Seumas Walker
Manager Aquaculture
Role at Cawthron
Seumas leads Cawthon’s Aquaculture group and is also involved in chinook salmon R&D working closely with industry. Seumas has a background in applied aquaculture selective breeding, genomics and fish production biology. He has worked in both New Zealand and Canada on many aquatic species Including: Atlantic salmon, chinook (king) salmon, Atlantic cod, rainbow trout, paua (abalone), hapuku (groper) and kingfish. His work includes fish performance and health evaluation and method development for trait analysis, such as feed conversion efficiency and spinal deformities. His previous experience includes analysis of DNA marker data and new finfish species development.
Technical skills, experience and interests
- Team leadership and management of large-scale R&D programmes
- Business development and commercial client management
- Design, development, and management of commercial aquaculture selective breeding programmes
- New aquaculture species development
- Salmon production biology and feed efficiency
- X-radiography and image analysis, including feed intake, feed efficiency and spinal deformity evaluations
- Development and review of aquaculture biosecurity management systems
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Zoology (Molecular Genetics), University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 1997