In this RAS Talk episode hosts Mari-Len De Guzman and Brian Vinci talk about the various aspects of investing in RAS. It’s an engaging discussion about investors’ perspectives in RAS technology and land-based aquaculture, the risks and the opportunities as well as their outlook on the sector.

Guests:

Maggie Fried, Head of the Oceans and Aquaculture Investor Consortium, CREO Syndicate

Frank van Roest, Investment Director, Aqua Spark

RAS engineering and design specialist Marc Sorensen takes us through the history and evolution of RAS in aquaculture. Co-host Brian Vinci also provides his insights on the beginnings of RAS technology. In this episode, we get into the technical details of the why, the how, as well as the current and emerging challenges involved in designing and operating a recirculating aquaculture system.

Guest: Marc Sorensen, president, Sorensen Engineering Ltd.

It started out as a small RAS operation in his home basement, today founder Eric Pedersen’s Ideal Fish is successfully producing Branzino for the domestic market. We talk to Pedersen and Ideal Fish’s sales and marketing director James MacKnight about the company’s journey, its innovative strategies to reach the market, and its quest to educate the consumers about RAS-grown fish.

Guests: Eric Pedersen, president and CEO, Ideal Fish, and James MacKnight, sales and marketing director, Ideal Fish

Women account for 70 percent of the world’s seafood workers. However, many of them work in entry level, low-paying jobs and very few are leadership roles. Is the industry paying enough attention to diversity in the aquaculture industry? Is gender diversity playing a factor into the design of RAS facilities? What resources exist for women in aquaculture for skills development and training that will allow them to move into leadership roles? These questions are more are discussed in this episode of RAS Talk.

Co-host: Anna DiCocco, fish culture technician, Freshwater Institute

Guests: Astrid Buran Holan, head of innovation, land-based, ScaleAQ and Christi Dimon, farm operator, Bluehouse Miami, Atlantic Sapphire

The aquaculture industry continues to face challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. From social distancing protocols to mandatory work-from-home policies, how are RAS producers managing the day-to-day farm operations in this new norm? This episode is a discussion on Covid-19 and the impact it's having on RAS operations, with hosts Mari-Len De Guzman and Brian Vinci, and guests from New York-based Hudson Valley Fish Farms: John Ng, CEO, and Brittany Peachey, aquaculture operations manager.

As RAS operations across the world ramp up, it is increasingly important to effectively address off-flavour issues in RAS-grown fish. The research is available for effective mitigation measures and many RAS producers are successfully implementing these recommendations. Justin Henry, director of aquaculture at Habitat Life, and John Davidson, research scientist at the Freshwater Institute, discuss some best practice in mitigating off-flavours.

The potential of RAS for sustainability and financial gains is making it an appealing proposition for investors. At the recent Aquaculture America conference in Honolulu, host Mari-Len De Guzman sat down with Kimberley Player, director of research at Portland, Oregon-based Equilibrium Capital, discussing the opportunities and challenges for investments within the RAS value chain.

All eyes are on Maine as an emerging destination for RAS development projects. In this episode, Erik Heim, president of Nordic Aquafarms, takes us through the strategies and factors that led his company to choose Maine as the site for its proposed US$500-million Atlantic salmon RAS farm, as well as the challenges and lessons learned through the process.

Do you have what it takes to work in a RAS operation? This episode of RAS Talk tackles the current challenges as well as strategies for hiring the right people. Hosts Mari-Len De Guzman and Brian Vinci talk with Cristina Espejo, head of HR at Atlantic Sapphire in Miami, Florida, and Kirk Havercroft, CEO of Sustainable Blue in Nova Scotia, Canada. These two companies are not just investing in the technology, but more importantly, they are investing in their people to develop a highly-skilled and competent RAS workforce.