Orego-Stim® Aquatract launched in Chile

Orego-Stim Aquatract® has been officially launched at Aqua Sur 2010 in Chile. Mr Matt Pearce of Meriden Animal Health Limited and the Chilean distributors Pharmagro Ltda attended the 6th International event that took place in Puerto Montt. This year 15,000 visitors and 700 companies from over 40 countries attended Aqua Sur.

Matt's technical presentation 'Orego-Stim® Aquatract: A new method of increasing productivity and profitability in aquaculture' further explained the unique mechanisms of action and applications of this innovative product. As Orego-Stim is used globally in the diets of a variety of commercial livestock species, the audience was extremely interested in how this could be applied to the Aqua industry.

After a busy and highly valuable three days, both Pharmagro Ltda and Meriden Animal Health Ltd are looking forward to the benefits that Orego-Stim® Aquatract is able to offer to increase production and maximise overall performance in the Chilean salmon and trout industry.



This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

A review of Cage Aquaculture - Third Edition

ISBN 1-4051-0842-8

In 2004 Malcolm C.M. Beveridge wrote the third edition on Cage Aquaculture. In this edition he presents a synthesis of information on cages and caged aquaculture practices. Mr Beveridge has had a long association with the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling where he was a member of the faculty for more than 20 years.

In Chapter one, he looks at the origin and principles of cage aquaculture, reviewing the history of aquaculture and also suggesting reasons as to why aquaculture never developed like agriculture. He looks at the development of rearing facilities and the origins of cage culture.

Chapter two, he reviews cage aquaculture discussing the diversity of cage types, along with cage culture and aquaculture. In this chapter he also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of cage culture.

In Chapters three and four, cage design and construction and site selection are dealt with, looking at shape, size and materials. He reviews traditional designs and looks at modern designs of cages. Mr Beveridge delves into the environmental aspects of farmed aquatic species, along with the environmental criteria for cages. Also covered are the site facilities and management of the farms.

In Chapter five he deals with the environmental impacts and environmental capacity of caged aquaculture. He looks at resource consumption, the process of cages aquaculture, waste and modeling environmental capacity giving examples of intensive cage farming with Rainbow Trout, Tilapia.

Chapters six and seven deal with management of the facilities, transport and stocking. Feeds and feeding he also looks at the problems associated with caged farming, water currents, disease, fouling along with many other aspects.

This publication written by Mr Beveridge, with his many years of experience in the field of aquaculture, is in my opinion, a good guide to anyone working in caged aquaculture. It would also be a great help to anyone starting out in this field too. A well-written and well-presented book, with a good selection of photograph, a book for students and teacher alike, as well as anyone with an interest in the subject of caged aquaculture.

This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

Marine Harvest Ireland wins award

Marine Harvest Ireland has won an award for export achievements and figures showing growth in the value of Irish farmed seafood. This showed the potential for the fish farm sector to contribute to the economic recovery and sustainability, according to the Irish Farmers Association (IAF).

The award by the Irish Exporters Association of “Seafood Exporter of the Year 2010”, the IFA has said that it proves the importance of seafood production to the economy. The latest figures showed that the value of Irish salmon farming had a boost of nearly 40 percent in 2009. This is largely due to increased prices and positive marketing. Read more...

North Menai Mussel get’s certified

The North Menai Strait mussel fishery is celebrating being awarded Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification following a rigorous, independent assessment against the MSC standards for a sustainable and well managed fisheries. Products from this fishery may now bear the MSC ecolabel, identifying their origin from a sustainable source. Only products that originate from the certified fishery are eligible to bear the MSC ecolabel.

The certified fishery operates inside the boundaries of the 1962 Menai Strait East Fishery Order and consists of four operating businesses; Deepdock Ltd, Myti Mussels, Extramussel Ltd and Ogwen Mussels Ltd, who form the constituent membership of Bangor Mussel Producers Ltd. Read more...

New aquaculture facility opens in Scotland

A new UK£15 million (€ 17.7 million / US$23.4 million) marine science facility has been opened in Aberdeen, Scotland, which will help maintain Scotland's position as a major producer of farmed fish. Known as the Ellis building, named after the influential Scottish scientist who revolutionised the field of fish immunology.

