Thursday, April 30, 2020

ILDEX Vietnam postponed to late 2020

Due to the unrest COVID-19 crisis, the management team of ILDEX have decided to postpone ILDEX Vietnam 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City to 9-11th December, 2020.

The decision is made in view of the global COVID-19 crisis and with the deep concern on the health of the exhibitors and stakeholders. The emergency in Vietnam and other surrounding ASEAN countries have been eased, however, the spread of the virus continues in other parts of the world. Overviewing the current situation, we are not convinced July will bring the best result out of the event for our exhibitors and partners if this continues. Therefore, further postponing the event to the end of 2020 will be appropriate for the benefits of all relevant parties.
 


By postponing the event to December, we anticipate the Vietnamese market will be fully recovered and the event is set at an ideal timing to meet the market demand after months of downturn. Our primary objective remains to deliver a successful marketplace and to become the gateway for all exhibitor to explore the Vietnamese market.

ILDEX Vietnam is now re-scheduled to December 9–11th, 2020 at SECC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  

VNU Asia Pacific, together with its global partners, will continue the support to all exhibitors and stakeholders on all issues associated with show preparation.

For more information visit the Ildex Vietnam website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Professor of Aquaculture Nutrition and Biosciences shares thoughts on DIV1 Shrimp Disease outbreak

In the Rongorongo live interview below Simon Davies, a Professor of Aquaculture Nutrition and Biosciences at Harper Adams University, and editor for International Aquafeed magazine shares some insight into DIV1 Shrimp disease.

Prof. Davies outlines the disease, the challenges the industry faces when dealing with it, and provides some recommendations going forward.
 




The Aquaculturists

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Cargill helps support Indonesian communities during challenging time

Cargill is working with their non-profit partners around the globe to help address food security, health safety needs and challenges due to the spread of COVID-19.

In Indonesia, Cargill is providing support to local communities through its Corporate Responsibility programs with value of more than $500,000 USD. In this challenging time, Cargill priorities are to put people first and provide the ingredients, feed and food that nourish people and animals.



The COVID-19 situation has started to impact the wellbeing of some families and communities. For vulnerable families, food insecurity is becoming a concern.  Cargill in Indonesia, in line with their purpose to nourish the world is providing more than 20,000 basic staple food packages, consist of rice, cooking oil, sugar and egg /other protein to local communities surrounding Cargill operations across Indonesia.

In addition, as the situation continues to evolve in Indonesia, there is urgent need to support the frontline heroes, their doctors and nurses, as they are in dire need of safety equipment and medical tools to support them. Cargill is donating Personal Protective Equipment (masks, goggles, coverall suits) to 17 local hospitals across Indonesia surrounding operations.

In doing this, Cargill is strongly collaborating with local partners as well as local government, so they can truly support with the right tools and contribution needed to help government in fighting the COVID-19 case in Indonesia.

Through education socialisation program, Cargill is helping to educate the local communities on the risk of COVID-19 and how to prevent it, encouraging them to regularly practice good personal hygiene. Meanwhile, Cargill is also supporting the nearby communities by disinfecting communities' housing areas and public facilities, providing hand wash facilities in public facilities.  In addition, Cargill also distributed personal care packages that includes mask and hand sanitisers to local communities, Cargill's employees and their families.

'For Cargill it is our purpose to nourish the world and all our employees around Indonesia are putting their best to ensure that our customers are able to get food and feed ingredients in order to have food available for people in this critical time. This is the time to care for one another, and the way to navigate this circumstance is by supporting one another. Our appreciation to Indonesian government and NGOs who are our partners and compatriots together in our efforts to respond to COVID-19', said Sunit Dhoka, Cargill Indonesia Country Representative.

These local activities are part of Cargill's global effort to work with non-profit and NGO partners to help address food security, health and safety needs and agriculture and food industry challenges due to the spread of COVID-19.

In addition to monetary donations, they are collaborating with non-profits around the globe to donate food, ingredients and other high-need products for those who are vulnerable during this pandemic. For example, Cargill has donated over one million pounds of food to food shelves and hunger relief efforts in local communities where employees live and work.

Visit the Cargill website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Monday, April 27, 2020

Soon Strong Machinery Works company profile



Soon Strong Machinery Works Co., Ltd was established in 1978. They manufacture and set up equipment for the terrestrial and aqua feed, mineral, and chemical industries.


Soon Strong is always improving on its offerings, with equipment such as pellet mills, wet expansion machinery, pulverisers,  board dryers, and fluid bed dryers for the animal and aqua feed industries.

Recently they have developed an environmental waste recycling device to satisfy their customer needs.

