Born out of Chile´s most successful innovation driving organization Fundación Chile (FCh), CULTIMAR is an independent commercial hatchery, offering first class Japanese (Crassostrea gigas) larvae, seeds and adult oysters since 1982!

Philosophy

Marine protein will be a growing part of our global diet. With wild catch production predicted to remain stable at the current level for the foreseeable future, growth can only come from one source: Aquaculture.

Our philosophy is to develop, produce and provide a reliable and sustainable supply of first class oyster seeds which enable our clients to grow a product recognized in the world for its exceptional characteristics: large, tasty, fleshy oysters of a violet color appreciated by consumers worldwide.

 

Our History

Since the early 1980’s, Fundación Chile has been developing new technologies and businesses in the area of ​​aquaculture. The creation of companies is designed to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of new technologies that the Fundación Chile wishes to transfer to the country, resulting in the creation of Cultimar (Cultivos Marinos Tongoy SA).

The history of the Japanese oyster begins in 1978 with the first introduction of the Japanese or Pacific oyster into the country. In 1983 the subsidiary company Cultimar Cultivos Marinos Tongoy was created. The first production leads to sales to the national and international market. In those first years, Fundación Chile participated in two important international events (ANUGA in Germany and Seafood Conference in Austria), in which the Pacific oyster produced in Chile was presented to international buyers. On both occasions the product was well received. As of 1984, Cultimar started to deliver important volumes of oysters to the national and international markets, and provided more than six million annual juvenile oysters or seeds to the growers.

Cultimar supplied its customers with seeds of diploid and natural triploid oysters, the latter produced from tetraploid sperms, which allows to offer 100% triploid seeds in different calibers. With this, a significant advance was made in the Hatchery’s offer of diploid and triploid seeds throughout the year, according to the customers’ requirements.

Currently Cultimar is a company dedicated to the production and export of oyster seeds from the Pacific to countries such as Canada, South Africa, Namibia, Mexico and Brazil. It is the only large scale commercial hatchery for oyster seed production in Latin America, offering first class oyster seeds internationally and fresh, fleshly and healthy adult oysters in 3 sizes for the local market.