OREANDA-NEWS Resident of the free economic zone of the Crimea company "Crimea-agro" in may will open the first in Russia a full cycle complex for growing shrimp fry. It is planned to allocate about 1 billion rubles for the construction of an incubator for fry and a production base for their cultivation, experts from China and the United States are involved in the project, said on Wednesday, the investor's representative Alexander Shubaev.

"As part of the project, we are building the first shrimp hatchery in Russia in Saki district. In Razdolnensky district for further growing shrimp, we also bought a water farm, where previously bred carp. The total investment in the project will be about 1 billion rubles, and we plan to produce the first fry in early May," Shubayev said.

He specified that the investor company which became the participant of a free economic zone of the Crimea, received 20 hectares of the earth between the Black sea and the Oybursky lake in the Saki area for rent. Here, in a special room at the first stage, it is planned to grow up to 18 million shrimp fry per month, which will then be sent for rearing to the Razdolnensky district, as well as other aquatic farms in Russia and, possibly, abroad.

The production capacity in the Razdolnensky district allows to grow 1.5 thousand tons of shrimp per year, in 2019, investors plan to sell the first 300 tons of products.

According to Shubaeva, a place to put the incubator was chosen by the experts of a specialized institution from China. "This is the world's largest aquaculture consultant. They came here, took water for tests and chose this location as the most ideal. For growing fry need salinity of water, as in the ocean, what we get by mixing water from the Black sea with water from the lake," - said Shubaev.

According to him, the incubator will be equipped with a water filtration system for wastewater treatment, and the project itself is aimed at growing environmentally friendly products. Before the construction of its own incubator last year, investors have grown in Razdolnensky district trial 3 tons of shrimp imported from Thailand fry. Shrimp was delivered to restaurants in Crimea and neighboring regions, and now the company has already received orders for 500 tons of products.

For the construction of the incubator, the investor received a land plot on the black sea coast near the sandy beach. "The project is significant both for the Republic and for the whole country. The investor received the status of a participant in the free economic zone and within the framework of the Federal law received a land plot of agricultural use with the type of permitted use - fish farming," said the head of the fisheries Department of the Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of Crimea Andrey Dedyukhin.

In the Crimea in recent years the production of oysters and mussels has been increasing. Thus, the volume of commercial oysters grown only in the Republic of Crimea in 2018 amounted to 174 tons, which is 54 tons more than in 2017.