Soon Strong consider the production flow processing and planning factory seriously, with low costs and the best benefit to the customer in mind. Soon Strong has developed a good reputation working with companies throughout Taiwan, China, South-East Asia, and India.

Visit the Soon Strong Machinery Works Co website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

PTN company profile



PTN’s (Pellet Technology Netherlands) mission is to produce and develop high-quality, reliable machines.

PTN strives to provide its customers with the following benefits through its products: higher yields lower energy consumption low maintenance requirements access to state-of-the-art technology.

As a globally operating, specialist manufacturer of pelletisers and related machinery it is their ambition to expand to become the most respected professional OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer).

According to the PTN website, “Our strategy for achieving this ambition is to: expand and consolidate the global network of professional sales and service points create a virtual and real image of professionalism, quality and innovation as well as a high level of standardisation and digital accessibility for strategic partners transform technology, know-how and competences into technical and commercial added value generate stable growth in sales and profit.”

PTN develops and manufactures all its products under its own management at two production sites in Schijndel. This means that PTN is able to build both standard products and products to meet customer specifications.

After the machines have been manufactured and installed at the customer’s site, their service department commissions the machines. In addition, the service department is also available should there be any problems or if the customer’s own technical department needs support.


Visit the PTN website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

Friday, April 24, 2020

BioMar enters partnership in Vietnam

To confirm a mutual interest in entering into a partnership, BioMar and Vietnam's leading shrimp hatchery Viet-UC have signed a memorandum of understanding with the intention of BioMar becoming part owner and operational lead in the feed factory currently owned by Viet-UC.
 

BioMar Group and Viet-UC are to establish a partnership developing and producing aqua feed in Vietnam. The two companies see a strong match in terms of values, focus and visions: Viet-UC being one of the leading shrimp hatcheries in the world with the ambition to build an integrated seafood group and BioMar Group being a leading global supplier of high quality aqua feeds based on extensive R&D and market insights.

'We believe that a feed partnership with Viet-UC in Vietnam will bring important synergies to the feed business as well as the hatchery and grow-out business of Viet-UC. Both companies have a common focus on sustainability, food safety, traceability, quality and performance, which we believe will be strong drivers to strengthen and develop both companies as well as the aquaculture industry in Vietnam. There is no doubt that there will be a growing market for high quality feed in Vietnam', explains Carlos Diaz, CEO in BioMar Group.

BioMar is already a significant shrimp feed producer in South and Central America with factories in Ecuador and Costa Rica. Since 2012, BioMar has been engaged in the development of feed and technical services for shrimp utilizing the capabilities of global R&D in combination with trial facilities around the world, most recently through its advanced Aquaculture Technology Centre in Ecuador dedicated to shrimp. Moving into South East Asia will strengthen the position of BioMar in the global shrimp industry and make it possible to share know how and best practice across the continents.

'We strongly believe in the increasing importance of high quality Post Larvae and in the relation between genetic and nutritional development, so partnering with one of the leading companies within this field in order to develop high performance feeds, concepts and value chain collaborations makes a lot of sense in order to promote a positive development of the shrimp industry', continues Carlos Diaz.

The memorandum of understanding will ensure that the two companies exclusively can focus on exploring the possibilities further, before signing a final agreement.

Visit the BioMar website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Thursday, April 23, 2020

African Swine Fever (ASF) webinar - lessons learned from Vietnam and China

ASF is a the disease which can infect pigs when they eat contaminated food, faeces, secretion, therefore the best way of protection is to 'not' let pigs face any risks of eating contaminated food or items. Biosecurity is the most important issue that we need to reinforce and seriously practice in our farms to keep the ASF away from our industry.
 


In the midst of the COVID-19 spread of which the impact can be seen all over the world, Informa Markets team wants to bring the learning opportunity closer to you regardless of the travel restrictions. Informa Markets has created the Livestock series of webinars which are an ideal platform for industry players to network and learn.






Livestock series webinar is a live, virtual event that is executed online. It is an educational or instructive session that includes audio and visual communication between a speaker and attendees. Webinar software enables the sharing files and interactive participation through chat boxes and Q&A features.

Why attend the Livestock Series webinars?

-  Opportunity to learn
- The on-demand availability of webinars
- Access from anywhere
- Webinars are low-cost (or free!)
- Interactive data and content






Register for the webinar, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

David Hines joins Borregaard as technical sales manager for Southwestern USA

Borregaard has recently announced a new addition to their Americas Feed Additives team. Mr David Hines joined Borregaard on April 20th, 2020 as Technical Sales Manager, responsible for the Southwestern USA.

