Cuna Del Mar LP has purchased all shares of the Center for Aquaculture Technologies (CAT), which has state-of-the-art lab facilities in Souris, Prince Edward Island, and research headquarters in San Diego, California.

The Center for Aquaculture Technologies has operated as a contract research organization in PEI since 2012 and its 21,000 square feet facility opened in fall 2015. There, the talented team honed its expertise and grew operations to provide research and development as well as professional services to the aquaculture industry, with particular focus on health and nutrition for aquatic animals in both cold and warm waters. The team’s expertise ranges from genomics programs to new product development, involving new feed ingredients, vaccine testing and drug development. The facility is one of very few in the world with this level of technical capacity and biocontainment certifications.

Robert Orr, Managing Director of Cuna Del Mar, said “Cuna del Mar is very pleased to be acquiring the CAT operations in the USA and Canada. CAT has a tremendously talented team of people with unique capabilities, who are dedicated to making a difference for our customers and the industry as a whole. We are excited about the possibilities the future holds for this business.”

The purchase is positive news for the company’s 30 employees and CAT clients alike with the investment further opening global doors to them. Since announcing the acquisition in late April, CAT has expanded to post three additional well-paying career opportunities currently open in PEI’s bioscience cluster: a post-doctoral researcher, an aquaculture technologist and a research associate.

“The Center for Aquaculture Technologies has a customer base across the global aquaculture industry and is a key asset in our ability to attract investment and jobs to our bioscience industry in rural PEI,” said Rory Francis, Executive Director of the PEI BioAlliance. He pointed out that CAT has benefited from consistent support from Innovation PEI, Finance PEI, ACOA, and the Emergence incubator as it was being established. “We’re very pleased to see this investment from Cuna del Mar that will now enable CAT to achieve its full potential.”

By acquiring all of CAT’s shares for an undisclosed sum, Cuna Del Mar adds CAT to its existing investment portfolio of companies focused on aquaculture.