The Center for Aquaculture Technologies, owned by Walton family-backed investment group Cuna del Mar, said this month it is adding a team of leading scientists to its breeding operations as demand grows for its services.

Peter Kube, Carlos Pulgarin and Jeffrey Prochaska will contribute to the expansion of commercial genetic improvement projects, the company said.

Peter Kube has joined CAT.

Kube, the newly appointed senior quantitative geneticist, has over 17 years of experience in aquaculture genetics.

In his previous role at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Kube oversaw the inception of applied breeding programs for a variety of aquatic species, including Atlantic salmon, Pacific oysters and abalone, and their transition to data-rich programs boosted by modern DNA tools.

Jeffrey Prochaska.

Prochaska has nearly 20 years of experience coordinating information exchange between geneticists and breeders.

"Acquiring data over multiple generations will lead the way to accelerated genetic improvement in stock, which is key to reducing the cost of production and increasing profitability," he said.

Carlos Pulgarin

Carlos Pulgarin has provided technical support and breeding advice to aquaculture producers for over 12 years.

The Center for Aquaculture Technologies is a joint US-Canada operation with facilities located in San Diego, California, and in Victoria and Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Cuna del Mar acquired Center for Aquaculture Technologies in 2019 from Linnaeus Capital. The group also owns offshore cobia producer Open Blue Sea Farms, aquaculture technology company Innovasea, Mexican totoaba and Pacific red snapper producer Earth Ocean Farms, oyster producer Sol Azul Maricultivos in Mexico, and Hawaii-based kanpachi producer Blue Ocean Mariculture.