PHOTO COURTESY OF KONA BLUE WATER FARMS A diver swims toward the base of an 80-foot-wide fish cage used by Kona Blue Water Farms LLC to grow Kona Kampachi a half-mile off the Kona Coast from Keahole Airport.

Kona Blue Water
starts harvest of
‘Kona Kampachi’

KEAHOLE, Hawaii » Kona Blue Water Farms LLC will hold a "harvest celebration" tomorrow at its Keahole, North Kona fish farm for the first harvests of its trademarked product, the Kona Kampachi.

Known to Hawaii fishing enthusiasts as kahala, to English-speakers as amberjack, and to Japanese by the name of a close relative, hamachi, this fish has never been raised commercially before.

Kona Blue is beginning weekly harvests of 3,000 pounds of the fish and plans to expand to as much as 8,000 pounds per week by the end of the year, said company president Neil Sims.

The harvest event which begins at 10 a.m. at the company site at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii celebrates a fish which Kona Blue describes as ecologically sound and health-promoting, not to mention tasty.

The health reference is to the fact that Kona Kampachi is extremely high in "heart-healthy" omega-3 fatty acid, containing more than tuna, mackerel, or sardines, Simms said.

Unlike those other deep sea fish that are caught wild, the farm-grown Kona Kampachi have been tested and found clean of any traces of mercury or PCB contamination, Simms said.

Kona Blue's "farm" is unusual. Fish brood stock start their life in land-based ponds at the Natural Energy Lab, but when they reach about 3 ounces in size, they're transferred to cages anchored about 2,000 feet offshore in water about 250 feet deep.

The fingerlings put on weight and size in two such cages and then are transferred to two other cages where they grow to harvest size, about 3 to 5 pounds, Sims said.

The commercially purchased 80-foot-diameter Sea Station cages are attached to posts on which they can be raised and lowered, and are anchored to the sandy sea floor by cables that stretch out about 800 feet, Sims said.

Two more cages are being deployed this week and another two will be set up early next year, for a total of eight, he said.

The fish are fed a high quality commercial food, and the company is switching to an organic fish food, Sims said.

Natural ocean currents carry away organic waste, he said.

Harvesting involves lifting the cages and pumping the fish directly into an ice brine on a harvest boat.

The market is upscale restaurants in Hawaii and the mainland, Sims said.

Kona Blue began in 2000 as a division of Black Pearls Inc., a mature company head by Sims and marine biologist Dale Sarver, chief operating officer of Kona Blue.

Last year it became an independent company and added Chief Executive Officer Michael Wink, an investment specialist who helped obtain $4 million in start-up capital.

The company also benefited from state tax credits as a qualifying high technology company.