by Olivia Holden, International Aquafeed Magazine
First published in International Aquafeed, September-October 2015
Reed Mariculture Inc (RMI) was founded in 1995 by Tim Reed to grow "tank raised" bivalve shellfish. Tim's concept was to produce the first commercially available shellfish that was raised on land, not in the ocean, producing a product that would be completely safe from toxins such as red tide algae, bacteria blooms, viruses, sewage run-off, and toxic metals.
Reed Mariculture developed tank raised shellfish technology for three years and during this same time developed and refined the technology for large-scale grow out of marine microalgae, which is the feed for shellfish.
In 1998 RMI determined that there was a more lucrative market in selling the microalgae directly to other hatcheries and shut down all shellfish operations. RMI's core technology is a proprietary closed-system photobioreactor design that allows microalgae to be grown in laboratory sterile conditions. This technology is radically different than the open-pond technology used for growing freshwater species of microalgae such as Spirulina, Chlorella, Haematococcus, and Chlamydomonas.
In 2003, RMI expanded its product focus from microalgae to a broader range of larviculture products with the introduction of live zooplankton (rotifers, copepods, and Mysid shrimp) and by distributing products such as ClorAm-X® (for ammonia control) and Otohime Feeds (Japanese weaning diets). In 2004, RMI entered the home aquarium market with the introduction of the Phyto- Feast® products. Phyto-Feast is a super concentrate of marine microalgae formulated for feeding exotic filter feeders such as clams, corals, sponges, and tunicates that are popular in marine reef tanks.
In 2005, RMI expanded their offerings into the Marine Ornamental industry with the Reef Nutrition product line. This product line includes marine microalgae, macroalgae, rotifers, copepods, mysid shrimp.
Reed Mariculture is now the world's largest producer of marine microalgae concentrates. The Instant Algae® larviculture feeds are used by over 500 hatcheries, universities, and marine ornamental operations in more than 70 countries around the world. They also produce zooplankton, copepods, and weaning feeds.
I was able to talk at some length with RMI founder, Tim Reed about what captivated his interest in aquaculture and how his passion has been the main driver behind the expansion of Reed Mariculture Inc from its origins in 1995 to where it is today.
Read the full article in International Aquafeed HERE.
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