MinAqua Fisheries Closes, Files For Bankruptcy

RENVILLE (AP) - The only farmer-cooperative aquaculture operation in Minnesota has closed and filed for bankruptcy protection.

MinAqua Fisheries Inc. attorney Brian Leonard says he's actively looking for a buyer for the Renville operation and the 100,000 fish remaining in its tanks.

MinAqua Fisheries has been raising about 125,000 pounds of tilapia per month. The fish were sold to markets in Minneapolis and the Canadian cities of Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia and Calgary, Alberta.

Leonard says there were seven or eight employees when MinAqua ended operations in mid-September.