The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the final revised version of Guidance for Industry (GFI) #170: Animal Drug User Fees and Fee Waivers and Reductions. This guidance describes the fees the agency is authorized to collect under the Animal Drug User Fee Act of 2003 (ADUFA), as amended, the information the FDA recommends sponsors submit in support of a request for a fee waiver or reduction, how to submit such a request, and the FDA’s process for reviewing these requests.

Papers are now invited from qualified presenters on new developments in aquatic feed processing and formulation

The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) announced their participation in the new International Cooperation for Convergence of Technical Requirements for the Assessment of Feed Ingredients (ICCF), as well as the upcoming International Feed Regulators Meeting. Regulatory authorities and feed and feed ingredient associations from Canada, the European Union and the United States met in Brussels in May to launch the cooperation, which aims to develop and establish common guidance that covers technical requirements for the assessment of feed ingredients, including new uses of existing feed ingredients.

In the position of aquaculture nutritionist, Dr. Sun provides technical support and research expertise for Zinpro's aquaculture customers across the globe. In addition, he develops and implements research protocols, as part of the Zinpro Corporation Research and Nutritional Services (RNS) team, to identify current and future needs for trace mineral nutrition in aquaculture production and provides solutions for customers.

A new version of the IFFO Responsible Supply (RS) standard has been released. The IFFO RS team consulted members and other stakeholders, held workshops with users of the scheme and went back to their multi-stakeholder governing body to approve the changes. These included a new fisheries assessment methodology for the multispecies fisheries, a new Good Manufacturing Practice section and updated clauses covering social welfare and pollution management.

Olam International recently launched the best in class and latest micro extrusion technology fish feed, Aqualis in Nigeria. Aqualis has a high nutritional content and the right balance of protein that ensures better growth and high fish yield.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as made the Emerging Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Plan available online.  The plan outlines a strategy to detect and respond to emerging animal diseases and define the processes that APHIS will use to identify, evaluate, and respond to emerging diseases in animal populations. Rather than providing a single process to fit all emerging diseases, the VS plan outlines roles and responsibilities across VS business units for evaluating animal health information and determining response options.

Fish processors can make a buck by making use of fish parts they normally throw away, says Kelly Hawboldt, a Memorial University of Newfoundland professor specializing in process engineering. She and her team at the Ocean Frontier Institute are looking at turning waste from all kinds of fish — finfish and shellfish, both farmed and wild — into valuable products such as fuel, road salt and even nail polish. Hawboldt and her team can extract high-quality oil from finfish guts for nutraceutical use and then use the waste from that process — a high-protein fish pulp — as fish meal or animal feed.

A primary ingredient used in catfish feeds in Vietnam is cassava. However, the current production level of cassava is not enough to supply the growing demand. According to a study sponsored by the USGC, sorghum is one potential ingredient to substitute for cassava as a source of starch for feeding Pangasius in Vietnam. Sorghum contains a reasonable amount of protein (10%), higher than cassava, and also contains higher amino acids, similar to corn but relatively higher in tryptophan and threonine.

SouthFresh Aquaculture of Alabama has attained Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. SouthFresh is one of the few catfish companies in the United States that owns 100 percent of its feed mill. It’s the first U.S. catfish company to earn the distinction of a BAP-certified feed manufacturer. \"Manufacturing a sustainably produced nutritious catfish feed directly affects our end product and is essential in our overall sustainability plan. Controlling the diet of our catfish is a high priority, and SouthFresh’s proprietary enhanced feed blend has proven to show improvement in the health of the fish and feed efficiency.\"

The fodder crop Napier grass is providing new opportunities for freshwater fish farmers, who say it is an easy to grow, low-cost alternative to commercial fish meal. Chiang Rai Fisheries Provincial Office pioneered developing the new fish food, which consists of chopped high-protein Napier grass, rice husk and concentrated feed in the ratio of 6:4:1. The cost for farmers has plummeted from 26 baht to only 6 baht a kilogramme.

The ALGARED+ project is part of the Cross-Border cooperation Programme Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) and will be implemented by a consortium comprising 9 institutions, including universities, research centres, public and private enterprises in the areas of aquaculture, biomedicine and the production of microalgae in the regions of the Algarve and Alentejo in Portugal, and Andalusia in Spain.

The new CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agrifood Systems (FISH) was recently launched at the World Aquaculture 2017 conference in Cape Town. FISH aims to assist 3.5 million people to exit poverty and reducing the number of people suffering from deficiencies in essential micronutrients by 2.4 million. FISH will focus on the three interlinked challenges of sustainable aquaculture, small-scale fisheries, and enhancing the contribution of fish to nutrition and health of the poor in priority geographies of Africa and Asia-Pacific. \"The sustainable development of aquaculture development presents an opportunity to contribute to food security, job creation and the fight against poverty.”

The nutritional value of farmed salmon could be boosted by a new generation of fish feed created from algae by a young Scots scientist. Douglas Martin, 26, has developed a sustainable way of increasing the Omega content of the fish. He has created a nutrient rich microalgae which is grown in giant stainless steel tanks using waste water from the whisky industry.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara laid the foundation stone for construction of a community fish feed industry in Ratnanagar of Chitwan district. The construction of the industry will be completed within a year. The industry will be equipped with the capability of producing 5 tons of feed per hour.

Traditionally, a sizable amount of fish protein and all Omega-3 fatty acid fish oils are ultimately sourced from leftover aquaculture byproducts and wild menhaden catch, which are processed into feed pellets and fish oil products. (Menhaden is a type of fish.) The latter industry is heavily regulated, with catch volumes set for specific years, which has forced feed producers to get creative with their supply chains over the years. However, a fish-eat-fish world can only be sustainable for so long. That\'s why these companies are looking to protein and Omega-3 sources that aren\'t connected to fisheries and aquaculture.

Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand Foods\' Europe branch has agreed to acquire Germany-based Paulsen Food Service, the company said in a release on Friday. This gives one of the world\'s largest shrimp farmers a 95% stake in the company, a German meat and prepared foods distributor, which sells to high-end foodservice customers.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced that the U.S. Atlantic menhaden and U.S. Gulf of Mexico menhaden fisheries have entered the evaluation process in order to acquire the respected blue ecolabel for sustainable fishing. The assessments are being conducted by third-party independent auditors SAI Global at the request of Omega Protein. Between the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the U.S. menhaden fishery is the second largest in the country by weight, trailing only Alaska pollock.

As of July 1,  processed proteins derived from insects are authorized for use in feed for farmed fish in the EU. FEFAC has released a statement welcoming the authorization. \"Within the current legal framework, the feeding of insects destined to be used as fish feed needs to comply with the same requirements as any conventionally farmed animal, meaning in particular that they may not be fed with e.g. catering waste or livestock manure. FEFAC believes that this measure is in line with the present state of scientific knowledge and should facilitate the public & market acceptance of insect proteins used as feed.\"

Fish and shellfish farming contributes £620 million to the national economy of Scotland every year, according to new research. The industry now supports more than 12,000 jobs and Scottish aquaculture production has increased by a third in the ten years to 2015, from 142,000 to 188,000 tonnes, according to the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) commissioned study. “These figures are good news for Scottish aquaculture and show the significant social contributions the industry makes to remote rural, island and coastal areas by supporting high-skilled jobs, diversifying and protecting communities.\"