Nutreco has appointed Therese Log Bergjord as the new Managing Director of Skretting Global Salmon and Fish Feed Southern Europe. She will take over this position from Steven Rafferty, who resigned from this role earlier this year. Log Bergjord is currently Managing Director Nordics of Compass Group and will take up her new position as of November 1 2017. \"Aquaculture is a dynamic and thriving industry and I look forward to make my contribution to the further growth of Skretting as the global leader in innovative and sustainable nutritional solutions.\"

IFFO has released a statement in response to the F3 Challenge. \"While we congratulate the finalists and winners of the HeroX F3 competition (some of whom are IFFO members), we are disappointed that the credibility of this initiative to encourage alternative sources of feed ingredients has been damaged by the organisers’ use of negative messaging, exaggeration and misinformation in relation to marine ingredients.\"

Omega Protein has requested that the London-based Marine Stewardship Council offer its well-known sustainability certification to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico fisheries for menhaden. However, conservation groups say they are concerned about whether menhaden fishing can be considered sustainable.

Pilmico International recently acquired 70% of the outstanding shares of Vietnam-based animal feeds company Europe Nutrition Joint Stock Company (Eurofeed). The transaction price amounts to US$3.2M, based on 70% of equity value. The move is part of the Aboitiz Group’s further push into the Vietnamese market and expansion of its feeds business.

IFFO, The Marine Ingredients Organization, and Peru’s National Fisheries Society (SNP) have developed a factsheet on the complex subject of the most appropriate use of Peruvian anchovy. The factsheet looks at Peru’s historic uses of fish, past initiatives and new projects to increase direct human consumption. It concludes by noting that after millions being spent by both the Government and the private sector, direct human consumption remains very low due to a lack of interest and uptake; but the use of anchovy in feed supports global protein production and is an extremely efficient way to contribute to global food security.    

The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) is the world’s first aquaculture certification program to be recognized by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), GAA and GSSI announced jointly on Oct. 4. "The BAP program was first implemented in 2003 and this year will reach a milestone of 2,000 certified facilities around the world with anticipated farm-gate production exceeding 2 million metric tons. BAP, which currently provides the most comprehensive assurances to the marketplace and consumers, has benefited from the GSSI benchmarking process."

The Future of Fish Feed has announced that Guangdong Evergreen Feed Industry Co. is the winner of the F3 (Fish-Free Feed) Challenge, a contest to develop and sell the most fish-free feed for aquaculture during a sixteen-month sales challenge. The $200,100 grand prize was presented to Evergreen Feed Company during a special ceremony on Oct. 4 at the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s GOAL 2017 conference in Dublin, Ireland. “We are pleased to award Evergreen Feed Industry the F3 prize to acknowledge its hard work and dedication to the widespread adoption of fish-free feed. Thanks to the great effort and commitment made by all the contestants, I’ve seen more progress made over the past 18 months to advance fishmeal alternatives than over the last five years.” 

Diamond V has appointed Serge Corneillie, Ph.D. to the position of Senior Consultant, Technical and Business Development, Asia. \"Serge is bringing tremendous experience to our team with more than 30 years of experience in aquaculture research and business development in Asia. In his new role, Serge will oversee Diamond V businesses in Japan and South Korea and will be leading our growth efforts and support to our aqua business in Asia.\" 

A unique partnership has resulted in a value-added use for brewery waste products. At a brewery in upstate New York, leftover grains are mixed with wood chips to cultivate fish feed for a variety of species being raised at an on-site farm. The pilot farm is currently stocked with yellow perch, channel catfish, and largemouth bass, but will later add more species.

With an eye toward the immense potential for fish feed sales in the eastern region of India, Anmol Group has set up a new plant in West Bengal. The new plant has a 100-ton daily capacity and will cater to West Bengal, Odisha, and North East states near Kolkata. The factory is currently running at 50% and will soon be fully operational.

AgriProtein has been named the BBC Food Chain Global Champion for its flagship product MagMeal™, a protein substitute for fishmeal made from fly larvae reared on food waste. The Food Chain Global Champion is a new category for this year\'s prestigious BBC Food & Farming Awards 2017, and recognizes outstanding work that is challenging established methods and practices to secure the future. \"Raising flies on food waste is just brilliant, because nothing need go to waste anymore. This so-called waste is feeding the animals that will feed the world.”

