Matthew Tan

Associate Professor Matthew Tan is currently an adjunct Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor (Aquaculture) with Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA) - College of Science and Engineering - James Cook University, Australia. He was also previously holding the joint appointment of Associate Director - Research at Tropical Futures Institute - James Cook University Singapore.

He is also a Sustainability Specialist that specializes in Aquaculture & Agriculture carbon credit & sequestration with regards to regenerative & restorative activities in the areas of biodiversity, CSR aquaculture and use of climate smart technologies with the aim to develop true impact projects to reduce carbon emissions, plastic waste, protect biodiversity, and drive investment into local communities.

He is also currently the Chief Executive Officer, Asia of Assentoft Aqua Asia Pte Ltd.

Assentoft Aqua A/S is one of the world's leading Aquaculture Engineering company and the team at Assentoft Aqua has been involved in RAS development since the very beginning of the recirculation aquaculture industry; thus learning from both successes and failures from existing plants, including salmon plants. Assentoft is second to none in having the lowest possible footprint RAS that saves space, pipes, buildings etc, rapid installation time by using steel tanks as our basic component, having the best available water treatment within the industry, low investment per produced ton of fish and deep knowledge about salmon, trout and tropical pelagic fish production in land-based RAS-systems.

Assentoft Aqua is technically the direct offshoot of now in-active Inter Aqua Advance - IAA A/S (IAA). Inter Aqua Advance A/S was founded in 1978 and was the first company in the world supplying commercial recirculation plants for the aquaculture industry in Europe, U.S.A., Asia and Oceania.

During this time, more than 200 plants ranging from production capacities of 10 tons/year to 2,000 tons/year per module have been delivered. IAA has since its start always been in the forefront of research and development and over the years, other suppliers of recirculation technology have followed in IAA’s footsteps.

A/Prof Tan was previously the Group Chief Technology Officer (Oceanus Group) and CEO & Director of Oceanus Tech Pte Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oceanus Group – One of the world’s largest land based aquaculture company which is listed on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange.

A veteran in the aquaculture industry, he was responsible for the development of Oceanus Group's Risk Management framework and farms' operational protocols and oversaw the development and implementation of the company farm’s Bio-security plan which includes the validation & adoption of sustainable technologies, implementation of water monitoring system, animal nutrition & feed formulation and possible use of Recirculating Aquaculture technologies in their land based farms (42 farms with a total combined of area of about 100 sq. km, 40,000 breeding tanks which is spread over 300 km and a 5,000 floating cage facility).

He was also part of the new management team that spearheaded the restructuring of the company in 2015 and was instrumental in proposing the major changes to their business model and restructuring of operations which saw a 60% reduction in overheads and expenses subsequently. The restructuring efforts paid off and the company turned profitable in 2020. Note that the company was saddled with huge debts and defaulted on a totalling debt of S$94 million in 2014 and had a negative net asset position of approximately S$66 million.

Subsequently, he was seconded and promoted to CEO & Director of Oceanus Tech Pte Ltd which was setup by the group to spearhead the group expansion in the following areas :

1. Merger & Acquisition – Due diligence

2. Collaboration with tertiary institutions and technologies providers

3. R & D and Application development arm of the holding company

4. Collaboration with promising companies and aquaculture farms with a view to possible long-term partnership

5. Responsible for overall P & L, cashflow and liquidity management.

Prior to joining the Oceanus Group, A/Prof Tan was previously the CEO of an environmental engineering company where he served for more than 10 years and has been involved in the extensive implementation of engineering solutions to the waste water and aquaculture industry in both Singapore and Asia. He has a vision of developing evidence-based science and technology that is both ECO friendly and sustainable. In the past 16 years, he has been extensively involved in application development for the aquaculture industry and has successfully developed a set of land based protocols for the sustainable farming of food-fish in Singapore and Asia

As Singapore Representative (private sector) to APEC PPFS (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation - Policy Partnership on Food Security), A/Prof Tan is also currently the Co-Chair (WG1) for Sustainable Development in Agricultural and Fishery sectors. In his capacity as Co-Chair, he co-ordinates discussions between APEC governments and the private sector on the use of technology and combined resources for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fishery Sectors within the APEC region and was responsible for the setup of APEC Centre for Sustainable Development in Agriculture & Fishery sectors too.

A/Prof Tan is also graduate of SEAFDEC (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre) – Asia’s leading fishery institution; where he received a Training Fellowship under a Government of Japan – Trust Fund Programme in Abalone hatchery and grow-out, sea weed and Benthic Diatom culture and production.

