25 Mar 2004

Tuna farm planned for French Polynesia's Hao atoll

5:14 am on 25 March 2004

There are plans in French Polynesia to establish a huge tuna farm on Hao Atoll, which used to be a key base for France's nuclear weapons testing programme.

The French newspaper, Les Echos, says the 40 million US dollar project is funded by France, Japan and China.

Its promoters say they expect to produce a 1,000 tonnes in the first year, starting from June.

They say they aim to gradually reach 2,000 tonnes which at current rates would mean a 20 million US dollar return.

The product is to aimed at the upper end of the market, such as the Japanese sashimi market.