Thursday, February 7, 2013

07/02/13: FEFAC welcomes PAPs in EU; algae as a fish feed ingredient; small-scale fisheries and 'wellbeing'

FEFAC President Patrick Vanden Avenne welcomed the European Commission decision to adopt and publish the new regulation on the reauthorisation of non-ruminant processed animal proteins exclusively for use for fish feeding. He stated that “this measure paves the way for our EU aquaculture producers to step up their efforts to encourage the sustainable development of EU aquaculture by creating a level playing field with seafood imports from third countries”.
“EFSA has provided clear scientific evidence that non-ruminant PAPs produced in accordance with the high EU processing standards are safe. They can help in reducing the EU dependency on fishmeal imports thus contributing to the Common Fisheries Policy reform goals of pairing sustainable wild fisheries with the sustainable development of aquaculture”.

He highlighted that "the European feed industry is fully committed to support the competitiveness and sustainability of aquaculture production in the EU, as set out in the Commission proposal on the Common Fisheries Policy and supported by the EP Committee on Fisheries in their December 2012 vote on the CFP report of MEP Mrs Ulrike Rodust”. The new measure contributes to global food security, by reducing the EU dependency on seafood imports which account for more than 70 percent of the current EU consumption". He noted that PAPs are widely used by aquaculture producers in Asia and North- and South-America, who are exporting farmed fish to the EU.
Look out for an article on PAPs and aquafeeds in the next issue of International Aquafeed.

There are many studies looking at the feasibility of using algae as a fish feed ingredient on a wide scale. One such company is OriginOil which has joined forces with Pennsylvania-based aquaculture company, WeFeedUs, to test and validate OriginOil’s proprietary water decontamination and algae harvesting technologies for aquaculture systems. 
In lab tests, OriginOil researchers used a lab-scale SOS system to process water with total ammonia content of approximately 30 parts per million , more than a dozen times the limit for optimal fish production. The process reduced this high ammonia content to less than 0.25 ppm in three minutes without the use of chemicals, or more than a 99 percent reduction.

A new document published by the World Fish Center examines the small-scale fisheries through the concept of 'wellbeing'. Despite recognition that small-scale fisheries make  contributions to economies, societies and cultures, assessing these contributions and incorporating them into policy and decision-making has suffered from a lack of a comprehensive integrating ‘lens’, say the authors. 
The paper focuses on the concept of ‘wellbeing’ as a means to accomplish this integration, thereby unravelling and better assessing complex social and economic issues within the context of fisheries governance.
Algas no mar en Oia
Algas no mar en Oia (Photo credit: mundigranja)
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