St Andrews team sees more Xelect species
ALSO flying the flag for Scotland was St Andrews based Xelect. CEO Prof Ian Johnston and operations director Dr Tom Ashton found the show busier than Aqua Nor 2017. The company , which started as a spin-off from a St Andrews research group, manages and supports breeding programmes on behalf of leading producers of farmed finfish, shrimp and shellfish worldwide.
Johnston and Ashton both agreed that one of the big trends in the growth of global aquaculture was species diversification.
‘We are now dealing with freshly domesticated and minor species such as baramundi and giant tiger prawn,’ said Johnston. ‘The demand for genetic solutions and specialist genetic support is now worldwide.’
Ashton said they had had a lot of interesting conversations about new species, from new countries – East Africa, Tanzania, Iraq, Costa Rica, China, India, and Russia.
‘The show is dominated by big salmon but the pattern is new species in new places. Countries with previously low levels of production are becoming more modernised,’ he said.
‘Globally speaking, lots and lots of different species are coming on to the map. Genetically speaking, they all need their own programmes so there are many opportunities arising for us.’
This was, in fact, Xelect’s fourth Aqua Nor, with the team having made its debut in 2013, just three months after setting up the company.
Back then, the stand was small and quite make shift with just a few posters, said Ashton, but their ambitions were always big.
In ten years, he said, they want a stand like Gael Force’s!