Fishy business is big business for Kadri

Dr Sunil Kadri's research into the personalities of fish is more than just a great conversation starter.

The former Rotorua man, a marine biologist with a doctorate in fish behaviour and aquaculture, is back in town for this week's International Conference for Agricultural Biotechnology (ABIC).

Based in Glasgow, his work within fish farming has been groundbreaking - including teaming with Australian company AQ1 Systems to develop a system that fed fish on demand, giving maximum growth and no waste.

He's now making his mark with research on fish personalities and the implications of that for immunisation, breeding and fish welfare.

Dr Kadri found by studying the behavioural patterns of fish they could be classed as either bold or timid.

"For example, you might get some fish, keep them hungry overnight, put them in a little dark box, have a tank that's brightly lit that's perceived as a danger area and put some food in there ... You lift the door and if they're bold they come out first, the timid ones will come out last."

The next challenge was how that knowledge could improve fish production.

"We got people to do genomic work [study of genomes] that looked at the bold and timid fish. They found their immune systems were working completely differently. That had implications for immunisation as well as their immune response when faced with a disease and so how you manage them," he said. "You want fish that have the best resistance to disease and cope with disease challenges best."

Dr Kadri's work is about to be taken into a breeding programme, a first for Scotland where aquaculture is a massive industry.

It's been an impressive journey for the boy who wanted to be a marine biologist since he spent weekends as a child in Maketu. His parents Dr Munir Kadri and Dr Chandra Bala still live in Rotorua.

These days life comprises both research and biotechnology business. He is a director of AQ1 Systems, fish health firm Europharma and has his own consultancy Aquaculture Innovation.

Dr Kadri, who won a British entrepreneur of the year award in 2009, is enjoying his first ABIC conference.

He's keen to keep spreading the word about his passion.

"My thing is people and the fish is just a medium for meeting new people. I would like to do more of that in the future."