Australis Aquaculture, the company behind The Better Fish® ocean-farmed barramundi, has announced a major expansion in Vietnam: Vietnamese provincial authorities have granted the company 16 new sea leases for an ocean farming hub in An Giang Province, permitted to produce up to 30,000 metric tons a year — more than doubling its total permitted capacity. Alongside the farming expansion, its new fully integrated processing facility, Blue Loop, is now in commercial operation.
The Announcement at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Company | Australis Aquaculture (The Better Fish® ocean-farmed barramundi) |
| Announced | 22 October 2026, Nha Trang, Vietnam (via ACCESS Newswire) |
| New farming hub | 16 sea leases, An Giang Province, southern Vietnam |
| Permitted capacity (new hub) | Up to 30,000 metric tons/year — more than doubling Australis’ total permitted capacity |
| Status | Stocking of the hub’s first farm underway; first harvest expected mid-2027 |
| Processing | Blue Loop — fully integrated processing facility, Khanh Hoa Province, in commercial operation with initial capacity of 12,000 metric tons/year |
Why 30,000 Tonnes Matters
The move more than doubles Australis’ permitted production footprint. With the hub’s first farm already being stocked and first harvest targeted for mid-2027, the company is positioning barramundi as a serious challenger in the global whitefish market at a moment when wild supplies are under pressure.
The Whitefish Gap Barramundi Wants to Fill
The announcement follows the 33rd Groundfish Forum in Nice, France, where delegates were shown a forecast of global wild whitefish landings of 6.6 million metric tons in 2027 — essentially flat on 2026, with gains in Atlantic cod, haddock and hoki only offsetting a 90,000-metric-ton drop in Alaska pollock. An IntraFish report this month identified barramundi as a leading candidate to fill the whitefish gap left by years of falling cod supplies, citing Rabobank senior analyst Gorjan Nikolik.
Why This Matters for Aquaculture
Barramundi (Lates calcarifer), also known as Asian sea bass, has been reported as the fastest-growing aquaculture species globally over the past decade. The Blue Loop facility gives Australis greater control over quality and product specifications across its line, while the new leases add scale in a jurisdiction that has granted the company a major ocean-farming footprint. The company farms in Vân Phong Bay in central Vietnam and earlier this month became the world’s first producer certified to the ASC’s Tropical Marine Finfish standard for its ocean-based farm there.
Sources
- ACCESS Newswire press release, 22 Oct 2026 — “Australis Aquaculture Secures Sea Leases for 30,000-Metric-Ton Barramundi Ocean Farming Hub in Southern Vietnam, Opens Blue Loop Processing Facility”
- The Fish Site, 23 Oct 2026 — “Australis more than doubles permitted barramundi farming capacity”
- Undercurrent News, 23 Oct 2026 — “Australis secures leases for 30,000t barramundi farming expansion in Vietnam”
- Perishable News — “Australis First in World to Achieve Tropical Marine Finfish ASC Certification”