese seafood processor of frozen tuna and swordfish steaks, exporting about $US25 million ($29.6 million) worth of product   annually.

  USPC spokeswoman Nguyen Thi Minh Trang said SAI-PAC would invest $US3 million ($3.5 million) to build a 2000-tonne grow-out facility on a   6ha site at Phuoc Hai.

  "The reason we have opted for the RAS technology over sea cages is because the latter is susceptible to many natural, environmental and human   risks from red tides, typhoons, pollution, disease, logistics to piracy," she said.

  She said Barramundi Blue's RAS technology would provide strict water quality standards, a disease and chemical-free environment and   aquaculture management controls in a land-based farm that was second to none.

  Mr Orpin said Barramundi Blue was now in discussions to export its technology to countries throughout Asia. The company was also planning an   expansion of its own facilities to build a 1000-tonne a year operation at Lucinda.

  The Bemerside farm which produces about 40 tonnes of barramundi a year operates using a recirculative system where water is treated and   recycled.

  Treated water is also used to grow hydroponic salad vegetables and the solid fish waste is processed and recycled as an organic fertiliser.

  In Korea, the company plans to grow seaweed to clean water in a saltwater system.

  Mr Orpin said he and his partner Cynthia Taylor had designed the RAS system by `working backwards'.

  "We worked from the end product backwards," he said. "We decided that if we were going to grow fish and we knew how much we could sell them   for, we devised a system that provided the profit we needed.

  "Now it's paid off."

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  2000 tonne barramundi facility to be built in Vung Tau (12/06/2007 _ Australian News)

  SAIPAC Fish Farms given the go ahead (23/06/2007 _ Australian News)

  Marine fish farm offers 35% stake (01/08/2007 _ Australian News)