The Aquaculturists: February 2019

Thursday, February 28, 2019

VIV Asia 2019 just two weeks away!

VIV Asia 2019 has an outstanding lineup this edition and it is opening in less than two weeks, on March 13th in Bangkok, Thailand. This edition of the show is bound to give your business a big boost in some of the most interesting markets of the world. There is a lot to see and learn:

• 1250 exhibitors from 60 countries: top suppliers from Feed to Food!
• 83 seminar and conference sessions on key topics
• 184 speakers from all over the world

A big opportunity to join the top feed-to-food, animal husbandry network in Asia! Plan now your trip to the beautiful city of Bangkok.

Entry to the show is free, to secure your badge register, HERE.
For more information on the show, visit the VIV Asia website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquaculture-news

Major boost for fish welfare in Scotland

AquaGen, a world-leading salmon breeder and supplier of eggs, has signed a deal to buy Scottish Sea Farms' freshwater hatchery at Holywood near Dumfries as part of a long-term strategic investment that will further improve fish welfare in Scotland.

The acquisition follows a successful trial production of eggs under licence in Autumn 2018 and will enable the Norwegian-owned company to offer Scotland's salmon farmers a reliable supply of eggs from locally farmed AquaGen broodstock, increasing food security.

It will also facilitate a targeted breeding programme to identify the genetic and biological traits most suited to performing well in Scottish farming conditions, resulting in robust fish stocks and a high quality product for market.

©AquaGen AS Broodstock eggs being tested for biosecurity
Image credit: AquaGen

Welcoming the news, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing said, 'AquaGen's investment speaks volumes of the confidence from the sector of doing business in Scotland and supports the aims of Scotland's 10 Year Farmed Fish Health Framework, helping to improve the security of Scotland's ova supply.'

AquaGen AS Chief Executive Officer Nina Santi said, 'We are committed to providing our customers in Scotland with a secure supply of eggs and this latest investment opens up the possibility of us supplying these eggs from locally-grown broodstock. We're planning a series of upgrades to the existing facilities at Holywood, using Scottish suppliers as much as possible, then we will go into full production later this year. Deliveries will be from November to June initially; longer-term we hope to extend to year-round production of up to 50 million eggs annually.'

Overseeing production and research will be AquaGen Scotland which was established in Autumn 2017, headquartered at Stirling University Innovation Park, creating two new roles. The team has since expanded to eight; four of whom are based full-time at Holywood with a further two new roles expected to be created at the hatchery as production develops.

Unlike coastal hatcheries, the four-acre inland hatchery at Holywood uses groundwater drawn from a series of bore holes; a system that is known for its biosecurity, quality and constant temperatures, and is therefore well-suited to egg production.

Scottish Sea Farms' Head of Fish Health Ralph Bickerdike said, 'This is a hugely promising development for Scotland's salmon farmers, bringing world-leading breeding expertise and technologies to bear on home-grown broodstock so that their offspring can be adapted to specifically suit the Scottish marine environment. This, in turn, will bring a whole host of further improvements in terms of fish welfare and product quality.'

In the four decades since the first commercial-scale salmon farms were established, genetic advances have included:
• Reducing time that farmed salmon spend at sea, thereby minimising exposure to the natural challenges of the marine environment
• More efficient use of feed per kilo of meat produced
• Greater resistance to common fish diseases
• Increased survival rates
• Higher quality of product for market.

For more information visit the Scottish Sea Farms website, HERE.

World Aquaculture Society's exciting 2019 events

Since its founding, the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) has grown to more than 3,000 members in about 100 countries representing the global aquaculture community. In order to meet the expanding international nature of the Society and to address specific needs in various areas of the world, the WAS has created Chapters in the United States, Japan, Korea, Latin American and Caribbean region and the Asian-Pacific region.

Through its diverse membership and international networks, the WAS provides leadership for enhanced international communications, collaboration and information exchange. The World Aquaculture Society is a dynamic organisation capable of responding to change and is recognised for its professional credibility in aquaculture science, technology and education.

Below is a summary of each of the major WAS events taking place around the world in 2019:

Aquaculture 2019 New Orleans, US – March 7-11
Every three years, the Triennial event is held somewhere in the United States. In 2019, the Triennial visits The Big Easy! The triennial is the largest aquaculture meeting in the world! The Triennial is the largest aquaculture conference and tradeshow held in the world with nearly 4000 attendees from over 90 countries and even more countries are expected to have attendees at Aquaculture 2019.