He was also previously serving as an Associate Professor (ADJ) with School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University.

Current external appointments:

1. Singapore Representative (Private Sector): Policy Partnership on Food Security, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). About APEC PPFS : https://apec.org/Groups/Other-Groups/Policy-Partnership-on-Food-Security.aspx

2. Chair – APEC PPFS : Sustainable Development for the Agriculture and Fisheries Sector - Responsible for coordination of discussions between APEC governments and the private sector on the use of technology and combined resources for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fishery Sectors within the APEC region and set-up of APEC Centre for Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Fisheries sectors (NTU and Temasek Poly).

3. Member - Technical Advisory Panel - Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) : Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR).

4. Expert Member – Aquaculture: National Mirror Working Group for ISO TC 281 - SMF Standards Development Organisation.

5. Advisor (HON) - Centre for Aquaculture and Veterinary Science, School of Applied Science, Temasek Polytechnic.

Track Records - Completed and Ongoing Projects

• Principal Consultant/ Chief Sustainability & Technology Officer Designate – On site survey and measurement for carbon sequestration potential, carbon credit development and mangrove aquaculture CSR in Indonesia for Singapore/ Indonesia entity. This project involves Mangrove, peatland & coastal restoration plus possible CSR planning for regenerative Aquaculture for the indigenous people. June 2022 to present.

• Chief Scientific Advisor/ Scientific Advisory Board – Carbon Neutral Prawn Project – An APEC reference project. A carbon-neutral prawn aquaculture system through the development of sustainable aquafeed and the adoption of a green circular economy. The fruition of this project will create a massive disruption to the aquaculture & feed industry as it will create a sustainable aquaculture industry that minimizes its environmental impact while providing high-quality and carbon neutral seafood to consumers. Dec 2022 to present.

• Advisor (Sustainability) - Frederiksdal Pte Ltd. Frederiksdal is one of the world’s largest cherry vineyard and also the only one in the world that produces wine from cherries according to the same principles that have been used in centuries of production of grape wine. Providence of net zero and carbon neutral advisory and recommendations for the implementation of carbon mitigation strategies and re-evaluation of the wine Life Cycle Analysis re. carbon neutrality – July 23 to present.

• Member of Advisory Board – One of the world’s leading cell based cultured seafood company that utilizes tissue formation methods to produce healthy and tasty seafood meat. June 23 to present.

• Member – Advisory Team, Aquaculture Domain : Planet Net Zero Pte Ltd – Carbon Credit Specialist. Planet NetZero is built from the need to develop large-scale, impactful, and measurable solutions to increase food security and fight climate change. PNZ delivers profitable, internationally funded projects to reduce carbon emissions and plastic waste, protect the environment and biodiversity, and drive social development. From 2022 to present.

• Chairman - Scientific Advisory Board - Singapore Crawfish is Asia leading Crayfish hatchery that has pioneered modern vertical aquaculture system and it boast an R&D and engineering team that has capability to install and fabricate customized systems for freshwater crayfish breeding and cultivation. From Dec 2020 to Sept 2023.

• Chairman – Scientific Advisory Board - SEA Aquaculture. Development of a vertically integrated 10,000 Metric Ton production per year Atlantic Salmon RAS facility in Vietnam. This is a key food security project in Asia – An APEC Project. Total project value US$100m – 10 HA footprint.

• Member - Scientific Advisory Board - Pebble Labs, Inc :A USA based biotechnology company developing solutions to safely and sustainably increase natural crop yield and food security. Its mission is to develop breakthrough disruptive technologies that address the greatest agriculture, aquaculture, and environmental challenges facing the globe. Pebble Labs is committed to urgently solving these challenges.

• Member - Peer Review Group : Global Livestock and Aquaculture Policy Project - Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) - CHATHAM HOUSE - The Royal Institute of International Affairs. From 2019 to 2020.

• Principal Consultant – Development of a strategic plan which include the filing of proprietary Aquaculture IP and farm management manual for a leading crustacean Hatchery in Asia – 2021.

• Principal Consultant – Aquaculture & Agri related feasibility study and development of a Strategic White Paper for a main board listed company in Singapore. This listco is looking to enter the Agri & Food Industry. Oct 2020.

• Senior Principal Consultant & Head of Technical Team – Part of the economic advisory team that put together the Strategic Aquaculture Redevelopment Plan for the Government of Western Africa. This project includes 53 site surveys completed and the identification and development of 16 sites as Special Economic Zone for self-sustainable aquaculture. 2018 – 2020.

