Jonathan Swift once said, "I never wonder to see men
wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed."
I am not sure who said this but another quote I believe to be a basic truth is the one that states , "Man is the only animal capable of self rationalization and the only one who needs to be."
I could go on quoting various quotes combining sarcasm and vitriol addressing various behaviors by people that are beyond my understanding.
Today's blog however has a different focus. I am tired and pissed off with what we humans individually and together as “environmental groups,” international regulatory bodies, industries, or nations are doing to the world's oceans and the creatures that inhabit them.
For decade upon decade, I’ve sat through countless mind-numbing
meetings at the international, national, corporate, and NGO levels with each
one trying to outdo the other in their passion and dedication to “save the
Oceans.”
It doesn’t matter who is
talking - Ministers, National Administrators, scientists, or activists pounding
podiums and spouting statistics, pointing fingers at polluters and nations that
turn a blind eye on the illegal and destructive practices of their fishing
fleets – they say the same thing: the state of the Earth’s Oceans is “critical.”
Their every well-intentioned pledge on behalf of reversing that
ominous pronouncement amounts to the same thing: lip service.
Nothing substantial or helpful ever gets done. Nothing changes.
Of this I do not
exaggerate. It’s the same song and dance
I’ve listened to since 1992.
I have been on shrimp boats, factory trawlers, long line boats, and more than I can remember since 1997
The sad and frustrating
fact is the Oceans and the creatures within continue to suffer on-going
destruction and degradation. Over 75
percent of the world’s fish stocks are either depleted or quickly heading
toward that shameful status.
I truly believe that governments
can only administer and NGO's can only point fingers and lay blame (much like
the media). Neither institution has the means to really make things
better.
On this blog, I want to talk about trying to make a real difference in the world.
I am not saying "I" can make a difference, but perhaps given what our company is doing now and where we are in our development of a truly re-circulating and sustainable aquaculture system, it is time to talk about how our system given its capabilities might be able to show how a difference can be made.
As I mentioned in a recent blog, the shrimp project in Texas is being handled by a team far more competent than I could ever hope to be. Once the last Reg D funds are raised and the funds become available to build production modules 3 and 4 that project will be economically self-sustaining.
Our first overseas project for shrimp has begun and in 2015 that operation should come on line and begin (for the first time using our system) to produce a high grade, sustainable, natural and great tasting jumbo shrimp outside of the USA.
With this in mind, I am starting to focus on beginning the R&D phase of utilizing the GBT system to produce several species of non-pelagic fin fish.
The GBT technology
can produce copious amounts of high quality fish protein. What we need to research are some of the
environmental and feed parameters relevant to each species. Thanks to what we’ve learned from our
experience raising GBT shrimp, that R&D on fin fish species should not be
all that difficult.
This new approach to
farming fin fish could effectively be a game changer for the world's oceans.
We at GBT are already
exceeding all records of biomass per cubic meter of water for shrimp. Our projected biomass for fin fish should be
even far greater than what we’ve done to date with our shrimp.
Just as with our shrimp production,
our fin fish production will eliminate enormous amounts of by-catch of non-targeted species.
Let me remind you the scale of what I’m talking about.
For every pound of shrimp
GBT produces, between 7 and 14 pounds of species such as red fish, sardines, pilchard, crab, sea
turtles, sharks, and many more, are allowed to live.
Speaking conservatively, if we raise 10 million pounds of shrimp per
year we could spare 70 to 140 million pounds of non-target species from becoming
by-catch waste.
By-catch associated with
the fin fish industry is even greater than that taken by the shrimp capture
fisheries.
If you think I am exaggerating, I am not. These are just a very few pictures of hundreds I took in the late nineties, of by catch that was thrown back into the ocean dead after the shrimp were separated from the rest of the catch by hand.
It made me sick to see it then and it makes me sick today to think about the millions of fish, turtles, dolphins, and other species that are destroyed daily, all called "by-catch", a euphemism for non-targeted kill. And in my view it has only gotten worse.
I am not sure whether the best way to move forward is to try and find a global partner who shares GBT’s commitment to the values of ethical capitalism and the triple bottom line or if I should seek a grant for the research phase now that 15 years and over 55 million dollars were spent perfecting the GBT system.
I have given serious thought to the various options on how to help us secure the funds to afford the initial R&D expenses needed before a true commercial scale fin fish venture can be launched.
Farming high-end fin fish is
undeniably a highly lucrative endeavor that is a universally acknowledged as
being a key to relieving the depletion of the Oceans’ marine fish stocks from
over-fishing.
But, the equally undeniable truth ( in our opinion) is that in its present forms –
floating farms, open ocean net-pens, etc. – fin fish farming is fast heading the way of
open-pond shrimp farms: toward extinction.