David Hines
Image credit: Borregaard
 Mr Hines brings thirty years of feed sales, nutrition, management and manufacturing knowledge. His past three years have been with ADM Animal Nutrition (GM) and prior, an extensive twenty-five years with Cargill Animal Nutrition (Sales/BDM/GM). Species background includes the terrestrial species with a specialisation in all aquatic species, including alligators/crocodiles.

Mr Hines will be responsible for growing Borregaard's feed additives business in the southwestern geography of the US  Mr Hines is based out of his home office near Houston, TX and will report to Dave Taylor, Area Business Manager Feed Additives, Americas.

Visit the Borregaard website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Hiding in plain sight: Gut health

by Karin Pittman 1,2, Sjur Øyen S1, Mette Sørensen3, Kjetil Korsnes 3,4, Dalia Dahle3, Nimalan Nadanasabesan 3, Mearge Okubamichael2, Grigory Merkin G2, Ole Jacob Myre2
1. Dept of Biosciences, Univ of Bergen, Thormøhlensgate 53, 5006 Bergen, Norway
2. Quantidoc AS, Thormøhlensgate 41, 5006 Bergen Norway
3. Nord University, P.O. Box 1490, 8049 Bodø, Norway
4. BioVivo Technologies AS, Storbjørnen 17, 8029 Bodø, Norway


Fish wear their immune system on the outside and the answer to many industry conundrums is likely hiding in plain sight. This statement refers to the mucosal immune system, or rather all the slimy barriers in skin, gills and intestines (the outside of the inside), (See Figures 1A and 1B).

Why does this matter? We can think of this protection like a detective’s tools to find out where a production challenge lies: the skin is the shield and able to tolerate some handling and damage, the gills are the sentinel guarding 50 percent of the surface area of the fish, while the guts are the foundation, reliant on incoming nutrition upon which almost all else in the fish is built.
 

The structure of skin, gill and gut mucosal barriers at the cell-level is almost identical. These tissues can regenerate, and they can learn: this innate mucosal (mucus) immune system is more important for fish than the typical acquired immune system is for mammals. Fish are hatched with this protective system, optimised quite free-of-charge by nature through about 500 million years of evolution. It knows a thing or two about protecting fish health, survival and tolerance.

If we can read these immune responses, so what? Feeds give different signals to the guts and the skin, and sometimes to the gills. Everyone knows about the anti-nutrients that come from terrestrial plantstuffs, and everyone knows that fishmeal is generally more expensive than plant ingredients.

Fish gut microbiomes are clearly different from mammalian gut microbiomes and fish genes even more diverse than mammalian genes. This makes functional interpretation a challenge, but we have to start somewhere. To summarise the effects of genes, fatty acids, proteins, lipids and treatments we can look at the tissue which contains the cells we are interested in, the mucus or goblet cells.

This is a much higher level of biological organisation than genes and it is much less variable. The fish intestine reacts to the entirety of a recipe, not just the fashionable silver bullet ingredient.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Extru-Tech Inc company profile



Founded in 1985, Extru-Tech® has installed numerous extrusion systems worldwide designed for the production of human food, pet food, aquatic feed and animal feed products.


Extru-Tech® also maintains the reputation of supplying the extrusion industry with superior quality replacement parts.


Extru-Tech® currently produces and markets one of the industry's most complete lines of extrusion processing systems. 

In addition, they offer a full line of ancillary equipment and customised equipment solutions for specialised processes.

Visit the website HERE


The Aquaculturists

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Global Market Insights study suggests rapid growth for feed enzymes market in 2020s

by Rebecca Sherratt, Features Editor, International Aquafeed

The feed enzymes industry is expected to experience yet more growth in the early 2020s according to a study published by Global Market Insights Inc. The study suggests that, by 2024, the industry could well exceed US $860m, which would be a six percent growth rate since 2017.

In 2018, the animal feed enzymes market brought in $1.3bn and is said to capably reach heights of $2.3bn by 2026. What exactly is causing such major growth? The study suggests that livestock production has seen big increases, especially so in Spain, Russia and Germany. This, coupled with an increasing need for protein in our diets, contributes towards the increased demand for enzymes in feed. As the human population continues to grow, enzyme to ensure quality feed for our animals becomes only more vital to sustain the health of the planet.
 


The upsurge of middle-class populations has also led to an increase in meat consumption, sale of meat having doubled in the past 50 years. China currently sit in first place as the country that consumes the most meat, eating 28 percent of meat produced in the world, more than half of that of the US.

