June is a special month for us at Atlas Aquaculture. 30 June 2020 is when we first received the keys to our home at Sungei Tengah! As we approach this special date, here are some fun facts and numbers to see how much we’ve grown as a sustainable land-based fish farm in Singapore.
Starting with the core of Atlas Aquaculture, we’ve grown more than 15 species of seafood since the beginning. Most of these are saltwater fish and crustaceans, but we’ve also ventured into freshwater fish.
To raise these critters well, we give them about 1,000kg of feed per month. Our feed is specially prepared and includes absolutely no chemicals, hormones or drugs. This keeps our fish healthy and happy, so you’ll get nutritious seafood on your table.
While 15 species might not seem that many, we would have harvested about 225,000kg of seafood for the Singapore market by the end of 2023.
Most of them go to the restaurants, retailers and distributors that we work with locally. Some offcuts have also been donated to old folks’ homes as part of our initiatives to give back to our fellow Singaporeans.
All our fish live in tanks that have been fitted with our cutting-edge water systems. The high-tech system allows us to recycle and reuse the water in the tank, such that minimal to zero waste is created. With this system, about 99.5% of seawater is saved per month!
Seawater is not the only thing that’s saved - the waste produced from our farm is also extracted and processed into about 300kg of biodegradable solid waste product per month. This solid waste product is perfect as a fertiliser for growing plants and vegetables.
This saving of seawater and waste is only possible thanks to our closed-loop recycling system. We started with 11 of such water systems in 2020 - 10 for the fish and one acts as a crucial water recovery system.
Since then, we’ve built another six water systems for the fish, one for a brand new hatchery and two other advanced crustacean systems, which brings us to a grand total of 20 water systems. These systems are pegged to almost 100 active tanks - a number that we’re looking to increase even further.
Of course, all these would not have been possible without our wonderful team at Atlas Aquaculture. Along with our two co-founders, the Atlas crew started out as a small team of four in 2020. As the number of our fishy friends grew over the years, our team too grew to a close-knitted family of 15 in 2023.
Among those in our team are passionate animal behaviour specialists who ensure that our fish are taken care of to the best of our abilities. For example, our specialists create shelters underwater for fish that prefer to stay hidden. They also determine which fish should be allowed to grow at their own pace in separate tanks, so that they are not affected by the “alpha fish” in the tank.
We also have hydrologic engineers who are constantly working to improve our water systems, as well as aquarium designers who keep our farm optimised. Behind the scenes are our strategic operations specialists and education curriculum planners who keep our programmes as well as day-to-day operations running smooth.
Together as a team, we’ve been running countless experiments to improve all aspects of our farm since 2020. On any given day, we’re experimenting with the fish feed - such as the quantities given and timings dispersed - to make sure our fish receive the best feed at the best time. We also experiment with our water systems to see what we can do to let our fish swim in an even better environment.
Our team are not the only humans running around the farm - we also have many guests exploring our space! We offer four tours and programmes to the public, with “Learning Journey: FinTech 2.0” being the most popular. Our programmes are suitable for both young and old. Some are also customisable to suit your preferences - just let us know!
We welcome corporate guests as well as family and friends too. Earlier this year, we even had the Minister of Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Mr S. Iswaran, and those in the West Coast Constituency, visit our farm. They wanted to learn more about what we do as Singapore’s first and only 100% sustainable land-based farm, and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner with us. If you’d like to swing by as well, feel free to email us at info@atlasaquaculture.com.
So there we have it, many big and small numbers that summarise our growth as a sustainable land-based fish farm in Singapore. It’s not been easy for the past three years, but together as a team, and with the help of our clients, family and friends, we’ve made it to where we are today.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do!