Our dilemma is how to fund
the R&D needed in order to select the species of fin fish the most pragmatic
fit for GBT in terms of its consumer demand, return on investment, and
environmental factors affecting growth, feed, supply of smolts (baby fish for
stocking) etc.?
Do I seek a Global Partner(s)? Look for Foundation grants? Or, once again
use personal assets as I have in the past, or use a mix of personal and
corporate assets?
The more I ponder how to
reach this new objective the more details I have to address: The structure of
the new entity? It’s name? The percentage of the company and the role of
such a “partner.”
At this moment, I’m
thinking that the company should be called Global Blue Technologies – Fin Fish
(GBT-FF) and that the individual(s) bringing USD about a $5.5 million dollar investment to
the table should, in turn, be given 1/3 equity in all revenue streams and a
seat on that company’s Board of Directors as well as the corporate strategic
planning team.
The GBT - Cameron shrimp operation is a strictly American owned company. For the fin fish
venture it seems appropriate investors on a global level and to consider if we might even incorporate in the country of the investor’s choice.
We need to bring GBT-FF
“on-line” and expand its growth in the most rapid, productive and efficient
manner possible.
Whether we go with an
individual or seek a grant, the funding source be they individuals or a foundation or a country absolutely must share the GBT
corporate objective of promoting ethical capitalism, environmental
sustainability, social equity and advocacy for reducing fishing pressure on the
world’s oceans.
The potential GP must have
the financial resources, business acumen and financial network to allow GBT-FF
to rapidly expand global fin fish production throughout key targeted locations
worldwide starting the first quarter of 2015.
The financial upside is
enormous. Projected production of “shrimp” within the “fully integrated GBT system”
is between 5kg’s per m3 per harvest to, within a few years,
perhaps 8-10 kg’s m3, but we believe that is the maximum.
Production in the GBT
system with certain “efficient feeders” of finfish like sea bass, drum, pompano
or cobia have biomass forecasts of harvests from 40- 70 kg’s per m3.
The cost of production per
unit will be higher than shrimp, but the actual net in sales will be
significantly greater due to higher bio masses and increasing prices driven by a
growing global demand.
Most simply put, if GBT-FF
can secure the right “fit” as a funding source, this strategy will allow GBT-FF
to produce finfish for the world and for profit at least 5-7 years faster than
if the internal financial approach for GBT’s expansion is undertaken.
A tentative working
analysis of six species has already been completed.
A key factor necessary
for future commercial success will be to secure in advance steady supplies
of smolt or fingerling's (baby fish) for each species chosen as
best candidates given the location and environmental conditions of each
respective production site. That process has already started.
I am not looking to do
finfish using largely personal infrastructure nor personal
money. To put it quite bluntly, I’m getting too old to once again put my
personal assets back on the line. Been
there. Done that.
Plus I don’t want to divert funds from our
shrimp production operations because would delay both our shrimp expansion
plans and push back the start-up of the finfish venture from early 2015 to mid
2016 with the first harvest sometime in 2019.
GBT shrimp will
ultimately provide my family and our team and our investors with the long-term
financial security everyone seeks.
Before we can even make a decision on a Global partner for GBT – FF, that funding source must accept unequivocally the triple
bottom-line of GBT’s corporate culture.
That includes not just profitability but
also strict adherence to environmental sustainability, and a strong commitment
to social equity.
Further, the fin fish
investment entity must be fully cognizant that if the funding becomes
immediately available to fast track finfish R&D to start in 2015, the actual
commercial production would in all probability not be able to see a first
harvest until 2017.
GBT is already considering the feasibility of designing and preparing to retrofit the old micro culture facility (behind
the office building) on the GBT Copano Bay site to handle the finfish studies
with the goal of having it ready to begin early in 2015.
A young man with a
Masters Degree in fish aquaculture and a strong research background in finfish,
currently on the GBT- Cameron staff was specifically hired from the University
of Southern Mississippi several months ago to head up the GBT finfish
studies. He is currently learning and studying the GBT system at Copano
Bay with an eye to specific finfish species suitability.
I
have to decide whether to begin to aggressively seek a
“Global Partner(s)” or find foundation funding, or bite the "proverbial" bullet and fund it
myself.
The downside of the latter
alternative is that given the current potential shrimp expansion over the next
six months, neither GBT nor myself would not be able to divert monies to start the fin fish
R&D until mid 2016 at the earliest.
That would put the start
date to look for a location, funding, and prospective investors off until 2018 at
the earliest and perhaps longer.
GBT-FF needs at
minimum 12-18 months to run the environmental parameters and
feed consumption ratios in a comparative analysis before deciding which
species are the optimum candidates for respective targeted locations.
If a GP that "fits"cannot
be found within the next few months, then other “alternatives” discussed about remain viable.
However, I cannot think of any “downside” to starting to search for the right “Global Partner” to accelerate the start the GBT finfish venture now.
Heaven knows the world's oceans need something more than lip service and they need it sooner not later.