It will be the centre of Marine Scotland Science’s fish health research operations. Supporting the aquaculture industry and providing wild fish stocks with greater protection. Richard Lochhead Scotland's fisheries Minster said that the facility would enhance Scotland’s reputation as a centre for aquatic science expertise. Read more...

Angling supported by aquaculture creates 26,000 jobs in the US

Researchers at the Colorado State University recently completed a study, which showed anglers supported by the Aquacultural Suppliers of Recreational Fish (ASRF) in the Western region of the United States contributed about US$1.9 billion in output and created more than 26,000 jobs to the economy of the region.

The Western region includes Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The researchers collected data from 173 private businesses that raise fish for recreational stocking. This data collection was sponsored by the Western Regional Aquaculture Center (WRAC). Read more...

Open ocean aquaculture has many problems

Open ocean aquaculture (OOA) of carnivorous fish is worse than over-fishing, to produce one pound of farmed tuna takes over ten pound of wild-caught fish. The species usually used as feed are anchovies, menhaden and sardines, these species are important as a source of protein in the third-world countries and an important source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Anchovy, menhaden and sardines are important "cleaners" of the ocean, farmed carnivores have higher levels of organic pollutant than the wild-caught fish. Another issues with OOA are that it promotes disease in wild populations by acting as a reservoir of infection. Escaped farm fish interbreed with wild fish, producing young with lowered rates of survival. Read more...

Grants from NC agriculture to help offset feed cost to aquaculture

The department of agriculture in North Carolina USA announced a second round of funding through the aquaculture grant program to help aquaculture producers statewide to recover from losses made during 2009. The program started last year and targeted the 2008 production season, because the cost of feed had not got any better.

Chris Selle, who leases Cantrell Creek Trout Farm said that right now the feed is higher than its ever been. Skip Thompson an N.C. Cooperative extension area specialized agent in the agency's Buncombe County Centre said one of the reason for these high prices is the rise in energy costs. Read more...

Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) involves cultivating fed species with extractive species that utilise waste from aquaculture for their growth. All components have commercial value, as well as roles in biomitigating. The IMTA concept should also be understood within an integrated land/coastal aquaculture ecosystem approach.

These systems not only produce valuable biomass, but it also provides waste reduction services. With an appropriate composition of co-cultured species, IMTA can reduce the amounts of organic and inorganic nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus, making extractive aquaculture a good candidate for nutrient trading credits (NTCs). Read more...

90 percent discount on electricity for fish farms in Brazil

Aquaculture farms in the northern region of Brazil will be getting an 80 to 90 percent discount on their electricity bill, the agriculture sector already receive this discount from the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL). The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) negotiated this resolution known as Resolution 414 and it was passed on the September 9, 2010.

This finally showed that aquaculture had been recognised as a farming activities, aquaculture production has grown by 43 percent in Brazil in the period between 2007-2009. Making aquaculture the fastest growing national activity. Resolution 414 from ANEEL establishes that fish farmers receive special discounts on their electricity consumption rates. Read more...

A round up of aquaculture news

If your new to the aquaculturist, or you would like to catch up with what's been
happening over the last month.  We at Perendale Publishers Ltd the publisher of
International Aquafeed magazine have now produced an on-line magazine, that
lets you catch up on everything we have posted during the last month.

Open publication - Free publishing - More aquaculturists

Marine farmer seeks financial incentives not new laws

A veteran Northland marine farmer Mr Alan Tindall, has called on the government to provide finanical help to help rejuvenate the aquaculture industry. Mr Tindall said that the high compliance costs and lengthy resource consent process were killing the industry. Mr Tindall is the owner of Tindall Oysters in Orongo Bay New Zealand.

Fisheries minister said that the new legislation is designed to streamline the process and would reduce costs, to provide stronger incentives for the industry to develop. However, Mr Tindall stated that it seems that the new legislation was hell bent on making life difficult for marine farmers. Read more...

Aquaculture pilot project recommended by Canadian Fisheries Department

A report from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has said that closed containment
technology for salmon has less potential for profit than the conventional open ocean
net pens. However they do recommend that pilot studies be supported of the closed containment system. The department bases its findings on hypothetical economic modelling.

The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) and the T. Buck Suzuki Foundation are claiming proof that the recommendations are evidence that closed containment systems can be profitable at a commercial scale. "The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) is delighted that the federal government is finally recognizing the potential of closed containment technology as a serious alternative to harmful net-cage operations," CAAR said Wednesday in a news release. Read more...

