Allen Ming-Hsun Wu, is the Asia Pacific regional manager of aquaculture for Adisseo,. He is leading the APAC aquaculture business for Adisseo Asia-Pacific Ltd in the region.
In a separate development, Mr Wu has been appointed to International Aquafeed’s Editorial Board. He joins leading specialists and recognised experts in aquafeed and nutrition with fish farming credentials. Mr Wu holds master degree on aquaculture nutrition from the Department of Food Science, National Taiwan Ocean University in Taiwan and has an extensive background working in the aquaculture sector throughout Asia.
Can you tell me a little bit about your background?
In 2000-12, I worked in Uni-President Group, the largest food corporate in Taiwan where I was the formulations manager of aquafeed for six years, between 2000-06, before being promoted to Technical Director, then Assistant Vice President of Aqua Research and Development Division of Uni-President Vietnam Co Ltd. I held that position from 2007-12.
But your experience is not just limited to Taiwan is it?
No. Since 2012, I have been working with Nutriad International of Belgium, as its regional aquaculture manager for Asia Pacific region. Over the last 20 years, I initiated international collaborated research projects between industry and academic agency such as university, research institute and government sector throughout Asia.
I have also provided on-farm technical support in countries that include Japan, Korea, China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Madagascar and Mozambique.
I have been a member of World Aquaculture Society since 2002, as well sitting on its industry relationship committee since 2012. I have also served as a member of the WAS’s steering committee for Asia-Pacific Aquaculture in 2013.
Another role I have held is judging student presentations at World Aquaculture Adelaide, Australia in 2014 and following that invited to be a session chair for World Aquaculture 2015. Following on from that I was elected to the board of director of World Aquaculture Society, Asian Pacific Chapter (WAS-APC) for 2015-17 and as co-chair of Asia-Pacific Aquaculture in 2018.
My other contributions have included being an co-organiser and session chair of the Marine Fish Farming Technology Forum of Taiwan in 2020.
In your view what has been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on aquaculture in Asia?
I think the direct impact is the depressed prices of shrimp and fish in most of Asia countries due to the pandemic.
There is weaker demand from China than in previous years, with the indirect impacts on export-oriented countries such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, etc but without much impact on local Vietnamese species such as tilapia, Clarias.
We had seen growing markets of common carp, grass carp farming for local consumption in north of Vietnam. The second biggest impact is the uncertainty of shipments and increasing freight costs in Asia and rest of the world.
For most feedmills it’s getting more difficult to manage inventories, forecast sales and raw materials cost.
As for feed ingredients or additives suppliers, they started to launch more technical webinars to provide more value to those customers who work from home.
Asians used to have busy agendas at international conferences and exhibitions, however, those major events have either postponed or cancelled during the pandemic. Industry is introducing innovative tools to create platforms and to be able to manage our works in digital ways. The way of working is really changed in Asia.
What is the future for aquaculture as viewed by Adisseo?
With the growing human population and the need for more well-balanced animal proteins, aquaculture will play a major role in our future. The consistent growth of aquaculture relies on the supply of optimised feeds at all life stages for all species. A sustainable development of aquaculture relies on the physiological wellbeing, health, growth and reproductive success of the different species of fish and shrimp reared under varied environmental conditions.
Solid nutrition and health research must be development goals. Adisseo helps to reduce the environmental impact on livestock production, as commercial fisheries and aquaculture are rapidly increasing, and the
And finally, what is Adisseo’s mission in this regard?
The company’s mission is to offer solutions to ensure food quality and food safety and to furthermore improve the health and nutrition needs for the animals. It is key to shift from unreliable and obsolete farming practices to fully controlled and bio-secure systems that mimic agricultural and livestock models. With this new fully-integrated Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS) dedicated for research, Adisseo aims to transform and improve farm management with the latest monitoring tools.
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