Industry Update: CEO Boris Musa on the Future of Aquaculture and Barramundi

In this podcast episode of the MainStream Aquaculture Industry Update, CEO Boris Musa shares his perspective on where the global aquaculture industry is heading, the pressures facing wild catch fisheries, and what makes MainStream’s approach to fish farming genuinely different. Interviewed by MainStream’s R&D Officer Dan Mooney, it’s a candid 28-minute conversation on the science, the market, and the road ahead.

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What we cover in this episode:

Boris’s path to MainStream — Boris joined MainStream in 2009 as a strategic consultant to the board. That role evolved into a non-executive directorship, and by 2012 he was appointed CEO — a role he’s held for over a decade.

Aquaculture’s moment — Aquaculture has now overtaken wild catch as the world’s dominant source of seafood protein, reaching that threshold just two years ago. Boris explains why this matters and why the transition is not just inevitable but necessary.

Why fish win on efficiency — Because fish live in water and expend no energy fighting gravity, they convert feed to protein more efficiently than any land-based animal. Boris puts it plainly: there is no more efficient primary production sector on the planet.

The pressure on wild catch — Commercial fisheries have contracted over the past 20–30 years due to climate change limiting species range, increased ocean competition from renewable energy and mining, and tightening government quotas. Boris cites the Western Australian demersal fishery as a concrete example.

An industry growing up — The Australian barramundi farming sector has consolidated from 32 farms to 11 over the past 15 years. The remaining operators are more sophisticated, better resourced, and more professional in their approach.

MainStream’s environmental technology — Boris outlines the proprietary systems deployed across MainStream’s Far North Queensland operations: moving bed bioreactors that improve pond water quality, woodchip bioreactors that convert ammonia into nitrates, and managed wetlands where macroalgae is grown and harvested to strip nutrient load before any water interacts with the surrounding environment.

Sharing the technology — MainStream takes an open architecture approach, actively sharing its environmental innovations with other aquaculture operators in Australia and internationally.

Demand pull, not supply push — A decade ago, barramundi producers sold fish to a wholesaler and walked away. Today, brands like Infinity Blue are building genuine trade demand — chefs trust the product’s eating attributes, consistency, and provenance, and they’re asking for it by name.