Blue Star Foods is facing eviction from the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility it acquired in 2021 via the acquisition of Taste of BC Aquafarms.
After finalizing the acquisition of Taste of BC Aquafarms, Blue Star Foods planned to raise steelhead trout in the facility. The company recently was granted a license extension renewal through 2033 covering white sturgeon, coho, and Chinook salmon, as well as rainbow trout, and had planned to continue raising trout in the facility.
However, Taste of BC Aquafarms Founder Steve Atkinson – who owns the property on which the company's facility is located – has terminated the lease.
“I am extremely disappointed. They have not lived up to their promises,” Atkinson told SeafoodSource.
Blue Star recently touted robust growth and had managed to regain compliance with Nasdaq Stock Exchange listing requirements, reporting recently it had 19 percent year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2024.
That upswing, however, was not enough to counter its earlier struggles. Atkinson said when he resigned as managing director of the farm in February 2023, Blue Star was in “severe arrears” on the lease and noted that he believes there are currently no harvestable fish on the farm – which formerly produced around 100 metric tons of fish annually. Production is “well below what we produced when we were here. I am surprised at how little fish is in the farm now,” he said.
According to Atkinson, over the last three years, Blue Star has rarely paid its rent on time and has failed to perform regular maintenance and upkeep on the facility – the main motivators for terminating the lease.
A letter posted on the door of Taste of BC Aquafarms gave Blue Star seven days from 8 July to "give vacant possession" before the company takes full possession of it again on 15 July, listing the many deficiencies of the facility as justification.
“Further to our client’s numerous emails and letters providing notice of default, both undated and dated as of 16 February 2024, 23 February 2024, and 2 April 2024, not having received payment for the outstanding basic rent in the amount of USD 2,798.24 (EUR 2,575), and by your failure to address the defaults in respect of insurance, repair, and maintenance of the ozone generator, the oxygen generator, the main drum filter, the waste tower drum filter, the main pumps, the solar hot water system, and the geothermal heat pumps, take notice that the lease is hereby terminated, effective immediately,” the letter states.
Taste of BC Aquafarms said it has not received reciprocal communication from Blue Star as of 11 July.
“They have run this farm down since [the acquisition]. I am disappointed, and I am angered when I see the condition of the farm,” Atkinson said. “During my tenure, we conducted hundreds of tours with people from all over the world … [we were] proud to show it off. It is now a disgusting mess.”
Atkinson does not have specific plans for ...
