Our staff and associates make available well over 100 years of cumulative research and applied aquaculture technology development experience to BCI's clients, to help define and resolve their specific aquaculture and/or environmental challenges in the most practical and cost effective ways possible. Like many companies which specialize in professional technology transfer and management, BCI's staff consists of a core of full-time degreed professionals and a pool of special staff associates assigned to specific projects. Full resumes of staffs are available upon request.
Durwood M. Dugger
Mr. Dugger is the founder and president of BCI. He has over 40 years of applied commercial aquaculture research and technology development, commercial production facility design and management experience. He has developed an industry reputation for his ability to provide pragmatic hands on management of projects with the ability to delegate as necessary for the success of projects. Mr. Dugger has built, started and managed a number of commercial shrimp farms as well as aquaculture demonstration and research projects. As a consultant he has provided feasibility analysis, problem solving and development technology in aquaculture farm site assessment, layout, system design, operation and management of hatcheries and farms in 14 countries for over 40 corporations, government agencies, and financial institutions around the world. Over the years he has reared many species of aquatic and marine fish (both food and ornamental), but intensive marine shrimp production has been his primary focus and specialty until recently. From 2004 to present he continued the research he began in 1975 to develop the technology to commercialize warm water spiny lobster. In 2008 he began the economic feasibility analysis of algae biofuels and what would ultimately evolve into BCI's Integrated Species Recirculating Aquaculture System (ISRAS). In addition to his BCI activities, he currently is a collaborator on the NASA OMEGA algae biofuel project, serves as an aquaculture advisor to several aquaculture production companies and serves on the Advisory Board of Grape Bay Capital as Marine Biotechnology Technology Development Specialist and in a similar capacity on the Advisory Board of Oceanis Partners. "Oceanis is the world’s first global private equity firm to be dedicated exclusively to the seafood and aquatic resource sector." (Durwood M. Dugger - Linkedin profile.)
Sabine R. Alshuth, Ph.D.
Dr. Alshuth is Professor of Marine Science and Oceanography and a larval culture researcher (including spiny lobster), who has worked at various international research institutes around the world and contributed broadly to fishery science and aquaculture rearing technologies of temperate and tropical marine species. Dr. Alshuth has been chief scientist on over 17 European oceanic expeditions and participated as research scientist in more than 40 international oceanic expeditions to the Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean Sea. She has been recognized for more than 20 years as scientist, professional photographer and freelance writer with publications in various international scientific journals and magazines.
Ferdinand Wirth, Ph. D.
Dr. Ferdinand Wirth is an Associate Professor of Food Marketing at the prestigious Saint Joseph’s University. He is one of the few professional aquaculture economists in the world, an aquaculture product marketing specialist noted for his well published seafood marketing research and highly valued for his current and future insights into the world’s seafood markets as they become more and more dominated by aquaculture production. Dr. Wirth has been Mr. Dugger’s colleague on several recent international projects including those on warm water spiny lobster farming economic analysis.
Cesar C. Alceste, M.Sc.
Mr. Cesar Alceste is a Marine Biologist with 22 years of international experience in design, start-up, operation, production improvement and management of commercial tilapia operations in the Latin American countries, as well as Egypt, where he spent three years working for the Italian Bilateral Cooperation program. He served as Director of Aquaculture in Venezuela for three years, creating the legal framework for shrimp, tilapia and native species commercial operations. As a consultant for the American Soybean Association, since 1995, he has been responsible for carrying out the technical programs related to tilapia feeding trials, marketing and sanitary issues in several countries of the Latin American region. He has also been responsible for the overall management and coordination of a US$ 49 million biodiversity project of the United Nation Development Program’s (UNDP), in the Biosphere Reserve located in the Orinoco Delta River, Venezuela. Mr. Alceste has provided technical, financial and environmental assessment in potential projects financed by the Inter-American Development Bank in Central and South American countries. In addition, was the Coordinator of FAO aquaculture programs to support regional aquaculture development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Eugenio Bortone, Ph.D.
Dr. Bortone is an Aquaculture Nutritionist and Feed Processing Engineer. He received his Ph.D. in Feed Technology and Nutrition from Kansas State University through an unique program sponsored by the Oceanic Institute where he completed his Doctoral Thesis. Dr. Bortone has also a Diplomate from the American College of Animal Nutrition. With more than 15 years of experience in crustacean, marine finfish, and fresh water fish nutrition he is considered a world renowned expert in aquafeeds and crustacean nutrition. Dr. Bortone has designed and managed several specialized aquaculture feed mills around the world and holds more than 12 patents in extrusion processing technology. Dr. Bortone is also associate editor (Feed Quality) of the Global Aquaculture Advocate Magazine, and columnist in crustacean nutrition and feed technology for Aquafeeds - Formulation and Beyond.