A Review of Responsible Marine Aquaculture

ISBN 0-85199-604-3

'Responsible Marine Aquaculture' was first published in 2004. With many contributors to this publication it was edited by the main authors R.R. Stickney and J.P. McVey with a forward written by R.R. Stickney. The material within this book cover a wide area of study and understanding in marine aquaculture. It contains many presentations made in the Responsible Marine Aquaculture symposium held from January 22-23, 2001.

Chapter one, is the introduction to the subject of marine aquaculture covering the background of the subject and the symposium of 2001 and how the first 16 chapters of this book was derived from papers presented at that symposium of 2001.

Chapter two looks at the sustainability challenge written by M. Richard DeVoe and Catherine E. Hodges. It sets the tone of the book with detailed information that makes up the rest of the book. Subjects dealt with like, good water quality and access to site, exclusive rights to the site, financial commitment and commitment by government to the industry.

Chapter three, written by Bernd Wursig and Glenn A. Gailey looks at interactions between marine mammals and marine aquaculture and how the negative impacts can affect both the marine mammals and the species being cultured. Looking at how marine mammals damage the equipment and how to discourage marine mammals from interacting with cultured fish. It also looks at last resort of dealing with marine mammals, which involves removal. This can be done in one of two ways, both non-lethal and lethal.

 Chapter four, written by William D. Harvey and Larry D. Mckinney, deals with recreational fishing and aquaculture. Highlighting the issues that have arose from confrontations between the two groups. The issues that cause the conflict are based on how marine aquaculture affects the environment effluents released from farms and the worry about cultured fish escaping into the wild populations.

Chapter five and six deals with Aquaculture or the threat to traditional capture fishermen, written by Rollie Barnaby and Steve Adams, and the advances in marine stock enhancement. Shifting emphasis to theory and accountability written by Kenneth M. Leber.

Future chapters in this publication deal with aquatic polyculture and ecosystem management, marine aquacultural facilities and habitats. Also looked at are mangrove and coastal aquaculture along with genetic and the changes in marine aquaculture species.

In my opinion this is an excellent publication, covering key important information on aquaculture and the marine environment and its interactions and impacts on the marine ecosystem. Looking at sustainability in marine aquaculture and the effects of the environmental impact it has on the marine ecosystem.

A well-written and informative book a must have for anyone interested in marine aquaculture or studying legislation within this field and is worthy of its space on anyone's bookshelf.

Evolution of land aquaculture is saving wild salmon

Paul B. Jarvis once a research scientist is now CEO of DeVine Industries, and has been in the industry for 30 years. His on-land fish grow system has been tested by two groups, one in Michigan (US) and built by Aqua Eco Systems of Florida which makes a profit on land.

Jarvis has found a way to use an entirely different post-production source: distillers dried grains. The process breaks the proteins down into amino acids for fish-meal. As soon as trials are complete, the product will be on the market. Read more...

Aquaculture in the Mekong Delta damaged by high tides

High tides have caused damage to more than 1,000 hectares of crops and aquaculture in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau. The Agriculture and Rural Development Department reported that sea water surged over the dykes in the Dam Doi, Nam Can, Ngoc Hien, Phu Tan districts destroying over a 1000 hectares of shrimp and fish ponds. Read more...

Kochi conference on track for breakthroughs

Following the latest review of the Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2011 Conference and Exposition by the Steering Committee at meetings in Kochi from 10-12 September co-Chairmen Dr C Mohanakumaran and Mr Roy Palmer were happy with the progress and predicted an exciting event for the first international aquaculture conference held in India, the world’s second largest seafood producer.

Dr Mohanakumaran said “We are pleased the way that the Indian governments, industry and academia are embracing the event and with their support and the excellent facilities at Le Meridian Convention complex we are confident that this will be an exciting event. With NRDB collaboration we will be having approximately 500 farmers visiting the event for one day when they will be treated to hearing some overseas specialists talking about issues which will be focused on their development. This typifies the opportunities that the Conference and Trade Show will be bringing to India.”

