Kauai shrimp farm permit approved

The Hawaii Department of Health has approved a permit for Sunrise Capital to restart a shrimp operation in Kekaha, on the west side of Kauai's south shore.
Janice Okubo, a spokeswoman for the department, said a permit had been approved in recent days for Sunrise, which acquired the assets of Ceatech USA Inc. a year ago for less than $500,000 after Ceatech entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Sunrise Capital includes Hawaii Community Foundation executive Kelvin Taketa, Maui Land & Pineapple CEO David Cole, Digital Island CEO Ron Higgins and developer Bill Mills. They acquired a 20-year lease on the state land where the shrimp farm is located.
In the original permit application, the investors requested permission to operate up to 44 acres of shrimp ponds and discharge billions of gallons of shrimp waste. Residents feared this would bring sharks to nearby surf spots. State officials said the permit would be amended to address such concerns.
Ceatech -- the name was short for Controlled Environmental Aquaculture Technology Inc. -- at one time employed 40 people and was the biggest shrimp farm and brood stock operation in Hawaii.