As the aquaculture industry continues to grow at a rapid pace, the enzymes market for fish feed is estimated to grow by 7.5 percent. Ruminants are also estimated to produce a growth of $450m by 2024, whilst poultry is expected to increase significantly due to the demand for protein from eggs and chicken meat.

Perhaps not so surprising is the area which will experience the most growth, which is said to be Asia. The Asia Pacific has been predicted by Global Market Insights to increase by 7.5 percent. As the Asia Pacific region grows much more conscious and employs a more responsible approach towards diseases, the increase in use of feed enzymes in this area has been steadily increasing year-on-year. The dairy sector in the east is also growing increasingly more popular, increasing demand in good-quality feed.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Anderson Feed Technology company profile




Anderson Feed Technology has been formed by a collaboration of Anderson International Corp and Ottevanger Milling Engineers.


This partnership will leverage the expertise of both companies, establishing a strong presence that provides a wide variety of Feed Mill and Cereal related solutions to existing and new clients in the United States and Canada. Thanks to its expert know-how, gained over it’s joined 245 years of experience, Anderson Feed Technology is the ideal partner for the implementation of your project.

Their expertise lie in; engineering, production, and installation of machinery and complete installations in the dry-cereal and grain processing industry such as:
- Feed mills
- Premix and concentrate plants
- Aquafeed and Pet food installations
- Cereal processing lines
- Biomass installations

About Anderson International Corp
“Anderson International Corp, founded in 1888, is the original inventor of the screw press or Expeller® for the mechanical recovery of fats from oil bearing beans, seeds, and nuts.  In their 130-year history, Anderson has adapted the original screw press design for a variety of industrial processes, including pet food, animal feed, and synthetic rubber.  To date, Anderson has successfully designed, manufactured, and installed over 12,000 pieces of processing equipment for over 100 different types of materials in more than 100 countries with a focus on providing complete process solutions to their customer base.”

About Ottevanger Milling Engineers B.V.
Ottevanger Milling Engineers, founded in 1909, is a specialist in the design and manufacture of equipment and complete installations for the grain- and feed processing industries. The company designs and produces a comprehensive range of process equipment following the latest standards. The accumulated knowledge and experience of more than 100 years determine the quality of design, equipment and installations of Ottevanger Milling Engineers and its efficiency and reliability.

Visit the Anderson Feed Technology website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

The Aqua Feed Extrusion Conference: CPS- Partners in project feasibility, design and implementation

by Corporate Project Services, USA

The food industry is evolving and now, more than ever, manufacturers need to ensure their current and future operations are compliant with industry standards. But for many extrusion-based feed and food companies, greenfield and brownfield projects are not a common occurrence and few teams have extensive experience in this area.
 
Extrusion plants are a substantial investment that require process experience, knowledge of up-to-date technology and detailed planning. Many manufacturing companies need a partner who has knowledge and aptitude to manage modern plant design and the intricacies of food safety standards. Corporate Project Services (CPS) encompasses both.

CPS is an expert in extrusion-based technology. Whether your extrusion project is for aquafeed, pet food or human food, you need a partner with the experience and expertise to help navigate this rapidly evolving industry.

Below are five areas where CPS can guide your company through the complexities of today’s food manufacturing environment.

Expanding the scope of your team
Resource allocation is often an issue with new plant installations because companies typically cannot afford to spin off their brightest people onto a multi-year special assignment. There’s great benefit in having an outsider’s perspective—such a partner can be your eyes and ears externally while you stay focused on internal priorities.

By establishing a closely integrated working relationship with an outside partner, the client maintains oversight without the hassle and without internal resources getting monopolised with implementation. Having a dedicated team also speeds up timelines, so projects can reach completion faster than if they were driven by an internal team with competing priorities.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Biorigin company profile



Biorigin is a Brazilian company which mobilises knowledge and technology to promote health and quality of life. Using biotechnological processes, it produces natural ingredients for flavor enhancement, sodium reduction, shelf life extension in food market; and nutritional enrichment of feeds and substitutes for antibiotics.


It is a business unit of Zilor, a company with more than 65 years of experience and one of the largest Brazilian producers of ethanol, sugar and electricity from sugar cane.

Biorigin was founded in 2003, and in 2008 acquired the companies PTX Food Corp in The United States and Immunocorp and Animal Health, in Norway, expanding and strengthening its international presence.


Visit the website HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Monday, April 20, 2020

Using seaweeds as bioindicators to map nutrient zones of influence from fish farms and other sources

by Dr Thierry Chopin, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Fish farms release nutrients into the environment in either particulate organic or dissolved inorganic forms. Particulate nutrients generally settle onto the seafloor quickly and rarely disperse more than a few hundred meters.
 