The Triennial combines the annual meetings of the World Aquaculture Society, National Shellfisheries Association, Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society, and the National Aquaculture Association. In addition to the annual meetings of the main sponsors, look what else is happening at Aquaculture 2019! Professor Peter Cook, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, University of Western Australia has agreed to give a plenary talk on 'Do international certification programs enhance the sustainability of aquaculture?'

For more information visit the Aquaculture 2019 website, HERE.

Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2019 Chennai, India – June 19-21
Thanks to the involvement of many associated Institutes, APA19 conference will show and discuss all aspects of Aquaculture, this will result in a high quality conference. It is now time to submit your abstract, with a March 3th deadline.

You can do this by visiting the APA19 website, HERE.

Aquaculture Europe 2019 Berlin, Germany – October 7-10
All life on earth emerged from water. The aquaculture sector nourishes and stimulates life in water in all its ways, and thereby holds the potential to overcome many of the challenges our society faces. The future of healthy and sustainably produced food and commodities lies in the diversity of aquaculture, from single-cell microalgae in bioreactors to fish teeming in sea pens or freshwater ponds. Truly unlocking this potential requires innovative ways to support the aquaculture economy, generation of new business models and support of start-ups. We need to proactively work towards the demands of existing and new markets for all our products, seeking new alliances in international trade and consumer support. Meanwhile, the challenges of climate change and scarcity of natural resources are urgent and require our full attention in respect and appreciation of the ecosystems we work with.

To book your booth and for more info on the program, visit the Aquaculture Europe website, HERE.

Latin America & Caribbean Aquaculture 2019 San Jose, Costa Rica – November 19-22
LACQUA19 will be the 2019 Annual meeting of the Latin American & Caribbean Chapter of WAS. Following upon the previous successful LACQUA meetings, LACQUA19 will bring international attention to the aquaculture industry of Costa Rica and Central America. LACQUA19 will be held in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. Costa Rica makes a great venue for LACQUA19. Aquaculture in Costa Rica is characterised by tilapia crops and other species such as shrimp and marine species.

More info on any of the above programs and the exhibitions, visit the World Aquaculture Society website, HERE.

For sponsorship and booth sales for any of the above events, contact mario@marevent.com.

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

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Important step for Irish Aquaculture Industry as GSSI recognise BIM CQA scheme

The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) has provided formal recognition of the BIM Certified Quality Aquaculture (CQA) scheme for the scope of Aquaculture. GSSI's recognition shows that their Farm Standard (Issue 1, Revision 1, November 2018) is in alignment with all applicable Essential Components of the GSSI Global Benchmark Tool (version 1.0, 8 October 2015).

The Tool is underpinned by the FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification and consists of performance areas related to scheme governance, operational management (including chain of custody) and applied aquaculture farm audit standards.

Vera Flynn, Aquaculture Finfish Quality and Food Safety Specialist, Jim O'Toole, Chief Executive Officer and Catherine Morrison, Sustainability and Certification Manager
Image credit: ©Bord Iascaigh Mhara / BIM

The BIM Certified Quality Aquaculture (CQA) scheme is the eighth seafood certification scheme, and the fourth aquaculture certification, to be benchmarked against GSSI's Global Benchmark Tool and to achieve recognition.

The BIM Certified Quality Aquaculture (CQA) scheme is also the first government run scheme to achieve recognition.

'This recognition shows that the BIM Certified Quality Aquaculture (CQA) scheme and their farm standard is in line with the FAO's guidelines for aquaculture certification,' said Herman Wisse, Managing Director, GSSI. 'With four fisheries and four aquaculture schemes now recognized by GSSI, the GSSI Benchmark Tool is truly providing global alignment in seafood certification.'

'Today marks an important step for Ireland's seafood sector and for the Irish aquaculture industry. The endorsement of our Certified Quality Aquaculture (CQA) scheme by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, makes it one of four global aquaculture schemes that has achieved this standard for sustainable seafood. Global standards are vital to help customers worldwide identify sustainable seafood to ensure transparency and to help raise standards. We are increasingly operating in a global marketplace. GSSI recognition strengthens Ireland's reputation as a leading producer of sustainable seafood,' said Jim O'Toole, CEO Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland's Seafood Development Agency.

View the GSSI Benchmark Report for BIM, HERE.
Visit the BIM website, HERE.
Visit the GSSI website, HERE.

