Oceanpick renames hatchery to pay tribute to late Alain Michel

Oceanpick Founder and Director Irfan Thassim and aquaculture researcher Alan Michel

Oceanpick, Sri Lanka’s first oceanic fish farm, paid tribute to the late Alain Michel by renaming its Trincomalee hatchery after the French aquaculture veteran. 
The rebranding of the hatchery was to honour and celebrate the immense contributions of Michel to the field of aquaculture.  
The renaming took place last week at a ceremonial event at Oceanpick farms in Trincomalee, which was attended by the senior officials and staff of the entity, along with the family and friends of Michel joining virtually. 

Michel was the pioneer of shrimp aquaculture and instrumental in the development of the shrimp farming industry in many tropical countries. Born in Versailles, France, in 1937, Michel received a degree in Agriculture Engineering from The National Agronomical Institute and also pursued studies in Oceanography at Paris University.  

During his long and illustrious career, he worked for ORSTOM (now IRD - Institute Research and Development), CNEXO, a newly created French government agency, IFREMER in Paris, the Centre Océanologique du Pacifique in Tahiti and pharmaceutical company Sanofi. He also created his microenterprise Aqua R&D and registered in France.  
Following his retirement in 2000, Michel went on to work on barramundi, shrimp and sea cucumber projects around the world.  
Michel set foot in Sri Lanka in 2016, when his expertise was sought to develop a hatchery for Oceanpick. One of the objectives of his visit was to better understand the operations and production of barramundi in South Asia’s largest commercial oceanic finfish farm.  

Subsequent visits to Sri Lanka focused on the development of the necessary infrastructure and selecting the brood stock for the initial development stage of the hatchery. Michel continued his work with Oceanpick farms as an advisor and mentor and was instrumental in developing the immunisation programme, preventive methodologies for outbreaks and boosting the innate immune system to better control aquaculture pathogens.  

“From inception, Alain Michel developed a keen interest in Oceanpick farms. His knowledge of aquaculture was unparalleled and his kindness, team spirit and modesty touched all who worked with him. Alain Michel will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him and had the opportunity to work with him at Oceanpick,” said Oceanpick Founder Irfan Thassim, while sharing a few words at the renaming ceremony. 
Michel passed away on July 11, 2022, in Paris, at the age of 85.