Dissolved nutrients are excreted by fish directly in the water column and can represent significant proportions of these nutrients (for example, between 68 and 87% of nitrogen). However, much less is known about dissolved nutrients, their dispersion, assimilation and persistence within the marine environment.

Dissolved nutrients can be difficult to measure; their chemistry can be complex. In the case of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), it can be in the form of ammonium (NH4+), ammonia (NH3), nitrate (NO3-) or nitrite (NO2-).

Measuring dissolved nutrients through the analysis of water samples from highly dynamic waters, created by tides and currents and generally sought as dispersing sites by the aquaculture sector, can be a logistic nightmare, time consuming and expensive, due to the need for continual and repeated sampling. Moreover, some fractions, such as NH3 and NH4+, which can represent up to 90 percent of DIN, can be rapidly lost to the atmosphere through volatilisation and assimilation by other surrounding organisms. Consequently, nutrient enrichment, especially as short-lived pulses, can be difficult to detect. However, dilution and dispersion should not be considered the solution to nutrification of the environment.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Aller Aqua company profile


Aller Aqua produce fish feed for freshwater and saltwater aquaculture. That is the brief presentation, but it doesn’t even come close to covering the entire story.

Aller Aqua is a family owned company with roots tracing back more than a thousand years. They have produced fish feed for more than 50 years, and this makes them one of the worlds most experienced fish feed producers, delivering some of the best products on the market, to their customers.

Today Aller Aqua has factories in Denmark, Poland, Germany and Egypt, they export products to more than 70 countries worldwide. They have a broad and professional product range, consisting of feed for 30 species of fish.

According to their website, “We know the importance the right feed plays in our customers production, and therefore our own professional development- and research centre in Germany, Aller Aqua Research, consistently works on optimising, developing and documenting the effect of our products. This ensures that our customers receive top-quality professional products, at competitive prices – delivered on time. As a company we are big enough to meet your needs, and small enough to be flexible”.

“This ensures that we can react quickly to our customer’s needs, which is essential when you strive not only to deliver fish feed, but also to spar with and contribute to optimising our customers businesses. Our experience and history is our guarantee to our customers that we know what we are talking about, that we keep our promises, and that we are right here – and that will still be the case in many years to come”.


Visit the website HERE.

The Aquaculturists

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Updates to 2020 World Aquaculture Society events

With Covid-19 now in full motion globally, the WAS organisers MarEvent have suggested we can expect some changes in the coming weeks and reschedule some of the events. Both WAS and EAS will keep you updated on their websites, as media partners, International Aquafeed magazine thought our readers might appreciate an update.
 



August 30th – September 2th, 2020

St John's Newfoundland, Canada
Aquaculture Canada and WAS North America 2020
The World Aquaculture Society and the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC) and Newfoundland Aquaculture industry Association (NAIA) are excited to co-host this world class, international event, surely to become the largest aquaculture conference and trade show in Canadian history.
Details on the following websites: www.aquacultureassociation.ca; www.was.org; www.naia.ca. More info: worldaqua@was.org; for Booths or sponsorship mario@marevent.com

September 7-10th, 2020
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Latin America & Caribbean Aquaculture 2020
LACQUA20 will take place in Guayaquil, Ecuador from September 7 to 10 and this time our partner is Escuela Superior Polit̩cnica del Litoral РESPOL that is organising the XXI Ecuadorian Aquaculture Congress (CEA2020) jointly with LACQUA2020. There will be an extended Industry Forum for all aquaculture professionals.
More info on www.was.org. Time to submit your abstract online. Contact Carolina@was.org. Contact mario@marevent.com for stands/booths and sponsorship.

September 29th - October 2nd, 2020
Cork, Ireland

Aquaculture Europe 2020
The annual meeting organised by the European Aquaculture Society in Cork, Ireland in 2020. 'You may have seen on our website www.aquaeas.eu that Aquaculture Europe 2020 will go ahead as planned in Cork from September 29 to October 2. We are in contact with the Irish Health Authorities concerning any risk to our event caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus and will take action if and when we are advised or required by the Irish Government.

We have amended our AE2020 registration cancellation policy, so that cancellations can be made up to 30 days before the event without charge for you. So please continue to register and take advantage of early bird and membership reduced rates.

The Opening Ceremony will take place from 6.30pm on Tuesday September 29th and will also include the AE2020 Plenary Speaker and the Student Spotlight Award. So please plan your arrival in Cork with this in mind.