Setting the direction for seafood production and processing in Asia

by Roger Gilbert, FFT & IAF

Taiwan is a major fishery nation within the Asian region and ranks 12th in the value for fish catch and has the 17th largest aquaculture industry globally. It remains the world leader with the most foreign fishing vessels based at its port and Kaohsiung is the dominate port.

The Taiwan International Fisheries and Seafood Show 2018 was jointly organised by the Taiwan External Trade Department Council TAITRA and My Exhibition and held in the attractive facilities of the Kaohsiung Exhibition Centre in late November 2018.

It was the fourth annual exhibition attracting more than 161 exhibitors from 18 countries and featuring over 327 booths. It aimed to attract some 7000 visitors and achieved that with 594 overseas visitors together with 6284 local visitors over the full three days. It was co-hosted alongside the ‘Cross-Strait Fisheries and Seafood Show’.

Kaohsiung is an important international fisheries harbour at the southern end of Taiwan’s principle island and plays a significant role in the country’s high-yielding fish production and industrial chain.

The show - a combination of both fisheries and aquaculture - highlights the shift from capture fisheries to farmed fish while acknowledging that both are important industries relying on the development of new technologies to survive and grow economically.

“The exhibition integrates the entire upstream and downstream industry chain, including the areas of fishing equipment and technology, aquaculture, seafood including value-added seafood, fish processing equipment and all areas involved in the fishery industry chain,” says Lrene Liu, General Manager of MyExhibition.

“We can see not only the leading manufacturers such as King Chou Marine technology, Genius Electronic Optical, Anyong Biotechnology, Blutech and Chihful Fishery Enterprise but also for the first time the \Youth of Taiwan’ to bring in the new kinetic energy of the younger generations innovation at this year’s exhibition.”

Over 100 major young breeders led by Taiwan’s ‘Queen of Milkfish’ Lu Jingying, shared their experiences and showed the diversification in current developments throughout the industry.

Read more HERE.

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.

Biorigin to contribute to Aquaculture 2019, USA

For the first time, Biorigin will participate in Aquaculture 2019, the Triennial is the largest aquaculture conference and tradeshow which combines the annual meetings of the World Aquaculture Society, National Shellfisheries Association, Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society, and the National Aquaculture Association.

Biorigin will be at stand #336, presenting its naturally transforming technology for fish nutrition, health and performance.

Produced from yeast derivatives, Biorigin´s feed solutions fit the most important fish producers demands: natural, clean, sustainable and committed to maintain the animal health and high productivity performance as the products help to balance the natural defences and gut microbiota, to improve the nutrient absorption and resistance under stress conditions.

João Fernando Albers Koch, Biorigin´s Global Aqua Technical Manager, will make an oral presentation on 'effects of beta-glucans and oxytetracycline on the performance and mortality of nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus', during the Tilapia session on March 9th at 10:30 am.

'Stress is a significant challenge in global aquaculture, associated with lower productivity and with the emergence of diseases because it causes immunosuppression. Beta-glucan, extracted from yeast cell wall, is a natural alternative to enhance immune response, by improving resistance to pathogens, and guarantying better performance and productivity under stress conditions. The study that I will present evaluates the effect of the replacement of oxytetracycline by beta-glucans, prophylactically, on the performance and mortality of Nile tilapia during the growth phase', explains Mr Koch.

Aquaculture 2019 will be held in New Orleans, United States, from March 7 to 11.

For more information visit the Aquaculture 2019 website, HERE.
Visit the Biorigin website, HERE.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Martha Stewart for True North Seafood product line to launch next month

True North Seafood and Sequential Brands Group, Inc. have announced a new collaboration to develop the Martha Stewart for True North Seafood product line, which is scheduled to launch next month.

'Knowing where my seafood comes from is very important to me, and I've enjoyed and served True North Seafood to family and friends for years,' said Martha Stewart. 'After visiting True North's salmon farms near my Skylands home in Maine, I saw first-hand their innovative and industry leading methods of sustainable farming and fishing. Their passion for the environment and community is why they are one of North America's largest and most trusted producers of fresh farmed and wild caught seafood from the Gulf of Alaska to the Atlantic.'

Martha Stewart
Image credit: Digitas Photos on Flickr
(CC BY 2.0)

The product line offers an array of True North Seafood product that are each accompanied by a Martha Stewart signature butter flavour or spice blend. Packaging will also include an easy to follow recipe created by Martha's Test Kitchen.

'We are thrilled to be launching this new product line in partnership with the Martha Stewart team,' said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. 'It is great for us to be able to work with Martha's team to bring delicious, well thought-out meals to all tables, even those who have busy schedules and minimal prep time.'

