The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is investing $6.7 million into the country's first sustainable, land-based salmon farm.
Mt Cook Alpine Salmon came up with the idea to combat fish overcrowding hydro-canals and keep up with demand.
The future of freshwater salmon farming is taking off, moving the fish from the hydro-canals to the land.
"It's an opportunity for us to expand our production where we have unmet demand around the world," Mt Cook Alpine Salmon CEO David Cole told Newshub.
The Government is backing the prototype with $6.7 million from MPI's Sustainable Food and Fibre Future Fund.
"It makes sure that the water, once it's used in the salmon fishery, is returned to a really pristine state, so it has good environmental outcomes as well as economic outcomes," Ocean and Fisheries Minister David Parker said.
It'll be New Zealand's first sustainable, land-based salmon farm.
The idea is to stop salmon overcrowding in the canals and keep up with growing demand.
"We will be using the same water. In some ways we can think of this as a side canal. We can control the conditions and flows a little easier than when we are in the open section of the canals," Cole said.
The controlled environment will allow the salmon farm to produce a greater supply.
"We are also going to grow a second species, sockeye salmon not grown anywhere else in the world," Cole added.
Nutrients from the operation will also be collected and go towards an aquaponics crop. This will link to a wetland area to purify the water even more.
The salmon farm will be built within the Mackenzie or Waitaki District, creating jobs for the region - a move that has local support.
"It will attract a lot of people in the technology area to this area. It's great news and I'm sure people will come and what better place to live in the country than Twizel," outgoing Mackenzie District Mayor Graham Smith told Newshub.
