Finnish land-based trout farm and processing facility operator Finnforel is set to expand its operations to the Middle East with an agreement to open a new site in the United Arab Emirates, it announced.

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The company, which took investment from Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation last month, said the planned facility would be built close to Abu Dhabi in conjunction with investment fund ADQ.

It will have a capacity of 3,000 metric tons of production annually, and will be the first commercial-scale operation to be built at the specially designated aquaculture 'zone' established by the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) Group.

Finnforel confirmed that the site would produce rainbow trout -- not salmon --  in a recirculating aquaculture system, much like the two facilities it operates in Finland.

Feasibility and planning is currently underway and is due to be finished by the start of 2025, with construction then due to start in Q2 next year, with the first facility to be fully operational by 2027, Finnforel said.

"In the foreseeable future, it will become imperative for every nation to ensure local production of most of their consumed food, including fresh fish," said company CEO Pekka Viljakainen.

"Finnforel's mission is to build a network of local facilities based on our tried-and-tested vertically integrated concept; an endeavor which must be pursued sustainably and with an environmental responsibility."

Approximately 70% of the total seafood currently consumed in the UAE is imported, with total imports of salmon amounting to 10,000t per year.