The full product line includes:
- Atlantic Salmon with Lemon Herb Butter
- Sockeye Salmon with Miso Butter
- Wild Alaska Pollock with Southwest Spice Blend
- Seafood Medley (Wild Alaska Pollock, Atlantic Salmon, and Bay Scallops) with Herb Spice Blend

'This line is all about convenience and quality product,' said Andrew Young, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, True North Seafood. 'It is a perfect option for existing seafood customers while encouraging new customers who may not be as comfortable buying or preparing seafood to shop the category.'

The product line will be showcased at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston on March 17-19 and available through US grocery retail starting May 2019.

For more information visit the Ture North Seafood website, HERE, and the Sequential Brands Group website, HERE.

The ninth International Sturgeon Conference

by Matt Holmes, Features Editor, International Aquafeed

Fish farmers and scientists came together for the ninth International Sturgeon Conference in Warsaw, Poland on November 21st, 2018.
The one-day conference, at the Airport Hotel Okechie, saw more than 100 people from over 20 countries gather to discuss the plight of one of the world’s oldest fish, sturgeon, and its valuable by-product, caviar.

The conference began with an introduction from Jacek Juchniewicz, CEO of Aller Aqua Poland, who said the conference, now in its ninth year, had evolved over the years, from a gathering of dedicated sturgeon farmers, to a meeting encompassing many other areas and topics, like species protection and scientific achievement.

Genetics, feed, clean water and additives to help extend the shelf life of caviar, as well as IT to help run fish farms, were all on the agenda at this year’s conference.

“There is also an ambition to take sturgeon out on the silk road,” said Mr Juchniewicz.

The conference also heard from Harold Rosenthal, President of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society, who said the conference enabled close cooperation at an international level for people involved with sturgeon.

Mr Rosenthal said, “there are some opportunities for specific discussions and close cooperation at an international level.”

The Vienna Declaration
He spoke about the Vienna Declaration which has been signed up to by 17 nations already. The Vienna Declaration has four aims:

1. To protect and preserve sturgeon species as emblematic flagship or umbrella species on biodiversity conservation for future generations
2. To account for the need for long-term and adequately-resourced sturgeon conservation measures, supported by improved governance frameworks
3. To protect and restore rivers as dynamic disturbance driven systems. Their hydro-morphology and ecosystems services depend upon intact functionality, as well as longitudinal/lateral connectivity
4. To ensure that attempts to restore and protect sturgeon populations to effective control and combat fraud and illegal, unrelated and unrecorded catch and trade, while at the same time supporting sustainable aquaculture as an alternative mode of production of sturgeon commodities.

Mr Rosenthal spoke of the need to restore river connectivity and to adjust fisheries management to ensure the survival of the species. Sturgeon is one of the most endangered fish on the planet, he said. Communities need to find new ways of making an alternative income to sturgeon farming and to have a coordinated management structure for restocking the fish.

Read more HERE.

Amandus Kahl company profile

More than 130 years of experience in plant and machine manufacture have made Amandus Kahl a respected manufacturer and supplier of extruders, compound feed presses, wood pelleting plants or granulate coolers, for example.

The company’s motivation has always been to develop an even better product for their customers. For this reason they cooperate with research institutes and universities. You can always be sure that they will supply you an optimally customised wood pelleting plant, grain cooking plant, waste-tyre recycling plant etc.

Their scope of services also comprises maintenance and repair of the compacting machines, compound feed presses, extruders and wood pelleting plants as well as all other products they offer in their company.

Visit the website HERE.

Monday, February 25, 2019

Breizh Algae Tour 2018

by Matt Holmes, Features Editor, International Aquafeed

Innovative company Olmix held its Breizh Algae Tour 2018 in Berlin, with experts from around the globe in animal nutrition present and speaking.

Brittany-based Olmix Group’s annual symposium shed light on the company’s algae-based biosolutions to produce more and better in a changing world.

Delegates included 400 customers and partners from 51 different countries at the tour, which took place between November 11-14th, 2018.

The 2018 edition focused on how to boost the natural defences of animals, plants and humans through natural, innovative and environmentally friendly solutions, and on how to move towards a low carbon agri-food chain by reducing the use of food chemicals, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics.

After a warm opening speech by Mr Hervé Balusson, Olmix Group’s CEO & Founder, the conference programme counted on the participation of several international speakers to discuss some of the major concerning issues and challenges for sustainable agriculture and sustainable husbandry.