For more information on the conference visit www.was.org or to contact the organisers worldaqua@aol.com
For the complete press release please visit our on-line magazine International Aquafeed

Engormix.com continues global expansion with a new office in India

Engormix.com has opened a new office in India, adding to the four that are currently in operation (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Europe). The new office is located in the city of Karnal, 250 km from New Delhi. Strategic partner of Engormix.com: Dinesh Kumar Arora will be based out of the new office. Arora also currently serves as. Read more...

AKVA Group appoints new CEO

The Board of directors of AKVA group appointed a Trond Williksen as the new CEO, Trond Williksen has broad experience from fishery and fish farming business and is currently Executive Vice President responsible for the fishing vessels in Aker Seafoods. Trond Williksen holds an MBA in strategy, finance and operational management from the University of Washington, USA.

The full story will be appearing in our on-line edition of Aquafeed magazine. You can find the story in our November-December 2010 issue on this page .

Area expands in the Mekong Delta for aquaculture

Vietnam are planning to expand the area for aquaculture in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta to 830,000 hectares, to increase production to nearly three million tonnes of product per year by 2015 according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The industry expects to reach export revenue of US$4.5 billion (€ 3.3 billion) by 2015.

The key species being bred in the Delta are sugpo prawn, white-leg shrimp, tra (pangasius), tilapia, slams, butterfish, featherback, goby, sweet snail and abalone. For each province to meet the targets, there will have to be a re-organisation of its seafood production system in co-operatives and associations. Read more...

Crab supply shortage hatcheries needed

Dr Emilia Quinitio, a scientist at the Aquaculture Department at the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Centre (Seafdec) said the shortage of crablets (small crabs) has become a problem in many countries. She has suggested that Brunei could over come the problem by developing and setting up crab hatcheries, where the seeds could be produced for crab culture farming.

She also highlighted the importance of resource management, especially where countries have an abundance of smaller species. Asked whether the Brunei Bay, which has a 70 per cent mangrove forest cover, was an ideal location to develop the crab culture industry, Dr Quinitio commented: "Mangrove is the habitat of mud crabs, so it's good (good location)." Read more...

Making shrimp safe to eat?

Recent samples checks on Thai imports, has shown residue of antibiotics that are deemed illegal for food production in Canada and the United States. These residues are also suppose to be illegal in Thailand. A global company that pledged to flush drugs out of its system years ago. 

The Canadian food inspection agency only scans a fraction of the incoming seafood, but inspectors are still finding tetracyclines an antibiotic, nitrofurans an antimicrobial drug known to be a carcinogen and banned in Canada and fluoroquinolones an antibiotic used in human medicine. Read more...

New Zealand prepares for boom in aquaculture students

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology prepares for first intake of their inaugural Diploma of Aquaculture (fish farming and management). Already 16 of the 20 places for next years course have been filled, with all applicants having to go through interviews for selection to the course.

More applicants are scheduled for interviews in the coming weeks, Mr Jeff Wilson said that students are coming from the south as well as Auckland and Wellington and there are international students from France. He also said that the common thread with all the applicants is that they have always had a passion for this industry. Read more...

Rowley river clammer digs private aquaculture

Ipswich, Massachusetts USA, Rowley resident John Grundstorm has had a bumper crop of clams this year on his aquaculture grant in the Rowley River. Grundstorm who has clammed since he was eight years old, comes from a long line of shell fishermen, going back three generations. He became a commercial digger at 16, there are 25 licensed Rowley diggers, and only three go out on a daily basis and Grundstorm is one of them.

Rowley has approximately 300 acres of clam flats in contrast to Ipswich’s 900-plus acres, and Grundstorm can be found on the towns flats or on his own grant, where he cultivates soft-shell clams, little neck clams and oysters. Read more...

Farmed fish in UK, London wants doubled by 2020

Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, invited all parties to a meeting in Brussels, for an ‘open discussion on the latest scientific research’ on the state of the main fish stocks in European waters. During the meeting Commissioner Damanaki admitted that Too often information was lacking, the data were wrong or contradictory and fish were missing. There were large amounts of discards or illegal landings, which member states failed to catalogue with their other poor data. Quality data for bottom-up reform of the CFP was needed alongside good management measures at the “local level to demonstrate that regionalisation is worth doing”, she said.

