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Mark Works on the Catfish Farm |
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Picture this:
A young post-college graduate drove across the country from Maine to the California desert to begin work on the largest catfish farm in the state, amidst scorpions, tarantulas, and snakes in 118 degree heat!
Mark Francis was determined to use his degree in Agricultural Engineering with a focus on Aquaculture, and he enjoyed living in an agricultural community. He became manager of the farm, and designed such necessary equipment as feeders, net reels, and aerators.
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| Aerial View of Catfish Farm |
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Fish Farm Aerator |
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| Mark with Live Haul Tank, 1984 |
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In 1987, after relocating to San Diego and working as a chief engineer for a large expansion joint manufacturer, Mark started an aquaculture equipment business. What he didn't foresee was that this part-time and garage-based company would grow into a multi-million dollar business with an international reputation. The impressive growth of the company was partially due to a trend in medical research to use Danio rerio, or zebrafish, to study genetic diseases.
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Manufacturing Live Haul Tanks, 2003 |
Mark didn't know that the zebrafish would become such a popular research model for studying almost every imaginable disease and condition known to mankind, or that there would be a high demand for life support aquatic housing systems. But upon request, Aquaneering stepped in to fill the void.
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| Mark at an Early Trade Show |
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The aquatic housing found in many universities, medical schools, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies has become more and more sophisticated over the years. Aquaneering prides itself on providing the medical research community with the best water quality with untraceable levels of ammonia due to its three decades of experience with water filtration systems.
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42-Rack System with Central Filtration, University of Utah |
The real heroes that Aquaneering supports with its products are the researchers working tirelessly to find cures for diseases, the fish and wildlife professionals who are trying to save species of salmon and trout during the prolonged California drought, and the many State Departments of Fish and Game who raise fish to stock out lakes for recreational fishing.
Presently Aquaneering sells equipment all over the world, and is proud to be a part of such a valuable endeavor as medical research, as well as making a difference in the aquaculture world through superior water quality.
More information about Aquaneering can be found at www.aquaneering.com
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