“There is a need to go from linear agriculture to circular economy and that is only reachable if we reduce the carbon footprint. For instance, we can produce top level fertilisers, not only in terms of agronomy, but also in terms of carbon production. These could be based on natural resources such as algae", Mr Marc Le Mercier, from Liger, France, said at the first lecture of the morning.

However, even with the best fertiliser in the world, humanity might not be able to face issues such as climate change. Indeed, according to Mr Le Mercier, there is a clear necessity to use a new crypto-currency that creates value while respecting the earth, as well as ensuring a low-carbon economy.

“Decarbonating our life is the key for an alternative economy. We have to bet on energy that is renewable, bio-friendly, and to produce from local resources. Nowadays, producers agree with that approach and they are committed to that integrated production that creates local wealth.

Read more HERE.

Wynveen International company profile

Wynveen International B.V. is a leading Dutch company, specialising in the design, manufacture and installation of complete mills for the animal feed industry.

With a knowledgeable, experienced and enthusiastic team, the company focuses on the development and construction of high-quality innovative equipment and installations for animal feed, aqua feed and pet food manufacture.

In addition to turnkey projects, their core products are hammer mills, ribbon and paddle mixers, double-shaft paddle mixers, rotary sifters and coaters for liquids (vacuum and atmospheric).

Approximately 80 percent of their products are exported. In order to guarantee its high quality standards, Wynveen assembles and tests all its key equipment in-house.

Wynveen always aims to fully understand customer requirements, working in partnership with customers and using all their accumulated knowledge and experience to deliver the optimum, often highly innovative, technological solution.

That’s why their company motto is: ‘Versatility in feed processing’.

Visit the company website, HERE.

New AI feeding assistant from AKVA and Observe

AKVA group and Observe technologies have partnered to bring a new, intelligent feeding assistant with pellet recognition to the market.

AKVA and Observe are committed to giving farmers actionable insights to optimize their largest site cost, namely feeding. The result is a new software solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse in real time the onsite data and video streams on the site. The software not only counts visible pellets, but also completes a detailed analysis of the fish behaviour that when used together identify risk situations and assist the operator in the optimization of the feeding.

The Observe software uses machine vision to count pellets and determine the fish activity in the pen. The results are combined with sensor and external data to reveal contexts and provide the most complete picture of each pen's feeding behaviour.
Image credit: AKVA Group

Keeps improving
The AKVA Observe software solution is easily integrated with existing hardware on the site. All alerts from the system are uploaded to the cloud for further machine learning and are used to update the site AI to further optimize the real time assistance specific to the pens on that particular site. The optimal growth rate for each pen is learned by comparing sensor, video, feed and external data feeds over time.

'This is a revolutionary breakthrough for the fish farming industry,' says Andrew Campbell, AKVA group's Regional President for the Americas and Australasia.

'The AI feeding assistant, supports the moment to moment decision making process of the most critical and cost sensitive process of farming fish. It is always learning and providing the site staff with new insights to understand each pen's feeding behaviour, something that as an industry we have simply not had the ability to do before,' Mr Campbell adds.

Gathering momentum
The solution was first installed on farms during 2017 and is currently in full commercial operation on farms in Scotland and Chile. During the course of 2019, AKVA group is also planning on introducing the solution to the Nordic market.

The results from the pens and sites in operation are being collated and reported back through a separate web-based management tool, making it easy to monitor and benchmark sites and learn on a larger scale how different factors link into each other.

'Customer feedback has been very positive. The system is operating well at a number of sites and the development of the remote management tool and reporting has been very well received,' says Jason Cleaversmith, the General Manager for AKVA group Scotland.

'This is a very promising solution that we are also looking forward to introducing to our Nordic clients. Simultaneously, we're also working on establishing a new open-platform cloud solution which will enable easy integration between our AKVAconnect process control software and related software like AKVA Observe,' says SVP Sales and Marketing Nordic, Hans Øyvind Sagen.

A fruitful cooperation
AKVA group and Observe Technologies share the vision of transforming the way the aquaculture sector works through their groundbreaking new technology. "True Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions have the potential to transform the way in which many sectors operate. The opportunity to set the emerging standard for fish farming feeding software is a very exciting endeavor which we believe will benefit farmers globally. This partnership allows us to combine Observe Technologies' technical expertise with AKVA group's aquaculture ecosystem and global network. With our aligned philosophies we are confident that we will provide a complete integrated service to the market,' says Hemang Rishi, the CEO of Observe Technologies.

