Lobsters
KOTA KINABALU: Inno Fisheries Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned
company of Yayasan Sabah, and Darden Aquafarm, a subsidiary of Darden Inc,
owner of Red Lobster and other US seafood restaurant chains, will jointly
develop a RM2 billion Integrated Lobster Aquaculture Park (iLAP) project off
Pulau Timbun Mata, Semporna in eastern Sabah.
In announcing this, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said
the proposed project, the world’s first iLAP, will cover 9,300 hectares (ha),
comprising 6,000ha for commercial tropical lobster production, 700ha for
research and development, training farm and demonstration farm, and 2,600ha for
mussel (feed) production.
“This project is a vertical integration in nature including
hatchery, production, feed and processing, and this will be part of 15,000ha to
be gazetted as a Lobster Aquaculture Zone and regulated by the Sabah Fisheries
Department,” he told reporters after meeting Darden Aquafarm Inc president Bill
Herzig at Sri Gaya near here yesterday.
Musa, who is also State Finance Minister, said the iLAP
would comprise the core entity, small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and
contract farming.
The project is expected to generate 12,000 job opportunities
when fully completed by 2020, and locals can participate as contract farmers or
as entrepreneurs through a buy-back scheme, he said.
Welcoming this cooperation to develop the aquaculture
industry in the state, Musa said the industry has promise for greater growth in
Sabah.
“To further tap this industry, we must collaborate with the
right people who have the experience and technological know-how,” he said,
adding the project fitted in with what the state government was looking for in
terms of joint ventures with foreign companies.
“Not only are we attracting foreign direct investments
through this project, but we are also creating job opportunities for locals and
create economic spin-offs in Semporna.
“What is even more significant is that locals are allowed to
participate directly in the project through contract farming or through
buy-back schemes,” he added.
The Chief Minister urged the players in the project to work
closely with the locals to ensure that everyone involved would benefit.
Meanwhile, Herzig hoped that the iLAP would become a
commercial lobster grow-out project which can supply the Asian market in the
future.
“We also hope that the iLAP would eventually help ensure a
steady supply of lobsters which are ‘natives of Borneo’ for our restaurants as
well as for the world market.
“At the moment we have almost 2,000 restaurants in North
America (the US and Canada),” he said.
Sales of lobsters from the project are expected to reach RM3
billion by 2025. Darden Inc, located in Orlando, Florida, is the world’s
biggest chain of full-service restaurants, with an annual sale of US$7.2
billion and some 180,000 workers. — Bernama
Source: Borneo Post Online.
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