Abstract submission for oral and E-poster presentations is now online at https://aquaeas.org/Abstract/Submit/AE2020 . Given the current status at many universities and research organisations, we have extended the deadline from May 1st to June 1st to give you more time. 'Incomplete' abstracts can also be submitted and amended at a later date. But please submit by the deadline, as your chances of getting an oral presentation after it are very low this year. We look forward to welcoming you in Cork!' - Gavin Burnell, EAS President 2018-2020.

More information on www.aquaeas.eu. Contact email - ae2020@aquaeas.eu. Contact mario@marevent.com for booths and sponsorship. Expanded floorplan and updated exhibitor list expected soon.

November 28th – December 1st, 2020
Alexandria, Egypt

Aquaculture Africa 2020
The African Chapter of World Aquaculture Society will hold its first International Conference and Exhibition 'Aquaculture Africa 2020' in the Bibliotheca, Alexandria, Egypt during November 28 – December 1, 2020. Time to submit your abstract now…

More information on www.Was.org. Just click AFRAQ2020 or contact africanchapter@was.org. Contact mario@marevent.com for booths & sponsorship. Exhibitor list.

December 14-18th, 2020
Singapore

World Aquaculture 2020
The International event organised by the World Aquaculture Society will happen at the SingExpo Max Atria in Singapore in 2020.

New dates and updates on www.was.org.
Submit your abstract soon – extended abstract submission
Book your booth now – mario@marevent.com – list exhibitors


The Aquaculturists

Publicity surrounding aquaculture

by Neil Auchterlonie, Technical Director, IFFO

It is a truism that bad news sells across media, whether this is old-fashioned column space in newspapers, audio in radio or video in television, or retweets and likes in social media.  The fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and by extension the aquafeed sector, are no strangers to this paradigm, and these industries have suffered their share of the reporting of bad news as much as any others.
 
Encompassing both food and environmental issues, they are often the focus of attention from journalists because these are highly emotive subjects. Even where there may be a number of good news opportunities, such as around the enormous benefits these industries bring in terms of a continual increase in protein supply, improved health through seafood consumption, and the support of fisheries and aquaculture for coastal communities where there are few other employment opportunities, these are rarely presented.

One obvious, current, example relates to the attention on climate change impacts in food production, and the uptake of lower impact diets as a means of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in food. Aquatic protein production often falls short of being promoted whereas, in contrast, we see emphasis on vegetarian and vegan diets as the means by which society will reduce the environmental cost of food production.

What we know from the EAT-Lancet report published in the UK last year, is that seafood consumption is mentioned as being important, and aquaculture especially, in this regard, but that message seems somewhat lost in the rush for a vegetable-based diet. It is a challenge to promote the positives when good news stories are just not seen as attractive in the media, but it is something that we must continue to do in order to get the facts out into these debates.

In the first month of 2020, then, it was surprising to see that at least a small amount of media interest accompanied a recently published fisheries science paper.  This paper, carrying a long author list of internationally recognisable experts, and headed by Professor Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, carries some important news that almost passed by unnoticed.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Dinnissen company profile




With over 150 permanent employees and an extensive network of agents all over the world, Dinnissen is a global player in the feed, food, pharma and chemical sectors.

They are always looking for new and innovative solutions for complete processes, system integrations or standard products – many of which they develop, test and produce in-house!
 
Visit the website HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Thursday, April 16, 2020

AquaExpo 19 prevails and captured the shrimp world’s eyes

by Ivan Marquetti, Managing Director, Latin America Division, International Aquafeed

The ninth edition of AquaExpo 19 opened its doors with more pride than ever on October 21st, given a strong political uncertainty that never put at risk the vigor of the Ecuadorian aquaculture and shrimp sector.

The show began as usual, attendees singing the Ecuadorian national anthem that this time rumbled the room and even some faces could be seen with tears in their eyes, due to recent events taking place in the country. José Antonio Camposano, President of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA) and organiser of the event read a message from President Lenin Moreno, encouraging the shrimp sector to continue to flourish, which is considered one of the most dynamic sectors of the country.
 
Image credit: 昶廷 林 on Flickr
(CC BY-SA 2.0)

Later he referred to one of the measures best accepted by Ecuadorian aquaculture, which was that of VAT 0, proposed by President Moreno, with the aim of achieving a greater competitiveness in the sector.

On October 22nd, the trade show began with the presence of leading food, nutrition, machinery and technology companies. The stands of the different companies were crowded and, as usual at AquaExpo events, the event lasted until almost 8:00pm with a tremendous turnout, since most companies linked to the sector attended after the end of the workday in their farms and offices.

In the 2019 edition, Aqua Expo extended its exhibition area by 35 percent when compared to last year. This rendition had 6,500 m2 of business fairs, where around 200 companies participated, presenting their latest technologies, products, goods and services.

