TRIUM Global EMBA eNewsletter

General Manager
Antonsen Family Trust / Steinar Fishing Co., Ltd.

TRIUM Global Executive MBA, Class of 2006
Diploma, Master of Business Administration

University of British Columbia
Diploma, Marketing and Sales Management

Marke manages his family trust, which owns fishing quotas in Alaska and British Columbia. His principal objective is to maintain growth above inflation, current interest rates and achieve longevity from his investments. The Antonsen Family Trust’s fish quotas represent approximately 4% of the total allowable catch of ground fish in British Columbia and approximately 3% of the Pollock fishery in the Bering Sea which has a gross market value of U.S. $65-70 million per year. The Trust indirectly employs 300 employees and has customers throughout the world, including (presently or previously) McDonalds, Tengelman, Birds Eye, Flamingo, NordSea Ltd., Burger King, Kroger’s, Wal-Mart, Subway and others.

Marke’s chief responsibilities are to remain appraised of and to identify all new social trends, technological advances, environmental, economic and political issues which affect the fisheries industry in order to be able to respond effectively to potential risks or opportunities.

Marke Antonsen is intensely proud of his seafaring Viking heritage. A Vancouver native of Norwegian stock (legend has it that he was actually born at sea on a fishing boat!), Marke has held a Captain’s license since his teen years and is now the general manager of the Antonsen Family Trust, which controls vast fishing quotas in Alaska and British Columbia. Over breakfast at the LSE during Marke’s first TRIUM module, his term project and latest entrepreneurial venture was born.

At that fateful breakfast, the conversation turned to Marke’s business and specifically to the primary challenge facing fish farmers today: getting their product to market faster without resorting to genetic engineering. One of the TRIUM students at the table was Harish Dave, a physician-scientist with a background in molecular biology, biotechnology, and clinical medicine. “I have an idea!” said Harish, and the rest, as they say, is history. As their TRIUM term project, Mark and his team developed GrowthTek Systems LLC, an agri-food nutrition company specializing in growth stimulant technologies designed to get farmed fish to market faster, more profitably, and with minimal environmental impact. GrowthTek is currently in its research and development phase, tightening patents on its primary growth-enhancing food additive and planning production facilities in Canada, India and China. The short-term goal for GrowthTek, says Marke half facetiously, is a return to each partner of seven times his or her TRIUM tuition!

“The process of developing GrowthTek with my TRIUM colleagues - in fact, the whole TRIUM experience - has been extremely rewarding. The modules in São Paulo and Shanghai were eye -opening, and I’m still amazed at the diversity and talent of my TRIUM classmates. I’d recommend TRIUM to any executive who wants to stay current and learn from the best in a truly international context. TRIUM is a tremendous program.”