Malcolm Pye
Malcolm has over 30 years’ experience in international agribusiness through his roles within the Hillsdown Holdings / HMTF group, operating in animal breeding, poultry, feed milling and veterinary services. During this time, Malcolm gained extensive experience in breeding and genetics, sales and strategic M&A, and held board positions within the Group. In 2000, Malcolm founded Benchmark, along with Roland Bonney and Ruth Layton, and has since led the Company’s growth and diversification. Malcolm has a degree in Zoology / Applied Zoology from the University of Wales (Bangor)
Gorjan Nikolik
Since joining Rabobank in 2005, Gorjan Nikolik has been a Senior Analyst focusing on the global seafood sector including aquaculture, wild-catch, seafood trade and processing.
In his primary role, he works as a sector expert to Rabobank departments such as Mergers & Acquisitions, Leveraged Finance, Venture Capital, Credit Risk Management and the Corporate Finance Bankers. He is a regular speaker on global seafood and aquaculture conferences and has published research reports covering the seafood industry. He also has experience as a commodity analyst having covered the sugar industry.
Gorjan holds a masters degree in Finance and Business Administration from the University of Maastricht and an MBA from Maastricht School of Management.
Prof. Ross Houston
Dr Houston’s research is primarily aimed at producing salmon offspring which will be less likely to catch diseases or infection. This is done by looking at the genes of salmon which have contracted these deficiencies and identifying the difference between them and the genes of those which did not. From this genetic data, you can now see which salmon will be resistant, and which will not.
Fish with resistant genes can be chosen and bred with one another, hopefully removing the likelihood of their offspring contracting diseases. These fish are then hatched into a fresh water hatchery, and moved to a salt water farming location after one year. These fish should be less likely to contract diseases, infections or sea lice, a trait they should pass on to their offspring.
There is no genetic manipulation in this process; it is a selective breeding process which uses genetic research to produce salmon which are more likely to survive in fish farms, and can result in higher quality fillets for consumers.
Dr Houston’s research has had a positive impact in many areas.
Geir Bjarne Myre