It`s important to highlight the great synergy that could be appreciated in the commercial area, where most of the companies were hosting their clients, suppliers and potential clients with great kindness ... There is no doubt that many projects were closed between them and new networks were established for many.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Shortlists announced for 2020 Aquaculture Awards

An impressive range of companies, research organisations and individuals from around the world have made the shortlists for the 2020 Aquaculture Awards.

Winners will be announced at a special awards dinner taking place during the Aquaculture UK exhibition, 15-17 September, Aviemore, Scotland. The awards will highlight the range of talent and cutting-edge advances in technology involved in the global aquaculture sector.
 


The awards brought together a diverse panel of judges, featuring Alex Adrian, aquaculture operations manager of Crown Estate Scotland; Martin Gill, head of aquaculture and fisheries at Lloyds Register; Nicki Holmyard, Director of Offshore Shellfish Ltd; Professor Dave Little, head of research at Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture; Ingrid Olesen, senior scientist at Nofima; and The Fish Site's Rob Fletcher.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic the judges were unable to meet up in person, but over the course of three conference calls organisers were able to debate the relative merits of over entries and nominations, and the six judges managed to whittle down the contenders for each category to make the shortlists. Thanks to both the judges and all those who entered these hotly-contested awards.

'The Aquaculture Awards are a fantastic way to recognise the achievements of those stand-out individuals who are making an exceptional contribution to the industry. Once again, the quality of this year's awards entries has been outstanding. Congratulations and good luck to each of our shortlisted finalists,' says event director Cheri Arvonio.

Read the shortlisted candidates and the full article on the International Aquafeed website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Van Aarsen company profile


Van Aarsen has become a household name worldwide for machinery and turnkey projects for animal feed technology, both for commercial feed producers and for vertically-integrated businesses. 

Quality is of the utmost importance in both sectors of the industry and innovations in feed production are therefore of great interest. 

Thanks to their extensive experience, engineers and technicians are always able to offer tailor-made solutions.

Visit the Van Aarsen website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

FAMSUN supports industry partners and customers with tools to fight covid-19

Today the team at International Aquafeed were most grateful to receive a supply of 200 PPE surgical face masks from FAMSUN, a Chinese based world-leading agricultural machinery manufacturer and engineering service provider.
 

Throughout the covid-19 outbreak FAMSUN have continued to service the industry's needs, and now they are going above and beyond in supplying their colleagues around the world with tools to help in their own fight against the virus.

FAMSUN have been a leading enterprise in global agriculture and husbandry for over 50 years, and they continue to dedicate themselves to providing efficient and sustained solutions to the agriculture and husbandry sectors for safer, healthier and more environmental-friendly food across the world.

Visit the FAMSUN website, HERE.





The Aquaculturists

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Cermaq Canada their let option to lease in Nova Scotia expire

From the beginning, Cermaq has openly shared that in order to proceed, it would need to identify enough farm sites to support 20,000 metric tonnes of production in order to make the potential expansion financially viable.

Over the last year, Cermaq Canada has been conducting feasibility and engagement work in the province through the Option to Lease process, within the province's new aquaculture regulatory framework. The areas being investigated included Chedabucto Bay, St. Mary's Bay, Mahone Bay and St. Margaret's Bay.
 
Image credit: Rodger Evans on Flickr
(CC BY-ND 2.0)
'We knew that we would need to identify between 15 and 20 viable farm sites spread throughout the four Option areas in order to achieve the required annual production. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate enough sites at this time, and have made the decision to allow all of our Options to Lease to expire,' said David Kiemele, Managing Director for Cermaq Canada. 'We acknowledge there were many people interested in our potential investment as this kind of economic diversification can be very important to rural coastal communities. Aquaculture, such as salmon farming, will have an increasingly important role to play in responding to climate change and contributing to North American food security.'

Over the last year, Cermaq employees have had the opportunity to meet with the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia and many Nova Scotians, including elected officials, business owners and members of the commercial fishing industry.

'We are very proud of the relationships we have built within the province, and would like to specifically thank the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia Assembly of Chiefs for the opportunity to engage, share and learn. We are also thankful for the relationships we built and connections we made with business owners, community members, associations and local government,' said Linda Sams, Sustainable Development Director for Cermaq Canada. 'We did hear opposition from some groups and regions, however; a shared path forward is, and always was our goal. We engaged with the intent of supporting, or benefiting, existing commercial fishing through shared opportunities, services, research and planning. We think it was a lost opportunity that we didn't get to have more in-depth conversations in some locations, but we would like to thank everyone who engaged with the intent to learn and share.'

