Center For Aquaculture Technologies, Inc.

Center For Aquaculture Technologies, Inc., doing business as Center For Aquaculture Techn Ologies, is a San Diego-based small business that provides advanced genetic and genomic analysis services for aquaculture research as a prime contractor exclusively to USDA Agricultural Research Service programs, competing under total small business set-asides on the majority of its contract portfolio. The company operates entirely as a prime vendor with no subcontract footprint, delivering DNA sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping, parentage assignment, Certificate of Origin testing, and oyster phenotyping services to support federal aquaculture breeding programs and genetic characterization research.

Center For Aquaculture Technologies holds a highly concentrated customer footprint anchored by USDA ARS, specifically the ARS Field Research Implementation and Information Delivery Northeast Area, which accounts for 35 of 44 total awards and $3.6 million of the combined $4 million potential value across the vendor's federal portfolio. A second tier includes the ARS directly ($287 thousand across 2 awards) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (3 awards, dollar value not itemized in the source). NOAA carries 2 awards totaling $25 thousand. This concentration is characteristic of the vendor's mission: the source indicates the company has maintained a SAM.gov registration since 2013 and has delivered approximately $2.8 million obligated across 44 awards, reflecting a sustained relationship as a specialized supplier rather than a broad-market competitor.

The vendor holds three active indefinite delivery contracts with USDA ARS Northeast Area. The primary vehicle, awarded November 16, 2022, carries a $1 million ceiling through December 31, 2026, for SNP genotyping, microsatellite testing, DNA extraction, and Certificate of Origin testing services on Atlantic salmon tissues; six delivery orders executed under this IDC have totaled approximately $684 thousand. A second IDC, awarded September 25, 2025, carries a $500 thousand ceiling through September 24, 2030, for SNP genotyping and parentage assignment services in rainbow trout with indefinite quantity ordering authority. A third IDC, awarded July 23, 2026, carries a $350 thousand ceiling through July 22, 2029, for Atlantic salmon genomic breeding values development covering genotype quality control, genomic estimated breeding values estimation, genome-wide association study (GWAS), database management, mating pair allocation, and project management across annual ordering periods. Representative task orders issued against these vehicles include a $200 thousand delivery order (Option Year 3 on the Atlantic salmon IDC, January–December 2025), a $143 thousand delivery order for salmon DNA extraction and genotyping (June 2025), and a $95 thousand delivery order for Atlantic salmon genomic breeding values development (July 2026).

Recent activity shows six awards in 2026, four in 2025, two in 2024, and five each in 2023 and 2022, reflecting consistent but modest volume from a specialized research vendor. Three awards carrying combined potential value of $336 thousand face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for those task orders. Center For Aquaculture Technologies also holds a federal research grant from USDA's Institute of Food Production and Sustainability (award date August 1, 2022, completion July 31, 2026) for partial inactivation of maternal gene (PIMG) technology for genetic containment of genetically engineered fish, focusing on sterilization strategies for farmed tilapia to prevent gene flow into wild populations. Work is performed across multiple USDA ARS facility locations including San Diego, Franklin, Maine, Kearneysville, West Virginia, Fort Pierce, Florida, Newport, Oregon, and Kingston, Rhode Island, supporting the agency's distributed aquaculture and biotechnology research network.