Aquaintech Inc. (AITI)
Aquaintech Inc., (a shortened form of AQUAculture/INformation/TECHnology) was founded in 1996 by Dr. Stephen G. Newman. He is a marine microbiologist, whose doctoral thesis was on a common pathogenic vibrio, specializing in aquatic animal health issues. Proactive management of health of aquatic animals using sustainable science-based technologies is the focus of our business. Our goal is to teach aquaculturists how to prevent problems and to lessen the impact when they occur. This is accomplished via the provision of products and through consultation. Our goal is to encourage farmers to understand that proactive health management is better than reactive disease management. Our company features a number of products for aquaculturists. Visit www.aqua-in-tech.com for detailed information. We also offer consultation services and technical audits (including biosecurity, operational, troubleshooting, problem solving, etc.) to assist clients in increasing productivity.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Technology
- Industry Type:
- Aquaculture
- Market Focus:
- Internationally (various countries)
- Year Founded:
- 1996
- Employees:
- 1-10
- Turnover:
- $1,000,000 US - $10,000,000 US
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
Please, visit the following links for more info:
Welcome
Aquaintech Inc. specializes in the provision of products and services to enhance sustainability and improve profitability for the global aquaculture community. Aquaculture is made up of many different scientific disciplines. Our focus is to help you protect your investment and maximize the potential for profit by the use of science-based tools to optimize biosecurity, ensure that the production environment is consistent with the reduction of preventable stressors and mitigate the impact of those factors that impact aquatic animal health.
Meet The Founder
Aquaintech Inc. (AITI) is a shortened form of Aquaculture Information Technology Inc. AITI was founded in 1996 to commercialize the first vaccine for farmed shrimp, based on a product developed in the early 1990s. The product was widely tested in Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Thailand, India and elsewhere. AITI was the first company to successfully field test and market a non-specific immune stimulant for shrimp. We know that shrimp cannot be immunized in a classic sense of the word and this product functioned as a tool for enhancing the non-specific nature of their immune system.
The founder of AITI, Stephen G. Newman has a Ph.D. in marine microbiology (from the University of Miami) and a BSc. in Conservation and Resource Development (from the University of Maryland). From 1979 to the early 1990s he developed and commercialized some of the first vaccines for farmed salmonids.
Early in 1992, utilizing his knowledge of aquaculture and sustainability acquired decades before most people were aware of the term, he set out to offer a variety of high quality products and support services for the US and international fish and shrimp farming communities. In its 25 years AITIs’ name has become synonymous with quality, innovation and a reliable source of information. With hundreds of satisfied customers in dozens of countries, AITI continues to innovate and ensure that its clients benefit from the latest in technology and understand how to be truly sustainable.
Dr. Newman is experienced in many facets of the science of aquaculture and many allied scientific disciplines. He has worked with banks, governments, insurance companies, university researchers, venture capitalists and equity firms, farm owners, farmers (not always the owners), shrimp and fish hatcheries and maturation facilities, processing plants, NGOs and others at all levels of production with multiple species. He was a Fish Health Official for Canada, a Title 50 USFWS certifying official, and licensed two of the six drugs currently approved for sale in the US into aquaculture with the FDA (formalin and tricaine) as well as licensed multiple vaccines for fish in the US and Canada with the USDA and Ag Canada. He has administered more than a million dollars in grants; is HACCP, ISO 22000 and SA 8000 trained and is qualified to audit multiple fish and crustacean species at the farm, hatchery, nursery and processing plants and has extensive knowledge of RAS systems, pathology, animal husbandry, ecology, genetics, immunology, nutrition, biotechnology, microbiology (environmental, food and water), fermentation science and physical chemistry. He holds one patent and has developed many products for AITI designed to promote sustainability in farmed fish and shrimp.
Dr. Newman writes regular articles on many facets of aquaculture for a variety of industry related journals and magazines. Some of these are in the publications link. More can be found by going here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen_Newman.
What is Aquaculture?
Aquaculture is the farming of animals and plants in aquatic ecosystems. FAO, the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations, estimates that more than 600 species are being farmed today with many more in various stages of development. Ever since the first humans ventured onto bodies of water, lakes, oceans, rivers, etc. humanity has been capturing seafood for consumption. As Earths population increases, currently at almost 8 billion souls with little signs of the rate of increase slowing down, the demand for health benefits from seafood has placed unprecedented pressures on the wild. While there are efforts made to regulate this to avoid the inevitable consequences of overfishing, these are problematic. Aquaculture has and will continue to take pressure off of the fishery while increasing the consumption of seafood.
To learn more, FAO publishes an excellent overview and summary of what is going on (FAO. 2020. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020. Sustainability in action. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9229en).
The chart is from this reference. There are sever...
The chart is from this reference. There are several very clear trends. Perhaps the most striking is the flattening of the curve for the capture fisheries. Total production from all aquaculture sources is very close to and, very likely in 2021, exceeds the fishery. The last 30 years have seen a dramatic increase in the total aquaculture production, surpassing 100 million MTs in 2015. Production grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, topping out at around a 10% increase per annum. This rate of increase had slowed to between 4 and 6% in the early 2000s. Growth has not been uniform, with some countries dramatically out producing others.
The largest contribution is from finfish being grown inland (> 40 million MTs) followed closely by seaweed production at around 35 million MTs. All others, including both fresh and seawater reared crustaceans, mollusks, etc., comprise the rest. In 2018, the capture fishery was at an all-time high of 95 million MTs. There are strong indications that we are overfishing the oceans. Human induced climate change will have a broad reaching impact on both the capture fisheries and aquaculture.
Carp (cyprinids) are by far the most widely farmed species making up almost half of the global total. These are for local consumption and are low cost. Some 45% of the total farmed fish are carp with most not being fed prepared feeds. Tilapia, for local consumption as well as for export is about 10.2% of the total. Atlantic salmon are 4.5%, trout 1.6% and catfish 7.5%. Among crustaceans the white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei is in the 5 million MT a year range, comprising more than 50% of the global total of farmed crustaceans. Crawfish (Procambarus species) are a distant second at 18% and P. monodon trails at 8%.
The percentage of aquaculture production relying on the use of formulated feeds is increasing as the science of aquaculture expands. Sources of high-quality fish meal for use in these feeds is limiting and the use of science-based alternatives is being explored. Sustainable production of aquaculture will require the wide scale adoption of scientific methodologies to ensure biosecure, cost effective, and environmentally neutral production. In 2020, Covid 19 had a chilling effect on many aspects of the global economy although overall aquaculture production does not appear to have been significantly impacted. The rate of increase in production has been impacted although some countries have managed to increase production despite the changes in how seafood is being consumed.
Biotechnology Benefiting Aquaculture
Experienced
With more than 40 years of experience in many facets of aquaculture, Dr. Newman has a proven record of accomplishments. He has been managing companies for more than 30 yrs. and understands what it takes to make money.
Connected
We can put you in contact with many potential clients whether it is feed mills or farmers.
Analytical and Science Based
I approach all projects from the same perspective. I am logical and analytical by nature and interested in making the world a better place at least from the standpoint of protein production through aquaculture. I call things the way I see them.
A Generalist and a Specialist
Having worked with multiple species, I have an in-depth knowledge of many disciplines ranging from nutrition to immunology.