In the coming weeks, Cermaq will be working to wrap up the feasibility work and close our Guysborough office. All public engagement, including the Community Information Advisor Committees will stop, effective immediately. Cermaq would like to thank residents, local government, businesses and the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia for their time through the process and wish the people of Nova Scotia nothing but the best.

Visit the Cermaq website, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Sustainable Production in Nutrition Industries: An Adifo Software seminar

by Rebecca Sherratt, Features Editor, International Aquafeed

On October 3rd International Aquafeed had the pleasure to be invited to Adifo Software’s feed seminar, entitled ‘Sustainable Production in Nutrition Industries’, hosted inside the glamorous Villa Park, the famous Aston Villa football stadium in Birmingham, UK.

 


Taking place over the course of one full day, the event featured eleven insightful presentations on feed formulation and nutrition with, as the title of the event suggests, a key emphasis on sustainability and responsible sourcing of ingredients.

Although a wide variety of topics were covered at the event, I found each and every presentation extremely informative. I also appreciated how Adifo ensured to raise crucial questions regarding how we, as an industry, are expected to continue to feed our animals whilst also ensuring we source our ingredients responsibly.

Read more, HERE.


The Aquaculturists

Evonik company profile



Evonik is one of the world's leading specialty chemicals companies. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of their strategy, which is supported by their owners, RAG-Stiftung (74.99 percent) and funds managed by CVC Capital Partners (25.01 percent).

Their specialty chemicals activities focus on high-growth megatrends—especially health, nutrition, resource efficiency, and globalisation—and their goal is to enter attractive future-oriented markets.

In 2011 Evonik’s roughly 33,000 employees generated sales of €14.5 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of €2.8 billion. More than 70 percent of sales are generated outside Germany, providing convincing evidence that our business is global.

Visit the website HERE.

The Aquaculturists

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Virtual career development platform set to strengthen South Baltic Aquaculture

The European Commission's Blue Growth agenda for the Baltic Sea Region identifies aquaculture as one of the most promising sectors of the region's maritime economy in terms of growth and job potential. However, in the South Baltic area, aquaculture is not a widely established sector yet. The Interreg South Baltic project AquaVIP (Aquaculture virtual career development platform for the South Baltic region) was launched in 2020 with a plan to change the situation.

There is significant demand for a high-qualified personnel and knowledge in modern aquaculture. In order to develop innovative aquaculture sector and move the focus into the South Baltic region, competencies and knowledge are crucial. This is where AquaVIP will have a field for action.
 
Klaipeda Science and Technology Park's RAS shrimp facility
Image credit: Klaipeda Science and Technology Park
A three-year project is led by Klaipeda Science and Technology Park (Lithuania), and accompanied by University of Rostock (Germany), University of Gdańsk (Poland), and Klaipeda University (Lithuania).

AquaVIP partners present great capacity in aquaculture competences. Together with their previous experience in aquaponics, microalgae cultivation, recirculating aquaculture systems, project will focus on boosting education through the training of students and professionals in the sector with the aim of well-prepared labor force, higher business capacity in innovative aquaculture, and ultimately – the expansion of the aquaculture market in the South Baltic area.

The project will pay particular attention to investigating best practices and exchange knowledge and experience related to human resource capacities for the aquaculture sector area's blue and green economy, cooperation with partners and joint development of tailored solutions for boosting human resource capacities, testing innovative methods and tools. AquaVIP will form international networks with organisations pursuing the same mission, and explore the cross-sector cooperation possibilities.

Nine experiments are to be carried out in partners' facilities, these are core activities for the training and networking. The research activities will include: establishment of artificial feed chains for the culture of sensitive fish larvae, aquaponics including Litopenaeus vannamei and microalgae, growth and nutritional value of Litopenaeus vannamei and of native and non-native shrimps from the Baltic Sea cultivated in small-scale RAS systems, whiteleg shrimp RAS technology optimisation, new 'shrimp tower' RAS concept, application of brackish salinity in freshwater fish RAS cultivation, geothermal brine for water salination in marine RAS, and indoor culture technology for Daphnia sp. and its use as additional live feed for fish.

Andrius Sutnikas, Development Manager at Klaipeda Science and Technology Park commented, 'In the framework of this project, we will put a strong base for strengthening aquaculture programmes in the universities, provide hands-on-experience for academic communities and create conditions for changes in the labor market. Innovative aquaculture will benefit businesses in our region and society in general – as it will provide healthy, secure and regionally produced high quality food. The use of innovative environmentally friendly production technologies will also open new and international markets, providing further new jobs and blue-green growth in the South Baltic area'.


The Aquaculturists