AquaBounty considers offer to sell incomplete Ohio RAS facility
Site is former salmon farmer's last significant asset
Former US land-based salmon farmer AquaBounty has received a non-binding Letter of Interest purchase offer for its incomplete recirculating aquaculture system facility in Pioneer, Ohio, it says in its annual report today.
The offer is under consideration by the company.
AquaBounty farmed Atlantic salmon that inherited genetic modifications to make them grow more quickly. It has a long history of making multi-million dollar quarterly losses, and sold off its land-based farms in Indiana and Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, after running out of cash.
The sale of the PEI facility to conventional salmon farmer Cooke Aquaculture included AquaBounty’s intellectual property for its GM fish, although Cooke does not intend to produce such fish.
Primary asset
AquaBounty no longer produces salmon. The company still owns its site in Pioneer, which is about 30% complete, although it has had to sell equipment from the site to raise money.
“Our primary asset is our Ohio Farm Project, which consists of the land and the construction in process for a commercial scale recirculating aquaculture production facility,” AquaBounty writes in its report for 2025.
The company says it commenced construction on the Ohio site and began ordering equipment for it in the first quarter of 2022. It spent roughly US $145 million on the project before construction was halted in June 2023, due to increases in costs from inflation and other factors.
“At the time that we halted construction on the Ohio Farm Site, our estimate for the total cost for the Ohio Farm Project, including construction, land, equipment, insurance and ancillary costs was in the range of $485 million to $495 million, substantially above our previous estimates, and significantly higher than what we could finance,” AquaBounty explains.
$400m to complete facility
“We have been working with our investment bank on strategic alternatives for the Ohio Farm Site. We believe that funding of roughly $400 million would be required to complete the construction according to its original design and replace the Ohio equipment assets that have been sold. Given the magnitude of this figure, we are considering alternatives, including a potential sale of the Ohio Farm Project.”
AquaBounty is free to sell the Ohio site after settling a legal dispute between its subsidiary, AquaBounty Farms Ohio (AFO), and a supplier of goods and services to the Pioneer project. Gilbane Building Company filed a “mechanic’s lien” on the Ohio site on September 11, 2024, in an effort to win claim to the land title until it was paid what it thought it was due.
“On October 31, 2025, AFO and Gilbane executed a settlement and release agreement to resolve all matters and disputes between them. As part of the Gilbane settlement, AFO agreed to pay Gilbane $1.3 million and Gilbane agreed to release and discharge all claims against AFO and to dismiss the legal action it filed,” writes AquaBounty.
Another legal action by a different supplier has also been settled, with AFO agreeing to pay $550,000 to Buckeye Power Sales Co. Inc.
