Aquaculture technology company Aquabyte has announced a leadership transition.
Steve Tucker, currently serving as President and COO, will assume the role of CEO, the company announced on Monday. Bryton Shang, the company’s founder, will transition from CEO to Executive Chairman, continuing to play an active role in the company’s strategic direction.
The company, known for integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into fish farming, emphasized that this move is part of its strategy to sustain growth and continue its expansion in both Norwegian and global markets.
Aquabyte’s technology uses custom underwater cameras, computer vision, and machine learning to quantify fish weights, detect sea lice infestations, and generate optimal feeding plans in real time. The company’s system was the first to gain approval from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority for automatic lice counting on farmed salmon and trout in 2020.
Shang, who will remain actively involved as Chairman of the Board, highlighted Tucker’s breadth of experience.
“I am immensely proud of what the team has accomplished at Aquabyte,” Shang said. “Steve brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of leadership in both Norway and Silicon Valley. He has been instrumental in Aquabyte’s profitable growth and is well-positioned to drive further innovation in Norwegian and global aquaculture.”
Tucker, the former CEO of digital learning management system Itslearning, was appointed COO in October 2023.
“I am thrilled to become the CEO of Aquabyte and humbled to work with such an incredible team,” Tucker said, and noted that Aquabyte, which combines expertise from the aquaculture industry with engineering talent from Silicon Valley, is on track to double its sales in 2024, with over $15 million in contracted revenue.
The company, founded in 2017, continues to focus on enhancing fish welfare and sustainability through its technology, which, it says, is used by eight of the top ten companies in the industry.