Well in London there was a meeting over the decision of trying to increase the production of fish farms by 2020 and attracting investors, the views were mixed on this issue. Dr Tom Pickerell of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain. He accepted the poisoned chalice and argued, contrary to his own beliefs, persuasively that production could not be doubled. One of the Key issues to farming fish is the water quality, the indicators for the UK are far from good. Only 0.5 percent pf UK waters for shellfish farming meets the required ‘Class A’ water standards. Read more...

Barramundi, selective breeding for a better and brighter future

 
                                                                      Barramundi feeding 
                                                     
The Australian Barramundi Farmers Association (ABFA) and the Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) have agreed to work together and develop a selective breeding program that will improve the growth rate  of more than 10 percent per generation of selection. They believe that an industry wide breeding program, by a not for profit company will improve cooperation, profitability and sustainability within the industry. Also will improve Australian and global competitiveness.

In deciding to to invest in a genetic program is by necessity a long term commitment and it will be some years before any real results can be seen. The biology of the Barramundi (Lates calcarifer), presents some interesting and unusual challenges for selective breeding. The program will use the best hatchery and grow out facilities available in the industry. Read more...

Sea cucumber farming in New Zealand?

New aquaculture legislation could open the door on sea cucumber farming in the Marlborough Sounds. Paul Morgan chairman of Wakatu Incorporation said it is an exciting time for the company, exploring new ways to diversify and make the farms more profitable. Farming of pacific and flat oysters, and sea cucumber was being researched.

Legislation introduced into Parliament to amend laws covering aquaculture, replacing a regulatory framework that has seen no new sea space allocated since it was introduced in 2004. Mr Morgan said that sea cucumbers could be grown under farms, and were very valuable in China. Read more...

Aqua2012 event location changed

The Aqua2012 event will be moved from Russia to Egypt - Sharm El Sheikh. This event organised jointly by the European and world aquaculture society. More details on dates will follow later this month.

New offices for aquaculture in B.C. Canada

New offices will be opened by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to oversee the aquaculture industry in the Campbell River, Courtenay and Nanaimo regions. From December 18, 2010 a federal regime will be in place to make sure that licenses can be obtained to ensure that aquaculture operations operate lawfully under the fisheries act.

Roberta Stevenson has greeted this with open arms, executive director of the Comox based BC shellfish growers association. ‘It’s going to be better’ Stevenson said ‘our industry will be more reliant on good science and good research, rather than politics. The DFO provisional plan is to add staff to the three locations of Campbell River, Courtenay and Nanaimo, creating a fish health laboratory  in Courtenay. Read more...

Maltese tuna blocked in Japanese warehouse since 2009

In Japan since 2009 some 800 tonnes of bluefin tuna that was exported from Maltese ranches has been held in warehouses, the value of this tuna is estimated to be€ 8 million. This tuna is actually part of a larger haul of 3,500 tonnes worth € 40 million mostly coming from Malta, that was blocked last year by the Japanese. After talks between the European Union (EU) and Japan, € 32 million worth of tuna was released.

 

The action in Japan, whose sushi market consumes 80 percent of the world’s bluefin tuna, comes as officials in the East Asian industry started to question the excesses of the ranching industry. The figures come from a report drawn up by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) who carried out a seven month investigation into the global trade of the prized fish.

According to the Rural Affairs Ministry, who is lobbying the European Commission to resolve the situation, the issue being a question of interpretation about numbers. The ICIJ report, Looting of the seas gives a different interpretation, such as problems the Japanese inspectors found that ranch tuna were flattened at rates that were biologically impossible, and some ranches tried to export more fish than vessels supplied them.

The ICIJ investigation uncovered widespread abuses across the globe, there was no enforcement controls in the bluefin tuna industry before 2008. Some controls have been put in place with the hope of protecting the bluefin tuna industry, regulators of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) came up with a new paper-based reporting system designed to help them better track the trade and deter the black market.

The ICIJ has found that these regulations are full of holes, rendering any data useless. Read More...

Oysters decline in Vietnam

Over the last few years oyster output has declined in Vietnams province of Nam Dinh, in 2004 the output was about 30,000 tonnes, and in 2009 the total output for oysters was only 20,000 tonnes. Nguyen Van Cuu, chairman of the Giao Thuy association of mollusc farmers said that local farmers had never used all the land available to them as some areas lack young oysters.

Mr Van Cuu also predicts that the trend of the decline will continue, and he spoke of some reasons that might account for the depleted source of young oysters. Local farmers way of breeding and their limited knowledge, also he said that they just focus on imminent profit. Since 1997 the farmers have had to get young oysters from other provinces. Read more...

Fish kill in Lake Buhi caused by aquaculture

100 tonnes of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) have been killed in lake Buhi in the Philippines, the bureau of fisheries and aquatic resources (BFAR) stated, ‘that due to unconsumed feeds, fertilizers and overfeeding from aquaculture’, the waters of the lake became extremely polluted. BFAR found that low oxygen volumes in the lake caused slow growth of the tilapia this eventually decimated the stocks within the lakes on October 29, 2010.

Water monitoring was carried out at at five sampling stations and the lake was found to have a highly toxic substance that had been released into the lakes eco system from the unconsumed feeds and fertilizers. The Lake had very low dissolved oxygen content, very high ammonia nitrogen concentrations and also very high traces of hydrogen sulphide. Read more...

Habitat assessment demands for Irish aquaculture

IFA Aquaculture representatives of the fish and shellfish farming industries in Ireland are demanding action on behalf of their members. At a high level meeting with the local government in Dublin, the Department of Environment the IFA highlighted the issues and problems that their members were facing due to lack of action on releasing the conservation objectives.

Bays were designated under the EU Habitats Directive more than 10 years ago, and the businesses that were working in these bays were assessed and basically a list of conservation objectives were to be drawn up and put in place. However, this has not happened causing these aquaculture business to stagnate. Until these conservation objectives have been published jobs will not develop and businesses will not be able to grow and develop. Read more..

Pacifica seafoods unit bought for NZ$85 million

New Zealand’s largest traded fishing company Sanford Ltd, have agreed to buy the mussel and pacific oyster unit of Pacifica Seafood Group. Managing director Eric Barratt said in a statement that this purchase will secure and consolidate Sanford’s position as New Zealand’s number one aquaculture producer and exporter.

About 70 marine farms, 800 mussel growing lines a processing plant and 10 vessels are part of the unit that Sanford are buying for NZ$85 million (US$66 million). Mussel, oyster and salmon make up about 15 percent of New Zealand’s NZ$1.3 billion a year fish and shellfish exports. Read more...

Infectious Salmon Anemia outbreak in Chile

Chile’s national marine fisheries service SERNAPESCA, has declared an infectious salmon anemia (ISA) outbreak in the Magallanes region. Salmon farm owners have been ordered to dispose of contaminated fish in accordance with bio-security measures. Read more...

Perendale Publishers exhibits at GlobalGap Summit

James Taylor at the Global G.A.P. Summit 2010 London

Perendale's production manager, James Taylor, attended the 10th GlobalGap (Good Agricultural Practice) Summit, a two-day event held in London on October 7-8, 2010, to promote the Perendale's titles of International Aquafeed, Grain and Feed Milling Technology and the International Milling Directory. This year's Summit focused on a comprehensive farming program and was well attended with up to 800 people attending and including the conference's leading experts, representing more than 40 countries.

During the event, the new Version 4 of GlobalGap's Integrated Farm Assurance Standards was discussed and explained. While the meeting covered the organisation's traditional interests of fruit and vegetables, aquaculture and the livestock sector formed key themes of the conference. James reports that aquaculture in particular featured heavily in the Summit program.

He also reports that the Aquafeed stand received a lot of interest and proved a valuable source of contacts in terms of readers and contributors. He felt the whole experience of exhibiting at GlobalGap was productive and beneficial and passes his thanks on to all those who visited his stand.

Perendale Publisher attends Biomin's World Nutrition Forum 2010

Biomin's 4th World Nutrition Forum was held in the historic city of Salzburg, Austria from October 13-16, 2010. It was an invitation-only event. Mrs Nicky Barnes attended the event representing Perendale Publishers Limited and met with key people in the industry. She took the opportunity to meet one of the members of International Aquafeed Magazine's Editorial Advisory Panel, Dominique Bureau from the University of Guelph in Canada who had been invited to speak at this event.

"It was a good place to listen to some of the most up-to-date papers on agriculture and consider some of the key issues facing animal and aqua food production sectors. It was an ideal opportunity for our magazines to invite key industry leaders to contribute to future editions of the magazine."

