Meet THE TEAM

An Industry respected Aquaculture Biologist, Donald MacQuarrie has over 40 years’ experience in aquaculture research, development, and operations with expertise includes fresh and saltwater hatchery design, construction, and operation; fish husbandry; brood stock development; starter, grower and brood stock diet development.

He also has experience in design, construction, and operation of land-based flow-through and RAS saltwater tank grow-out facilities for halibut and sablefish. Don MacQuarrie develops and manages new business independently and as part of a consulting team that plans, designs, constructs, trains personnel and provides operational oversight for economically and biologically viable Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS).

Don MacQuarrie is responsible for authoring, or co-authoring, several major reports, reviews, proposals, feasibility studies and business plans which include published research in Scientific Journals on rearing of Pink and Coho salmon under controlled photoperiod regimes to produce spawning salmon year-round rather than only during their normal September-December period. The results of this research have been widely used in the Aquaculture Industry.

He was previously the President of Unlimited Aquaculture LLC Sablefish/Halibut Pilot Kona 2003- 2007.

Hiroshi Arai brings 55 year’s experience in the seafood business, specialized in marketing and international trading of various fish from North America and Canada.

He is the former Director of Kyokuyo Co., Ltd., one of the major seafood companies in the world. He was also the President of Kyokuyo USA Inc. (1988-1997), a subsidiary of Kyokuyo Co., Ltd. Kyokuyo USA owned the former Whitney-Fidalgo Seafoods, one of the major seafood processors in the US.

Hiroshi Arai is the co-founder of Big Island Abalone Corporation. As CEO, 2007-2017, he led the company to become the most efficient and innovative abalone farm in the world. He was also responsible for branding and marketing “Kona Abalone,” a renowned brand in the global market.

Through his efforts, he has established strong connections with high-end restaurants, super-markets and wholesalers in Hawaii, the US mainland, Japan and Hong Kong.

Sean Wilton, P.Eng., has been involved in many aspects of the environmental engineering, construction, and aquaculture industries for over 25 years. His engineering experience has encompassed the design of complex municipal water systems to the most advanced fish hatchery and production systems in the world.

His experience in aquaculture and environmental engineering spans from implementation of some of the first grey water recycling projects in schools and resorts to recirculating aquaculture projects around the world. Sean Wilton was previously the President of PRAqua Technologies Ltd. of British Columbia, Canada. PRAqua was formed to design and build aquaculture and water treatment facilities utilizing the best of leading edge and proven technologies.

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada with significant corporate experience, Sean Wilton is frequently invited to act as a company advisor, director or officer and currently has Board of Director positions on companies, including AgriMarine Holdings Ltd. He has worked for tier one clients such as the National Research Council and US Fish and Wildlife Service. He has also been retained as expert review engineer for investment firms conducting due diligence on RAS farm design proposals or farm acquisitions. Sean is now continuing this work and actively involved in contract management, and design and consulting work for his principal current client Yieldbridge Aquaculture Ltd.

Lawrence Lambert, P. ENG., is a revenue driven, experienced operative, blending mechanical and electrical engineering skills, refined over decades of a vibrant career seasoned with entrepreneurial business pursuits. He has solid knowledge of SME business management, marketing of technology and productivity increase, developing, adopting, and adapting technologies, and project management. He also has advanced knowledge of technology, innovation and commercialization issues and trends within the environmental sciences and engineering.

His calling has been primarily focused on designing, prototyping and manufacture of innovative scientific and commercial environmental targeted products and systems, purposefully developed to focus on a profitable niche market; whilst orchestrating cost-effective corporate strategies from the boardroom. His forte includes forensic analysis of existing business-related environmental methods and operations, with a view to improving profitability. This technology enhanced knowledge-based platform, together with unrivaled computer abilities, postures Lawerence Lambert to seamlessly integrate into most design and manufacturing facilities.

Specialized procurement, purchasing, technical documentation, RFQ preparation and strategic bidding preparation complete his portfolio. Mr. Lambert practices tact, discretion and flexibility when integrating into dynamic challenges offered by a highly motivated workplace.

As the the Founder of Applied Microsystems Ltd, and a designer and manufacturer of oceanographic instrumentation, Lawerence Lambert is an expert in Oxygen Infusion technology applications for Aquaculture. He is also the author of several patents in de salination and wastewater treatment.

David Mowry is the President of Pacific Planktonics, Hawaii. He also oversees the Pilot site of Kona Butterfish Company.

He has extensive experience in consulting and contract positions in worldwide including Open Blue Sea Farms in Viento Frio, Panama; Unlimited Aquaculture in Kailua-Kona, HI; Alevines De Mexico in Mazatlan, Mexico; AquaGreen in Perkinston, MS; Pristine Oceans in Puerto Lindo, Panama, and Caribbean Mariculture in Las Salinas, Dominican Republic.

