Waitaki King Salmon Partnership is a new venture by Jaco Swart, who is farm manager at Benmore Salmon, and Richard Logan, from High Country Salmon.
Mr Swart said yesterday provisional permission had been given by Land Information New Zealand and Meridian Energy.
Feedback was being sought from other groups, including Fish and Game, the Department of Conservation and local iwi, and, once that was received, resource consent applications would be lodged.
It was hoped to be operating by the end of the year but it was not yet known how difficult the consent process was going to be, Mr Swart said.
New Zealand's aquaculture industry was in an "incredibly fortunate" position, compared with other countries, he said.
Farming took place in good water with low stocking levels, good fish husbandry and no disease, and without the use of vaccines, antibiotics or chemicals.
That gave New Zealand salmon a "huge advantage" on the international market.
There was a major drive by the Government to encourage aquaculture and its export potential.
Although the domestic market was growing, export needed to be looked at and developed, Mr Swart said.
Lake Waitaki was chosen because it was the last in a chain of lakes and was less of a recreational lake than Benmore or Aviemore.
The farm would have minimal visual impact on the landscape.
The pair had been working on the initiative for nearly a year and the plan was to start reasonably small.
Lake farming was not uncommon - many countries did it - but such a venture had not been undertaken in New Zealand so there were a lot of things to investigate, he said.
Salmon farming operations in the nearby Mackenzie district were in hydro canals.
Mr Swart, who has been involved in aquaculture for more than 20 years, believed it was a huge opportunity both for the area and to expand aquaculture in New Zealand and produce high quality fish.
The venture needed local support and Mr Swart said he had already had positive feedback from residents in the Kurow area.
Fishing on Lake Waitaki was very good and the salmon farm would complement it.
There would be a positive spin-off for salmon anglers, he said.
