Planned French Polynesia fish farm scaled back

The French Polynesian government says the huge Chinese-owned fish farm planned to be set up on Hao atoll will be scaled back.

The project by Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods, which is a subsidiary of the Chinese Tian Rui group, was earlier said to be worth about $US1.4 billion.

After visiting China, the French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch told a news conference in Papeete that about $US760 million would be invested over two to three years.

A permit for the 32-hectare plant is expected to be issued this year.

The plant is expected to create hundreds of jobs.

Hao was a major military base in the latter part of the last century when France carried out its nuclear weapons tests on nearby Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls.