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INCAR²Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación · ANID — Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo

RL7

Dr. Juan Manuel Estrada Arias

Adjunct Researcher

Biography

Marine Biologist from the University of Valparaíso (UV) and Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Andrés Bello University (UNAB). He has received advanced training in the feeding and nutrition of marine fish larvae at the Feeds & Food National Research Center (FFNRC) of Pukyong National University (2003), and in live feed cultivation at Gangneung-Wonju National University (2013). Between 1996 and 2000, he worked in the Marine Resources Department of Fundación Chile on the development and optimization of technologies for the culture of red abalone, turbot, and fine flounder.

In 2000, he joined the Quintay Marine Research Center (CIMARQ) at UNAB, where he successfully closed the life cycle of red and black cusk eel and optimized technologies for the mass production of red sea urchin seed, as well as protocols for its restocking and yield enhancement through gonadal conditioning and the development of multi-species holding systems under open-flow and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).

Dr. Estrada has participated in 30 projects and has published eight culture manuals for red cusk eel, red sea urchin, and fine flounder, as well as two patent applications in Chile and internationally (WIPO), obtaining a patent from the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Economy (2019). He also developed technology for the live transport of lobsters and other crustaceans, which in 2010 was recognized among the 50 most innovative service inventions in Chile Exporta by Fundación País Digital, the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Dr. Estrada is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences at UNAB and teaches in the programs of Marine Biology, Aquaculture Engineering, Biotechnology Engineering, and Veterinary Medicine. He has supervised more than 50 theses in Aquaculture Engineering, Biotechnology Engineering, Marine Biology, and Veterinary Medicine. He is also a member of the Master’s Program in Natural Resources at UNAB and collaborates with the Ph.D. in Conservation Medicine.

He currently serves as Director of the Aquaculture Engineering program and of CIMARQ. He is a member of the Bioethics Committee of the Faculty of Life Sciences at UNAB, the Editorial Committee of the Journal of the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP) in Argentina, the Aquaculture Group of the National Oceanographic Committee (CONA), and the Ibero-American Echinoderm Network. From 2019 to 2023, he was a member of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Fund (FIPA) Council of the Undersecretariat for Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA).

Dr. Estrada is a member of the Chilean Aquaculture Society, the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), and the FAO Aquaculture Network, and has presented at conferences in Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay. Between 2023 and 2025, he directed the program BIP 40046478, “Transfer for Productive Development and Sustainable Management of Artisanal Fisheries through Restocking and APERV” of the Regional Government of Valparaíso. In 2024, this program received the Sustainability Innovation Award in the Planet category, granted by the Sustainable Campus Network, Universia Network, and the State Universities Network. He is currently an adjunct researcher in the CIA-INCAR².

Degrees and Academic Qualifications

  • 2015. Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Andrés Bello University.
  • 1994. Marine Biologist, University of Valparaíso.
  • 1994. Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology, University of Valparaíso.

Selected Projects

  • 2025 – Present. Adjunct Researcher, FONDAP INCAR² – Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research.
  • 2023 – 2025. Program Director, BIP 40046478. “Transfer for Productive Development and Sustainable Management of Artisanal Fisheries through Restocking and APERV.” Regional Government of Valparaíso.
  • 2022 – 2024. Researcher, FIPA Project No. 2022-13. Fisheries Biological Monitoring Program of Fisheries and Associated Ecosystems of Rapa Nui Island.
  • 2021 – 2023. Principal Investigator, CORFO Innova Project. Intensive system for the conditioning and maintenance of live marine products. Code: 21CYCV 189027.
  • 2021. Principal Investigator, CORFO Innova Project. Development of a technological unit for conditioning wild specimens of red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus). Code: 20SNV–1437994.
  • 2019 – 2022. Project Director, Proof of Concept (PdC 2019–5). Development of an intensive grow-out unit for land-based culture of red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus). Technology Transfer Office, UNAB.
  • 2017 – 2019. Project Director, Innovation for Competitiveness Fund (FIC-R 2016). Social and technological innovation to promote small-scale aquaculture in rural coves.
  • 2015 – 2016. Researcher, Technical Cooperation Project. Design of the CENIDMAR Mariculture Center in Costa Dorada, Mar del Plata. National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP), Argentina.
  • 2015 – 2016. Project Director. “The Sea in Your Neighborhood: Marine Invertebrates of the Valparaíso Region.” Academic Extension Directorate, Andrés Bello University.
  • 2013 – 2014. Researcher. Development and evaluation of technologies for the productive diversification of gastropods in Management and Exploitation Areas for Benthic Resources (AMERB) in Quintay. Artisanal Fisheries Development Fund (FAP), SUBPESCA.
  • 2013 – 2014. Project Director, CORFO Innova 13IDL1-18378. Development of technologies for copepod production.
  • 2012. Principal Investigator. Design of new trap models and artificial bait for sustainable lobster fishing. Project: “Sustainable Fishery of the Easter Island lobster (Panulirus pascuensis).” Innovation for Competitiveness Fund (FIC), Regional Government of Valparaíso.
  • 2012. Co-Investigator, Project DI-48-11/R. Study of the genetic diversity of wild and captive populations of red, golden, and black cusk eel using microsatellite molecular markers. Research Directorate, UNAB.
  • 2011. Principal Investigator. Development of biological bases for the larval culture of cabrilla (Sebastes oculatus) at experimental scale. Fundación Minera Los Pelambres & UNAB.
  • 2010 – 2012. Co-Investigator. Outreach and transfer program for restocking red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus) in management areas in southern Coquimbo Region. CORFO & Fundación Minera Los Pelambres.