• Principal Consultant - Development of Chemical Free instant disinfection process for freshly cut vegetables for one of Asia's largest indoor multi storey plant factory

• Principal Investigator : Development of an Accelerated Seedling germination process and vegetable growth acceleration process for an Urban farming facility in Singapore.

• Co-Principal Investigator : Development of sustained micro nutrient/ amino acid delivery system for fish feed - Awarded AVA Food sustainability grant - Jointly with a leading Asia university.

• Principal Consultant : Assessment of the Nigerian fishery & Aquaculture industry and design and Development of a 2 hectare High Tech Aquaculture facility in Africa.

• Principal Consultant : Assessment of the Egypt fishery and aquaculture market and made recommendations for client strategic entry into the Egyptian market.

• Principal Consultant : Design and setup of Hatchery, nursery and brood stock holding facility in Kelantan, Malaysia, hybrid Grouper species development and assessment on the possible takeover of a disused shrimp island facility in Kota Bahru. Malaysia.

• Principal Consultant: Assessment on the takeover of 500 disused shrimp’s raceway for Aquaculture use in Pahang, Malaysia.

• Principal Consultant: Design and development of Sea Bass hatchery facility in Ipoh, Malaysia.

• Principal Investigator : Development of anti-thermal coating, film for use in Aquaculture – Jointly with Nanyang Technological University

• Collaborator : Bio marker study on Abalone laggards and Selective Genetics breeding - Jointly with Temasek Poly & Oceanus Group

• Collaborator & Technology Partner : Use of Hydrocavitation technology for increasing White Shrimps harvest yield in Indonesia- Jointly with one of the world’s largest shrimps producer

• Principal Consultant : Land Based Aquaponics farm that is powered entirely by Solar Energy (Singapore & Malaysia) - An APEC project

• Principal Consultant : Design and Setup of Bio Secure Grouper/ Sea Bass Hatchery and Aquaculture farm - Malaysia

• Principal Consultant: Supply of Genetically selected sea bass fingerling to major aquaculture group in Thailand.

• Principal Consultant : Design of chemical free water treatment processes (disinfection and oxygenation) for the hatchery and mud pond for one of the largest Dragon fish (Arrowana) breeding company in Singapore

• Principal Consultant : Design of chemical free water treatment processes (disinfection and oxygenation) for one of Singapore largest Koi hatchery

• Principal Consultant: Assessment on the use of disused shrimp’s ponds in Sri Lanka for Sea Bass breeding and the use of chemical free water treatment processes for such large pond.

• Principal Investigator: MND Research Fund Grant on “Ecological Land Based Aquaculture - Farming of food fish in urban environment”. Multi-million dollar MND grant awarded to fully develop a high intensity & high yield aquaculture farming system using minimum space and labour through the integration of people, technology and business system.

• Co-Principal Investigator (with Surbana Technologies): Development of Multiple storey land based food-fish breeding system with Surbana Technologies. This project leverage off high intensity vertical fish farming as an "engineering" solution to solve this issue.

• Principal Investigator: River Bio Remediation Project (Sungei Peng Siang). Joint project with PUB to develop a chemical free treatment process to treat and clean Sungei Peng Siang River (behind Warren Golf and Country club). This river suffers from regular massive algae bloom which leads to unbearable stench for members of the public.

• Principal Investigator: Increasing Agricultural Crops yield and extension of vegetable shelf life with Hydrocavitation technology – In collaboration with Kok Fah Technology Farm. Key objective of this project is to mitigate post-harvest loss due to pre-mature post-harvest crop withering. Crop yields can be significantly enhanced using hydrocavitation technology and method of quantification is by hydration retention through the leaf’s withering effect.

• Principal Investigator : Effects of hydrocavitation technology on Hydroponics crop yield – In collaboration with Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farms

• Project Director : Development of a Fully automated and online monitoring of water conditions for aquaculture farms – Horiba Instruments & Bio X Pte Ltd

• Principal Investigator : Development of live support system for shipping containers for the shipping of live sea food (sea to land) with APL (part of NOL Shipping Group) one of the world’s top shipping company. The project successfully research, designed and developed an enclosed automated recirculation water filtration and treatment system for incorporation into APL’s live reefer container.

• Project Director : Technical farm audit completed for the world’s largest Abalone farm (China) spanning more than 300 km

• Principal Investigator and project Director – Development and setup of Asia first Aqua Hub (live seafood holding logistic hub) in Jurong Cold Hub One, Singapore. A joint development with CWT Fresh (Part of CWT Group).