Cargill has closed on its agreement to acquire the animal feed business of Southern States Cooperative, Inc.  The deal was announced in early August and closed last week. Under the agreement, Cargill purchased the assets of Southern States Cooperative’s animal feed business. The purchase includes seven feed mills and Southern States Cooperative\'s portfolio of products, including three types of fish feed, as well as brands and customer and supplier relationships. \"We\'ve brought together two best-in-class feed companies to develop solutions to meet (customer) needs. We look forward to growing the Southern States feed business with Cargill as our partner.\"

Aller Aqua Group has officially inaugurated it\'s fifth factory, Aller Aqua Zambia. The Zambian factory is a USD 10 million investment, with a capacity of 50,000 tons per annum. It is a joint venture with Oakfield Holdings Limited. \"We have been present in Africa for a long time, and now the time was right to take the next step and establish an additional factory. The growth in Egypt and the success we experience through our own sales companies in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana prove that there is a market for aquafeed of a higher quality than the customers here are used to.\" 

Key regional players have joined with WorldFish and the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH) to endorse a vision for inclusive and sustainable aquaculture on the African continent. The three page Call to Action includes proposals for regional collaboration on research and development with the establishment of centers of excellence, investments in capacity building and the dissemination of best management practices for profitable, productive, environmentally-sustainable and nutrition sensitive aquaculture. Improvements in farmer access to quality fish seed, better fish feeds and a regional animal health strategy to coordinate disease response and measures are seen as key elements for sustainable aquaculture.

A research project to investigate the effects of fish farming on wild fish is now complete. It started as a result of inquiries from fishermen and fish landing facilities, with respect to the poor quality of wild fish that had eaten salmon fodder near farming facilities. “The saithe that had eaten fish farm fodder had somewhat softer and more fissured muscle than other saithe, but it was still within the good quality category. Such a change in quality, however, is usual for fish that have good access to food; for example cod, when it preys on capelin.\"

David MacLennan, CEO of Cargill told FOX Business that consumers are tired of chicken and are instead eating more beef and fish. “The world is going to eat more fish – more salmon, more shrimp, more tilapia. So we have a significant fish feed business in Cargill.”

Nutrition Technologies, Vietnam, PatBio Feed, Chile and Ynsect, France are among the feed and nutrition companies who have been shortlisted to pitch to investors during the upcoming Fish 2.0 Innovation Forum at Stanford University. “This is the strongest group ever. The level of innovation is potentially both system changing and very profitable. We’re seeing the rise of ‘seatech’—new monitoring, visibility, production and processing tools for the seafood industry—as well as other advances that remove barriers to growth and sustainability for fishers, farmers and buyers throughout the value chain.”

A $53 million reservoir restocking project has been launched in northern Ghana. The project’s first phase will see 100 reservoirs restocked with 100 million fingerlings of various species, including tilapia, catfish and African bonytongue. Restocking reservoirs is one aquaculture intervention being deployed to boost regional production; local feed manufacturing is another. Low quality feed is a major problem in the area, as most farmers use self-compounded feed instead of extruded commercial products. In an effort to deal with this problem, the Aquaculture Research and Development Commission is gearing up to start producing commercial fish feed based on locally available raw materials.

In order to allow recognition of other Standards and become aligned with current internationally recognized Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) guidelines, IFFO RS has proposed to review and refine the IFFO RS Fisheries Improvers Program Acceptance Mechanism. The full draft of the IFFO RS Fisheries Improvers Program Acceptance Mechanism is ready for public consultation via the IFFO website for a period of 30 days beginning September 19, 2017. The purpose of this public consultation is to obtain input from a wide range of stakeholders. It is hoped that this mechanism will promote the path towards responsible supply of Marine Ingredients and provide clear and useful guidance to those who do not currently meet the IFFO RS requirements and wish to become IFFO RS certified in the future.

Entobel, the Vietnam-based supplier of insect protein feed ingredients, has won the first ever Aquaculture Innovation Challenge. According to the jury, Entobel “has a really good business approach, has been proven to be successful in the world already and is part of the race for a sustainable protein supply.\" The winning team received the $10,000 cash prize and met with investors, both of which will help them scale up their business.