International Aquafeed and Fish Farming Technology magazine September issue

By Vaughn Entwistle, Editorial Manager, International Aquafeed and Fish Farming Technology magazine

Greta Thunberg cannot be happy.

As if a global pandemic was not enough to contend with, news about climate change continues to dominate the headlines with yet more bad news. 2020, once again, broke records for heatwaves all over the earth. The United Nations (UN) says that the last four years have been the hottest recorded, with many countries, including the UK, setting new records. To top it all, the highest temperature ever seen on earth was recorded at 54.4°C in California’s Death Valley.
 

In a decade of records, 2020 is on schedule to be the hottest year since records began. By now the evidence is irrefutable, and even climate change deniers seem to be keeping quiet lately. Of course, to those of us in the aquaculture industry, climate change is of critical importance. In this issue, you can read Biomin’s very timely article on how the effects of global warming promise to change fish and shrimp farming.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, “In the last 130 years, the world has warmed by approximately 0.85°C. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer than any preceding decade since 1850. Sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting, and precipitation patterns are changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more intense and more frequent.” The Biomin article in this issue of International Aquafeed points out how this will play out in aquaculture: “increased rainfall will lead to a reduction in salinity, whilst a lack of rainfall may lead to an increase in salinity, especially in combination with hot weather, where evaporation is high.”

Fortunately, not all the news in this issue is doom and gloom. In the middle of a global pandemic, the global feed company BioMar Group recorded its best six-month financials, ever. Following an impressive Q1, BioMar continue to deliver solid financial results. Their sales volume increased by nine percent, while revenue increased by seven percent compared to Q2 last year. The growth was mainly delivered by robust performance in the salmon markets across geographies, supported by the new salmon business in Australia.

In part, I think such impressive financials are being driven by the worsening climate, and investors are now waking up to see that aquaculture has a bright future because of its unique ability to produce a sustainable, high-value and healthy product—fish, that will be a major source of protein for many people for the remainder of this century.

In this issue of International Aquafeed, our Fish Farming Technology section is also well-served with an article on a neat innovation I first came across at AquaNor 2019. (Remember when we all used to attend trade shows?) Aquanest is a clever solution that provides a retractable and adjustable habitat within a pond and cage system for lumpfish to shelter in.

Next we have an article from the company Sparos, whose Feednetics system keeps aquaculture businesses running with attractive profits by restructuring their operations, and by seeking optimisation and efficient production.

The benefits of oxygenation are well known within the aquaculture industry: fish require at least 80 percent oxygen saturation in the water for optimal growth. Australian gas specialist, Oxair, applies the same technology as that used in medical facilities to the world of fish farming. Oxair’s gas generators use Pressure Swing Adsorption to introduce pure oxygen directly into the water. This enables the production of much greater quantities of fish in a comparatively small volume of water and causes the fish to grow larger as well. This enables even small enterprises to farm considerably more biomass, making it easier for them to assert themselves in the economic environment.

So that’s a short preview of what this issue has in store. Our magazine is here to share information and technology so that all aquaculture companies might thrive, especially now, in the most trying of times.

I hope you enjoy our September issue of International Aquafeed.

Read more, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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