Zebrafish Capital and ORR Group Reach Comprehensive Cooperation to Jointly Advance the Strategic Development of a Tropical Oyster Industry Hub

In the aquaculture sector, oysters are not a scarce species. What is truly scarce is the industrial capability to supply consistently over the long term, comply with regulatory requirements, and access high-end markets.

With the support of the Permodalan Kedah Berhad (PKB), the investment arm of the Kedah State Government in Malaysia, Zebrafish Capital has entered into a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Ocean Rich Resources Sdn. Bhd. (ORR) to jointly advance the strategic development of the Merbok Oyster Hub. This collaboration will focus on strengthening and upgrading the entire oyster industry ecosystem, while actively expanding into international markets, contributing to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the Oyster Industry, “Whether It Can Be Farmed” Is Not the Core Challenge

In many regions, the ability to farm oysters is no longer a constraint.

The real challenge lies in how to transform fragmented and volatile output into a stable supply that can be accepted by the market over the long term.

This requires far more than farming experience alone. It demands compliant aquaculture zone management, food safety and depuration capacity, standardized operating processes, and a clear understanding of — and alignment with — the access requirements of different markets. Without these conditions, even high production volumes struggle to enter broader, premium markets.

Why Oyster Projects Struggle to Scale

Compared with most aquaculture species, oysters place exceptionally high demands on the completeness of the industrial system.

Their sensitivity to water quality, stocking density, and production cycles means that any management fluctuation is amplified downstream. At the same time, stringent requirements for food safety and distribution make it impossible for oyster projects to rely on a single farming segment alone.

As a result, many oyster projects, despite favorable natural conditions, remain confined to small-scale, localized operations and fail to evolve into replicable industrial models.

Collaboration Built Around On-the-Ground Conditions

In mature markets, if any link in farming, depuration, cold-chain logistics, certification, or market integration is missing, oysters are limited to regional, low-premium markets and cannot achieve true industrial scale. For this reason, the peak value of oysters does not lie in the water, but after they leave it.

The cooperation between Zebrafish Capital and ORR is grounded in a shared understanding of this industrial reality.

The Merbok Oyster Hub operated by ORR in Kedah, Malaysia, is not a single farming project. Rather, it represents a systematic layout built around the critical components required for the long-term development of the oyster industry. This includes seed sourcing and farming management, depuration processes, food safety infrastructure, as well as grading, cold-chain, and export capabilities that meet international market standards — forming a sustainably operating industrial unit.

Based on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed between the two parties, the collaboration will focus on the development of oyster farming systems, the formulation of operational standards, validation of industrialization pathways, and cross-regional cooperation models. Leveraging its experience in agricultural asset management, project implementation, and cross-border resource integration, Zebrafish Capital will work in close coordination with ORR’s frontline industrial practices to promote the transition of oyster farming from “farmable” to “sustainable, scalable, and capable of accessing high-end markets.”

Beyond Oysters: An Industrial Methodology

From an industrial perspective, this cooperation is not solely about oysters themselves, but about establishing a practical pathway for high-requirement aquatic products to enter international markets.

Once “being able to farm” is no longer the threshold, the ability to sell products in a compliant, stable, and long-term manner becomes the decisive factor determining the upper limits of an industry. This assessment applies equally to a broader range of aquaculture and agricultural products.

The True Watershed Lies in the Industrial System

What determines the ceiling of the oyster industry has never been production volume alone.

The decisive factor is whether a market-recognized, regulator-accepted, and sustainably operating industrial system is in place.

At a time when agricultural projects are returning to rational fundamentals and cross-border cooperation increasingly emphasizes underlying industrial capabilities, collaborations built around system-level competence are emerging as a more realistic development path for the aquaculture sector. Compared with isolated breakthroughs, such cooperation places greater emphasis on long-term stability, replicability, and controllable risk.

Starting with oysters, the cooperation between Singapore-based Zebrafish Capital and ORR does not pursue short-term opportunities in a single category. Instead, it seeks to drive aquaculture toward higher quality and stronger market adaptability within real industrial environments — a core value that both parties aim to validate through practice and progressively scale over time.