Technologies are being developed in Beer Sheva to improve shrimp aquaculture

The administration of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, headed by the president, Prof. Rivka Karmi, visited the Enzotic company in Be'er Sheva this week, which the Globes newspaper defined as one of the 6 most intriguing start-up companies recently established in Israel. Prof. Carmi was accompanied by Vice President and Dean for Research and Development, Prof. Dan Blumberg, Rector of the University, Prof. Zvi HaCohen, Vice Rector, Prof. Avishai Goldberg and Neta Cohen, CEO of BG Negev Technologies, the university's implementation company.
The active and leading persons in the company are Prof. Amir Sagi from Ben-Gurion University and his former doctoral student (now-Dr.) Assaf Schechter, who founded Enzotik, which develops biotechnological solutions that improve yields, profitability and environmental sustainability. This is one of two start-up companies based on knowledge developed by university researchers, currently located in Be'er Sheva. The second company is the Botnocap company, based on the research of Prof. Aryeh Marcus, which is engaged in the development of environmentally friendly pesticides.

How was the idea born?

Crayfish are a source of animal protein for the world's human population. The two entrepreneurs decided to focus on developing technologies to improve shrimp aquaculture. The company develops a number of technologies that increase the efficiency and profitability of growing shrimp and other crustaceans. In the past, Sagi developed a technology that was commercialized by the BG Negev company of Ben-Gurion University, and it is already sold internationally and Enzotic has the rights to market this product in the USA.
Today, the company develops a number of products, among others based on the creation of only female crab populations (in species where the females are larger than the males), control over the shedding cycle and growth processes, as well as solutions to outbreaks of viral diseases, which cause enormous damage to crops in this industry.

According to Prof. Sagi, the market the company is targeting is huge, more than 60 million tons of fish, crabs, oysters and seaweed - with an estimated value of 130 billion dollars - are currently grown in agricultural farms around the world. The shrimp aquaculture market has been growing in the last decade by 11% on average and has an estimated market value of approximately 35 billion dollars.

The collaboration between Prof. Sagi and Dr. Assaf Shechter, which lasted for several years, was created, as mentioned, when Shechter was a doctoral student in Sagi's laboratory at Ben-Gurion University, where they study growth and reproduction processes in aquatic crayfish. "It is important for us to succeed and keep the research and development (R&D) center in Israel and specifically in Be'er Sheva. Paradoxically, a desert is an ideal place to conduct research on marine animals. There is almost no chance that your laboratory will be contaminated by local species or that your research animal will escape and affect the ecological balance of local water sources," says Schechter.
In the coming year, the company is expected to continue developing the products. "We are happy that we were able to reach the market already in 2016", says Schechter.