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Catalina Sea Ranch, LLC closed on another $2,000,000 round increasing the total company funding to over $5,000,000. The investment allowed the Company to launch its innovative monitoring program and to purchase buoys, float, ropes and anchors for the construction of its pioneering offshore aquaculture facility.

The investment also provided for the purchase of mussel seed. About 15 million mussel seed are currently growing at Catalina Sea Ranch and another estimated 58 million mussel seed are scheduled for planting in the next few months. The Company is projecting the harvest and sale of over 1,000,000 pounds during 2017.

Offshore aquaculture has the potential to provide a local source of nutritious seafood and help reduce our nation’s $14 billion seafood deficit. Catalina Sea Ranch’s pioneering project will also serve as a pilot for evaluating the potential of a sustainable shellfish industry for Southern California. A rigorous and transparent monitoring program, employing advanced communication technologies, will provide the scientific data for domestic expansion and for the advancement of global offshore aquaculture.

Philip Cruver, President and CEO of Catalina Sea Ranch remarked: “This investment allowed us to construct our ranch and deploy the offshore technologies for demonstrating no negative impact. Regulators, and other stakeholders will be able to monitor our shellfish ranch in real-time using the Internet. This will provide data for collaborative scientific analyses to develop best practices and responsible regulatory criteria for the future of marine spatial planning in U.S. Federal waters.”

Catalina Sea Ranch, LLC, headquartered at Berth 58 in the Port of Los Angeles, California, has secured the first permit for offshore aquaculture in U.S. Federal waters from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was unanimously approved by the California Costal Commission. This 100-acre venture will annually produce 2 million pounds of sustainable shellfish grown under the water surface six miles offshore Huntington Beach, California. This venture also supports the goals of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), establishing a framework to allow sustainable domestic aquaculture to contribute to the U.S. seafood supply. For more information, visit www.catalinasearanch.com.

Source: BusinessWire.com