The organisers invited some 700 participants representing more than 70 countries, there were more than 40 speakers on the two-day program, including industry experts, top decision makers and key scientist.

Talking about the future of the industry and not just products, the atmosphere at the event was positive where new ideas and innovations were discussed and a common view formed about the future direction of our industry, says Mrs Barnes.

"All in all it was a successful event and the next one planned will be in Singapore in 2012."

Also attending the event from Perendale Publishers was their subscription and distribution manager, Mrs Tuti Tan.


Mrs Tan considered this bi-annual event to be an important direction setting meeting for the industry. She too took the opportunity to meet with Biomin scientists, technical and marketing staff and establish a number of connections with Biomin representatives from around the world.

"This was a valuable opportunity for me to ensure that our magazines are reaching the right people and to receive feedback on how we might improve our digital and print circulation," she says.

It also allowed her the chance to get to understand the company and its strategies, along with listening to presentations from leading invited speakers.

Mrs Tan says getting the messages from the speakers across to industry was not the preserve of just Perendale and she noted that several other publications - including Watt Media Group (Feed Internatijonal magazine) and Reed Elsevier (All About Feed)- were in attendance and valued the opportunity Biomin provided to review key issues in a semi-public forum.

Perendale Publishers attends Porto's Aquaculture Europe 2010

Mrs Nicky Barnes attended the 2010 Aquaculture Europe Conference and Exhibition in Porto, Portugal, that was organised by European Aquaculture Society and hosted by CIMAR. Along with Professor Simon Davies of Plymouth Univeristy and Editor of International Aquafeed, Mrs Barnes met some members of the magazine's Editorial Advisory Panel and other key people who also attended the conference.
Mrs Barnes met with Anton Immink from Sterling University, Scotland, who is currently working on the program Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade (SEAT). She also met one of the most important people in fish nutrition, Professor John Halver, who is known as the 'father of fish nutrition' and still working at the age of 88. Over 1000 delegates attended the conference which included a small exhibition of some 50 trade stands.

During the exhibition Mrs Barnes distributed copies of the latest edition of International Aquafeed and gave out leaflets for a new publication - due out in 2011 - that focuses on Aquaculture Health and Disease Management. Mrs Barnes said that she had enjoyed the exhibition and meeting the diverse range of industry representatives and leaders.

Mrs Tuti Tan also attended the 2010 Aquaculture Europe Conference and Exhibition. Mrs Tan was there to promote and market Perendale's aquaculture publication, International Aquafeed.

Meeting with the conference organisers was important she said in ensuring the magazine got to the right people. The conference also provided Mrs Tan with an opportunity to meet potential subscribers and students, who were an important resource for the future of the industry.

Boat users impact on oysters farms in Wide bay

Pearl farmers are calling on the Queensland State Government in Australia to establish exclusion zones to protect oyster pearl farms. In the Wide Bay area boat users have been accused of destroying millions of dollars worth of pearls. Mr Borchardt, a Queensland pearl farmer, has been forced to close down his oyster pearl farm and he blames the state government for failing to stop the boats. Read more...

Book Review - Aquaculture: Principles and Practices (Second edition)

ISBN: -10: 1-4051-0532-1

In 2005 M N Kutty and T V R Pillay wrote the second edition on the principles and practices of aquaculture. The book is divided into two sections; the first section deals with the principles of aquaculture and the second deals with the practices in aquaculture.

In Chapter one, the authors look at the scope and definition of aquaculture along with the cultural and social- economic and the biological, technological elements of aquaculture with its role in fisheries management.

Chapter two looks at the history of aquaculture, from Asia to Central Europe and how it has developed from humble beginnings on a small scale to the large-scale role it plays today, it also looks at the ancient practice of rearing koi carp by the Japanese and Chinese right up to modern day methods.

Chapters three deals with the national planning of aquaculture and how it must move forward with good planning and framework to aid its future. The social and economic development needed to ensure its success as a business.

Chapter four discusses the selection of the sites for aquaculture, the feasibility and viable operation. Also site selection depends on the spices to be cultured and the type of technology that will be installed into the farm.

Chapter five covers the species to be cultured along with the biological and characteristics aspects with the economic and market consideration.

Chapter six looks at the design and construction of the aqua farm, where everything is considered from soil quality to water quality, salinity and the tidal flows if coastal. Also the size and shape of the aquafarm along with the construction methods and materials used.

