KRB Celebrates 20th Year in Business

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 in News | 0 comments

Richmond, Maine — Kennebec River Biosciences today celebrated its 20th year in business, providing solutions for aquaculture, hatcheries and others concerned with fish and shellfish health. Formerly known as Micro Technologies, KRB was established on April 22, 1996 at 43 Main St in downtown Richmond. Initially focused on providing health testing such as diagnostics and screenings for aquatic animals, KRB has since expanded to provide solutions such as autogenous vaccines, regulatory consultation, and contract research. While KRB at first served local customers, it now serves hundreds of clients ranging from Mexico to Vietnam and from Canada to Indonesia, and has tested hundreds of species of fish, shellfish and other aquatic organisms. Lab and vaccine production space has expanded into multiple adjacent buildings. KRB is today the largest commercial fish health lab in North America and offers more USDA/APHIS-approved assays for aquatic animal export certification than any other laboratory. Thanks to careful identification and isolation of more virulent pathogens, KRB is able to produce highly targeted, custom vaccines. As part of a proactive, well-structured fish health program, vaccination can help hatcheries and aquaculture enterprises reduce costs, improve growth and survival, and improve their overall...

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KRB Hires Ben Coupland as Molecular Biologist

Posted on Dec 10, 2015 in News | 0 comments

British-born researcher “keen to work at the forefront of marine biological sciences.” Kennebec River Biosciences today announced its hiring of Ben Coupland as molecular biologist. Coupland has an extensive background in microbiology, pathology and biochemistry.  As scientific officer at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton, England, a leading cancer research facility, his work was published in four leading scientific journals.  While there, he provided clinical diagnostic service to the Royal Marsden Hospital, operated DNA extraction, Sanger sequencing machines and an institute-wide sequencing service, maintained lab spaces and equipment, completed Sanger validation and MLPA confirmation of NGS data, and trained new staff on laboratory techniques, application and auditing of ISO15189:2012 standards. “I enjoyed immensely the challenges of working in a globally-respected cancer research center,” said Coupland, “but I was also keen to make the move to the USA and to work at the forefront of marine biological sciences at Kennebec River Biosciences.” “Ben is a terrific addition to our staff,” said Lab Director Dr. Cem Giray.  “His talents and experience will enable us to do more for our customers in aquaculture and elsewhere in the blue biotechnology space.” Coupland’s background allows Kennebec River Biosciences to further expand its world-class diagnostic and health certification work for fish, shellfish and other aquatic animals.  As a molecular biologist at KRB, Coupland will put to work his extensive experience in with microbial identification, genetics, cell culture and bacterial transformation experiments to help identify pathogens causing disease in fish and shellfish farms as well as wild fisheries.  This careful identification and isolation of virulent pathogens by molecular biologists like Coupland is what enables Kennebec River Biosciences to design and produce the most effective custom vaccines, helping fish farmers and hatchery or nursery managers to avoid losses due to related diseases while also reducing treatment...

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KRB’s Seth Berry profiled in MaineBiz

Posted on Aug 12, 2015 in News | 0 comments

Seth Berry, KRB’s Vice President for Business Development, was profiled in the latest MaineBiz.  Questions focused on his transition from leadership in the public sector to the private sector, and his impressions of the laboratory and its clients. As former House Majority Leader in the Maine Legislature, Berry calls Kennebec River Biosciences “the kind of business that we want to grow more of here in...

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Dr. Giray presents baitfish risk assessment at Fisherman’s Forum

