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[ ORA NEWS ]
Expansion projects
ORA is now planning for two major expansions in 2005. First, we are expanding our fish hatcheries to include 4 new bays.
This would encompass nearly 18,000 square feet of new hatchery area. In addition to supplementing the amount of the
current species we breed, these new hatcheries are also designated as "new species" areas. These building will give ORA
the capacity to experiment on breeding species not yet available as aquacultured species for aquariums.
Another new expansion is our stony and soft coral hatcheries. These new buildings are designed from the floor up as
specific invertebrate hatcheries. All of the technology and advances from our current coral hatchery will be incorporated
into these new facilities. We plan an ever-growing inventory of the sps frags, zoanthids and other soft corals that ORA has
made famous. Ground breaking is slated for early in 2005.
New Packing Building Opens
As 2004 started we began shipping from our new packing facility. After more than a year in design and construction, the
eagerly anticipated packing building is ready. This helps ORA meet the demands of increased shipping while assuring quality
to all customers. The 4500 sq. ft. facility features 5 re-circulating systems for holding and conditioning fish prior to ship-out.
In addition it has 6 independently operating invertebrate systems designed for the specific animals to be housed. A 36-foot
long assembly-line packing table is the centerpiece for this facility. Visitors to ORA are welcome by appointment to tour our
new pack-out for a look at all of our products under one roof.
New Species Cultured
ORA introduced several newly aquacultured species to the aquarium industry in 2004. It is always exciting when another
marine species is tank-raised. These, and other species we are working on, are small milestones to the eventual replacement
of wild caught fish with tank-raised species for marine aquariums.
Some of the New Species for 2005 are:
Post Hurricane Status - November 2004
Ft. Pierce, Florida, where ORA is located, was directly struck by two hurricanes in September 2004. Hurricane
Frances, a category 2 storm, made landfall over the Labor Day Weekend of Sept.4-5th. Three weeks later Hurricane
Jeanne, a category 3 storm, struck on Sept. 25th. The Northern eye-wall of both storms passed directly over the
ORA hatcheries.
ORA survived both of these storms and, as of Mid- October, is operating normally
The first Hurricane, Frances, caused most of the damage to ORA. The PVC supply line from our saltwater wells was
washed away. There was damage to two of our ten Clownfish hatcheries and the Coral and Conch hatcheries. Most of
our livestock problems caused by the storms were due to power outages. Some losses were incurred in all areas including
fish, corals and conch.
The coral hatchery is now operating again with coral broodstock. Due to the grow-out time necessary to rebuild our
coral inventory, it will take a few months until a full inventory of coral frags is available again.
There are a limited number of corals frags available now from ORA
We wish to thank all those who expressed concern and helped in our efforts to clean up and rebuild after these storms.
We especially wish to thank Segrest Farms who housed and shipped some of our inventory during the most critical period.
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