The later chapters in this publication deal with feed and nutrition, reproduction and genetics also health and disease and how to control weeds and the problem of pests and predators. The contents of this book are as diverse as the species that are cultured in aquaculture.

In my opinion, this is an excellent book full of good solid information that is valuable to anyone involved in aquaculture, weather it is as a scientist or student or an employee. A great book, well written and presented, a must for anyone with an interest in aquaculture and a valuable asset on your book shelf.

VICTAM/FIAAP/GRAPAS in 2011

A future event for 2011 is the VICTAM, FIAAP & GRAPAS International Exhibitions and
Conferences to be held in Cologne, Germany on May 3 - 5, 2011.
FIAAP is a new trade show and series of conferences dedicated to ingredients, additives and formulation for animal feed, aquafeed and dry pet food.
GRAPAS is also a new show with its own conference. GRAPAS profiles grain processing, flour milling, pasta, breakfast cereals and extruded snack production.
Victam International is the world famous exhibition and conferences for technology and processing for animal feed, aquafeed and dry pet food. New for 2011 will be a large number of exhibitors displaying biomass pelleting technology.
The conference programme:
1.    Aquafeed Horizons
2.    The IFF Feed Processing Conference
3.    Petfood Forum Europe 2011
4.    The FIAAP Conference
5.    Feed Safety Assurance in a Globalising Industry
6.    The GRAPAS Conference
7.    Pellets for Bioenergy: The market takes off
8.    Technical Seminars
For further information on the conference secretariats, free visitor registration, exhibitor lists and the floorplan please visit the organisers website www.victam.com  

                                      Henk van de Bunt, Victam International BV General Manager

We at International Aquafeed will be attending this trade show/conference, so see you there next year.

Perendale at EuroTier 2010

Perendale Publishers will be sending Caroline Wearn and Sabby Major from our marketing team and Tuti Tan from our subscriptions and circulations department to the EuroTier International Exhibition, to be  held in Hannover, Germany, from November 16-19, 2010. They will be happy to meet with you at our stand in Hall 26A13. Also, there will be free copies of our publications International Aquafeed (IAF), Grain & Feed Milling Technology (GFMT) and the International Milling Directory (IMD) available. We look forward to seeing you there!

Investors keen to profit from aquaculture

Investors are keen to profit from the rising demand of aquaculture, private equity firm Paine & Partners said there was a significant appetite for fish as an alternative protein source. Aquaculture is a way to meet that demand in a world where wild catch fish stocks are declining due to over fishing.
‘Aquaculture is a way to meet that demand,’ Kevin Schwartz told bankers, fund managers and investors gathered in Geneva at the Global AgInvesting conference. Read more...

Maryland to revive oyster through aquaculture

Oysters were once the backbone of an industry in Maryland, but due to over harvesting, disease and poor water quality the industry went into decline. Now that's about to be changed as oysters will once again be grown in Maryland, and the state is hoping most can come from aquaculture. 5000 acres will be leased to potential growers like waterman Johnny Shockley in the hope that oyster production will be a success. Read more...

Sales sore for Tilapia firm

Sustainable maritime industries Inc has reported increased sales for the 3rd quarter of 27 percent, the Seattle based company, saw it aquaculture product segment sales decreased by four percent to US$13.4 million (€ 9.7 million). However Tilapia sale had increased. Read more...

Aquaculture bill introduced in New Zealand

The government in New Zealand has introduced an amendment to the aquaculture legislation amendment bill. Everyone involved in the aquaculture industry in New Zealand has welcomed this, it shows the government desire to promote investment and to provide a basis for environmentally sustainable economic growth. Read more...

Denmarks aquatic mercury problem

In the Danish aquatic environment mercury occurs in such a large scale, it poses a serious risk to the wildlife in a series of lakes and coastal areas. According to a recent study, higher levels of mercury has been found in fish eating animals such as Cormorants, Otters and Harbor seals. This is due to the uptake of mercury from their food items. Read more...

Yellowtail fishery first to get MSC certification

The yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) is the first of the Canadian finfish to gain the marine stewardship council (MSC) accolade for sustainably managed fisheries. Ocean Choice International (OCI) already supply UK supermarkets and food service companies, and now will introduce the Yellowtail flounder to the Great British menu. Read more...