For more information visit the AKVA Group website, HERE.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Aquatic Asia Conference programme revealed

The programme for the Aquatic Asia Conference, due to be held on March 14th at VIV Asia, has now been finalised!

The event is running from 09:00-15:30, and will be followed by a informal cocktail networking afternoon. The conference will feature industry expert speakers from Harper Adams University, Bühler, Phileo, Olmix Group, Lallemand, Darling Ingredients and many more companies.

Register for the conference HERE- early-bird prices are only €26 for one more week. On March 1st, prices return to €35, so act quick!

Read the full article HERE.

Find out more HERE.

For further information please contact:

Miss Rebecca Sherratt
7 St George's Terrace
St James' Square
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL50 3PT
United Kingdom

Email: rebeccas@perendale.co.uk/ tutit@perendale.co.uk
Tel: +44 1242 267700

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Espen Fredrik Staubo hired as Chief Technology Officer in AKVA group

AKVA group's current SVP Technology and Development, Trond Severinsen, is planning to resign after more than 25 years with the company during first half of 2019. AKVA group has thus been on the search for a new key player.

Espen Fredrik Staubo has a Dr of Science degree in Nuclear Physics and an extensive management experience from a number of international businesses, including McKinsey, Elkem and Elopak. Between 1997 and 2005 he worked for Stolt Sea Farm, including four years as President for the company's European business. He has also been the CEO of the US based aquaculture company Low Salinity, where he was hired to build up the company's land based seafood production.

Espen Fredrik Staubo
Image credit: AKVA Group

Dr Staubo's scientific background, combined with his extensive international experience and first-hand knowledge of the aquaculture industry, makes him an ideal candidate for AKVA group.

'AKVA group has been a pioneer and technology driver in the aquaculture industry for more than 45 years. Our ability to offer innovative solutions that break the ground for new opportunities in the industry, streamline daily work operations and promote good fish welfare, is fundamental for us in order to succeed. Mr Staubo will play an important role going forward and we are excited to welcome him to the team. With his qualifications I am confident that we as a company will continue putting our mark on the industry,' says CEO Hallvard Muri.

Espen Fredrik Staubo is 58 years old and resides in Oslo. He came from the position as Chief Technology Officer in Elopak, a company he has been with since 2012.

'AKVA group is an exciting company with a solid position in the industry. The company is currently working on several promising development processes and has made sustainable development a premise for all innovation. This makes up a solid foundation with a significant potential that I am looking forward to help develop further,' says Dr Staubo.

For more information visit the AKVA Group website, HERE.

Carpet shells

by Rebecca Sherratt, Production editor, International Aquafeed

Carpet shells (veneridae) are a family of saltwater clams and marine bivalve molluscs, popular as a food source throughout the world, especially in Spain. The most common and well-known form of carpet shell is the grooved carpet shell, also known as the palourde clam. This particular carpet shell is consumed both fresh and canned and is caught fresh from coastal and lagoonal sites in the Mediterranean, the Iberian Peninsula and Ireland.

As these molluscs have only continued to increase in popularity, the areas in which they’re farmed has increased, Italy temporarily becoming an additional farming hotspot for the carpet shell. Carpet shells filter feed to gain nutrition and there has been evidence of them growing up to 80mm long.

Using their two siphons, carpet shells digest organic matter and phytoplankton. Carpet shells are most comfortable residing in temperatures of around 11C, in water with a salinity of approximately 35 PPS and a nitrate level of 7 umol/L.

Carpet shells’ primary predators include starfish, shore crabs, various birds and gastropods. These specific molluscs can usually be identified by their distinct anterior. The surface of their shells have fine concentric striae and bolder radiating lines. The lunule and escutcheon are considered to be poorly defined, compared to other molluscs.

Carpet shells can also be identified by their posterior hinges, which are straighter than most clams, and the posterior margin truncate and anterior hinge lines are downwards sloping, leading into the anterior margin.

Carpet shell inner surfaces are usually a glossy white, sometimes also containing orange or yellow tints, and pale bluish tinges along the dorsal edge. Most of their outer shells are cream, yellow or a light brown, some growing darker markings with age.

In terms of habitat, carpet shells reside primarily in lower shores and shallow subtidal areas. They prefer quiet waters, sand, clay and muddy gravel, as is common with molluscs in general. Mating season for carpet shells occurs between April and August, whilst their spawning rates are 60 percent for female and 83 percent for males. Spawning typically occurs between August and September, with a spawning efficiency of 94 percent in females and 86 percent in males.

Read more HERE.

Pages