Nuri Fisher of Piscine Energetics: How An Innovative Fish Food Mitigates An Ecological Crisis
Good quality fish food is, of course, critical for the aquaculture and aquarium industries. Fresh and frozen options can supplement commercial pellets and flakes or may be important staples for some species. So how does one company’s fish food help save a land-locked salmon population which won’t eat it? My guest today is Nuri Fisher, President of Piscine Energetics, based in British Columbia, Canada. Join us, as Nuri shares his life story, and explains how his company uses an innovative solution to mitigate an ecological crisis.ation.
BIO:
NURI FISHER :
Nuri Fisher is an energetic, serial entrepreneur who has spent the last 20 years merging his passion for the environment and aquatic life working on various business ventures within the aquarium, aquaculture, fisheries and green-tech industries. Born and raised on the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Fisher studied Marine Biology and Commerce at the University of British Columbia. Then, he went on to obtain his business degree from the faculty of Management at Royal Roads University (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) in 2002 where his focus of study was in Entrepreneurial Management.
In 2014 Nuri was named a top "Forty under 40" by Pet Age Magazine; an award honoring the accomplishments of young leaders in the Pet Manufacturing Industry. Nuri is currently involved with technology incubators and accelerators and serves as the Chairman of the Board of Piscine Energetics headquartered in British Columbia, Canada. Piscine Energetics developed proprietary and sustainable fishing methodologies to remove invasive freshwater mysis shrimp and processing technology, transforming these invasive species into a world renowned aquarium and aquaculture fish food.
ABOUT PISCINE ENERGETICS:
Our story began with the introduction of invasive Mysis shrimp into interior lake systems in British Columbia in the 1960’s. Mysis perform a daily 500ft vertical migration in near freezing water in order to feed on micro algae, phytoplankton and zooplankton near the surface of the lake. As a result of the energy required to make this vertical migration, they store remarkable levels of beneficial Omega 3 and Omega 6 unsaturated fatty acids, long chain amino acid proteins, powerful antioxidants and color enhancing carotenoids such as astaxanthin. Mysis are therefore an incredibly nutritious feed source for fish, corals, flamingos and even butterflies and were introduced to BC in the hopes that they would be a good feed source for native fish, boosting aquaculture. However instead, they disrupted the natural food web by outcompeting the juvenile Kokanee salmon, having a negative effect on native fish populations. Piscine Energetics stepped in by pioneering proprietary harvesting technology for the removal of invasive aquatic organisms and now transforms them into sustainable, premium fish food. PE Mysis are harvested at night as they feed and flash frozen in order to provide your fish and corals with a fresh, naturally gut loaded, nutritionally complete and life like food source. For over a decade, under the auspices of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Piscine Energetics has been simultaneously restoring the natural food web in BC lakes whilst transforming invasive shrimp into sustainable fish food, supplying global aquaculture markets, Zoos, Public Aquariums, and the pet industry for aquarium hobbyists.