Extensive Fish Culture and Marine Hatchery experience which includes Hawaii Hatchery Manager, Larval Rearing Production Manager, Oyster Production Specialist, Farm Manager, Research Specialist, Laboratory Technician, and Shellfish Hatchery Technician.

David Mowry also has published research and written works such as "Performance of advanced juvenile cobia reared under different thermal regimes" in Journal of Applied Aquaculture, "Efficacy of hydrogen peroxide in marine recirculating aquaculture systems holding summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus" in Journal of Applied Aquaculture, "Intensive Work on Cobia Larvae" in Fish Farming International, "The cobia connection: Research institutions and the private sector continue collaboration to develop culture protocols" in Hatchery International, and "Status of Aquaculture at the VSAREC" in Virginia Aquaculture Association Newsletter.

Ron Evans earned his Chartered Professional Accountant designation in 1988, commencing his professional career at Coopers & Lybrand (now Pricewaterhouse Coopers). Following several years with Ernst & Young in the late 1990s, Evans spent the next six years with his three partners in a Vancouver-based insolvency and restructuring practice. Throughout his professional career, Evans specialized in insolvency and restructuring, business viability and feasibility, strategic planning, and complex forecasting and modeling. After leaving professional practice in 2007, Evans co-founded, and was a director and officer of a number of companies involved in conventional and renewable energy projects, remote workforce accommodations and other commercial activities including developing plans for several RAS fish farms with aquaponic facilities in conjunction with AgriMarine Group (agrimarine.com) for First Nations in several provinces. In January 2017 Evans was engaged as Chief Financial Officer of AgriMarine Group where he was integral to management of the group’s commercial affairs. In June 2022 Evans stepped down from the CFO position at AgriMarine and continues now as an external consultant providing strategic and operational support to AgriMarine’s executive and line management. In addition, Evans is currently working with an experienced industry group to acquire and expand an existing RAS farm producing live Tilapia for the Vancouver market, and in planning a $40 million aquaponics facility in the lower mainland.

〇Serial entrepreneur／Business Producer

After graduating from university, he founded and became the president of NeoCareer Corporation, a human resource service company. Then worked in business development and human resource development at Softbank Corp.

〇In 2006, he founded M-Log Inc., an automotive software development company, and became its president in 2009. He entered the automotive aftermarket industry, developing hardware such as in-vehicle cameras and vehicle diagnostic equipment. Through collaboration with major manufacturing companies as clients, he learned the survival skills of running a venture business.

〇In 2021, he founded 530 Inc. with his colleagues as his third challenge, as a start-up to protect the marine environment, and Strengths in business start-up, business strategy, fundraising, and staffing.

Harukazu “Rocky” Polito, the Director of Marketing, brings an impressive 43 years of experience in the seafood industry, specializing in international trade of wild fish across Asia, North America, and Canada. Over his career, Rocky has worked as an importer for a Japanese company for 17 years and as an exporter for a U.S.-based seafood producer for 16 years.

In 2014, he founded Rocky and Associates LLC, focusing on promoting and marketing premium Canadian and Alaskan seafood to Asia. His company also made history as the first to import Russian salmon into Canada through Japan. Since 2015, Rocky has collaborated with Cedar Aquaculture Research and Development (CARD), where he has played a pivotal role in promoting and marketing farmed black cod to Asian markets.

His extensive expertise and innovative vision have made him a key figure in the global seafood trade

Roger Paquette is the former President and a principal of Hub City Fisheries in Nanaimo, a prominent coastal fish processor and wholesaler on Vancouver Island that markets high-quality seafood globally. While he now serves as a consultant to the company, Roger also remains the landlord of their primary processing facility.

In addition to his contributions to Hub City Fisheries, Roger’s company, 1195895 BC Ltd., acquired a 10-acre, underutilized land-based aquaculture facility and established Cedar Aquaculture Research and Development (CARD) to operate it. CARD is a multidisciplinary marine research and commercial hub focused on sustainable growth and rearing of marine species. The facility, originally built with significant Norwegian commercial investment, features large-scale land-based tanks and supports both CARD’s in-house projects and activities conducted by various private aquaculture and research entities.

CARD’s diverse initiatives include the spawning and grow-out of sablefish, developing spawning and rearing protocols for wolf eels, rearing shellfish species such as clams, oysters, geoducks, and mussels for outplanting, and cultivating indigenous algae and seaweed varieties for market sales and ecological restocking efforts. The facility also hosts notable tenants like Vancouver Island Phytoplankton and Urchinomics, further expanding its innovative reach.

Beyond CARD, Roger’s portfolio of aquaculture and fisheries businesses reflects his commitment to the industry. These include a large custom smokehouse and seafood retail store, oyster and clam leases for on-growing juveniles, and a live fish trucking company that delivers farmed and wild seafood to distributors and restaurants.

Roger’s dedication and extensive experience make him an invaluable contributor to the sustainable growth of aquaculture and fisheries.