Posted on Mar 24, 2015 in News | 0 comments

Dr. Cem Giray, COO and Laboratory Director of Kennebec River Biosciences, presented an overview of risks to Maine’s fishery associated with imported baitfish at the 2015 Maine Fisherman’s Forum. The study was prompted in part by the increase in the number of species used as bait over the last few decades.  Among the more than 30 species commonly used as baitfish in Maine’s lobster and crab fisheries today, many are imported from distant locations including the continents of Asia, Australia, South America, and Europe. Risk assessment of each baitfish source is important because without careful monitoring, movement of aquatic life can damage ecosystems, economies and livelihoods. Viral agents can cause diseases in finfish (e.g., viral hemorrhagic septicemia) as well as crustaceans (e.g., white spot syndrome in shrimp), as can bacteria or parasites.  These diseases can directly affect wild fisheries, and aquaculture operations, or both.  Invasive species can also compete with native species:  for instance, Caulerpa taxifolia is native to the Indian Ocean, but was accidentally introduced into the Mediterranean Sea.  An invasive algae, it has grown in dense monocultures, excluding other marine life and negatively affecting the livelihood of local fishermen.  Biofouling, in which aquatic species such as tunicates can clog nets & fishing gear, can be made worse when invasive species are introduced into environments where their natural predators or other controls do not exist. The purpose of the study was to provide data on risk levels of alternative bait species sourced from different regions, allowing fishermen to make informed decisions while at the same time making as many baitfish species available for use as possible. KRB’s study analyzed nearly 50 bait sources, and found that at present, a majority pose a low risk to Maine’s environment and to other aquatic species.  In cases where use of the particular bait source carries moderate risk, mitigation is possible.  The collection season, for instance, can influence whether a pathogen is absent or dormant.  Bait can be screened for targeted pathogens, using internationally accepted OIE standards.  Processing such as freezing or salting bait may also help in some cases by destroying potential pathogens or parasites.  A handful of the nearly 50 species screened by KRB were identified as posing an elevated risk. As of June 2015, approved bait for lobster and crabs in Maine will include Atlantic cod and herring, croaker, halibut, kinky, lingcod, mackerel, mullet, orange roughy, menhaden, pollock, redfish, river herring, rockfish, sablefish, skate, shad, sole, tuna, and any species caught in Maine coastal waters or the NEFMC groundfish complex. For specific, up-to-date regulatory information, readers should consult the lobster and crab baitfish page of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “’Maine is a relatively pristine environment still,” said Dr. Giray, “but it is changing.”  Ongoing...

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KRB attends Seafood Expo North America

Posted on Mar 24, 2015 in News | 0 comments

The 2015 Seafood Expo North America (SENA) convention in Boston attracted about 1500 exhibitors—including a number of successful and current clients of Kennebec River Biosciences– and perhaps 20,000 attendees over three days,  who came equally for the informative technical presentations and the associated trade show.   This year’s themes favored ‘sustainability’ and ‘certification’ along with seafood product excellence. Attendees viewed the latest seafood producing and processing technology in action along scores of corridors in the vast  exhibition space,  while they compared, sampled, bought, sold, contracted, kibitzed,  haggled and otherwise discussed the many economic, political, regulatory  and scientific aspects of the global seafood products sector.  The human diversity factors abounded….suits, flannel shirts, company logo shirts, black leather jackets, mermaid and Southern Belle costumes, Senegalese folk dress, chefs’ hats, grizzled beards, bald heads, tight lips, wide smiles were all in abundance…along with disembodied voices emanating from motorized life-size polar bears that were out and about on the convention floor.   Most attendees were between 40 and 50 years old; men outnumbered women about 3-1.  For seafood species themselves, the salmon-related exhibits seemed to dominate overall, followed by those about shrimp, tuna, tilapia, crab, and molluscs like oysters and mussels.  But there were also many booths displaying octopus, eel, barramundi, bass and a variety of  other types of wild-caught and increasingly cultured aquatic animals.  Most displays were highly professional and informative in nature.  Some of the large corporate displays were over 30 feet high and 750 square feet in size,  with brilliantly-colored high-tech computer presentations, impressive demonstrations, attractive counters, huge industrial stoves ad display cases,  plush seats, special carpeting and even private conference rooms.  Others were tiny, with two round plastic tables, a few metal chairs, and some pamphlets. The SENA is a truly international venue,  since many seafood companies are, or are becoming, multinational in makeup.  Although Asian-based  exhibiting companies were highly .visible and probably in the majority for booth numbers if not attendees, my distinct impression was that North American enterprises (and increasingly Central/South American producers) are more than holding their own in terms of both quantity and quality of seafood production.  Exhibits covered every aspect of modern seafood production:  net technology, radar, feed extrusion, communications systems, containers of all types, safety equipment, ice-making technology, de-boning machines, fast-freezing processes, fillet cutting, refrigerated transport systems (land/sea/air), and many more.  There were also a substantial number of investment, risk-assessment, insurance, cash flow  and certification services  companies present, as well as many regional, national and multi-national  seafood trade associations and a few government regulatory agencies.   Many of the  individual booth display themes stressed the quality and availability of product (and its presentation) over quantity of product.   While most of the exhibit personnel in the aquaculture...

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