An Idaho fish processor has purchased an innovative feed mill to convert raw fish guts into high-quality feed. Leo Ray, owner of Fish Breeders of Idaho, believes he’ll soon be the only business in the industry making fish feed directly from raw fish processing waste. His largest customer, Whole Foods, will pay a premium for his fillets in order to make a sustainability claim. Fish Breeders is negotiating with local farmers to contract for wheat, corn and peas and will also use soybeans.

A lot of cutting-edge research takes place at the University of Idaho’s Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, and Brian Small is excited to be in the middle of it. The fish endocrinologist and physiologist came to the center in 2015. With 16 years of fish research under his belt, Small was appointed director of the experiment station in November.“We’re interested in trying to understand how the environment, health status and diet affect microbes that live in the gut of the fish and how changes there affect the fish itself. It might include changes in how well they utilize the feed and just general gut health.”

A proposal for the country’s first large-scale marine fish farm that would raise grouper, sea bass and other valuable dinner-table species has been sent to the Council of Development for Cambodia for approval, officials confirmed. The $24 million proposal by Norwegian company Vitamar would create a coastal base and egg-hatching site in Preah Sihanouk province over the next eight years, and train some 200 locals in aquaculture and fish farming, according to local media reports earlier this year.

A fishmeal producer based in Puerto Madryn has started producing shrimp oil, and now expects the laboratories to confirm that it meets the quality standards to be able to definitively go into the national and international market. Besides generating new jobs for people residing in Chubut, this reactivation allows transforming fishing waste, which causes significant environmental problems, in a product of high commercial value.

According to a new market study by Transparency Market Research, the development of species-specific diet formulations will result in the global aqua feed market to reach a valuation of US$122.6 billion by 2019. Asia Pacific is the largest market for aqua feed due to the high demand for fish and the emergence of a considerable number of aquaculture facilities in the region. Europe is expected to stand as the second-largest market for aqua feed in the coming years.

Nutriad has released the results from their 2016 Mycotoxin Survey, which included 86 maize samples from across Poland. The survey concluded that this year’s harvest of maize in Poland was of medium quality in terms of mycotoxin contamination, and should not automatically be considered safe for inclusion into finished feed rations for all animal species. More than 600 analyses were conducted to test for the occurrence of the 8 mycotoxins most frequently found in agricultural commodities intended for animal production. The results showed that almost 48% and 44% of the maize samples were contaminated with DON and T-2 toxin, respectively. Unexpectedly, more than 53 % of the samples contained HT-2 toxin. None of the samples were contaminated with OTA or AfB1.

Claus Eskildsen has been appointed as the new CFO of BioMar Group. He moved into the role on January 1 from his former position as Group Finance Manager. Eskildsen took over for Mogens Stentebjerg, who retired after more than 30 years in the company. “Claus Eskildsen has during the last four years been working closely together with Mogens Stentebjerg and has proven to be a very strong contributor to our strategic development. I am confident that Claus Eskildsen will be an asset reaching our strategic objectives.”

VITARICH Corporation, the pioneering agribusiness in poultry and feeds production in the country, in partnership with Davao South Feedmill Plant (DSFP) inaugurated the multi-million aqua feed mill plant located in Bunawan, Davao City, on December 10. The plant is part of their aggressive expansion project to address the growing demand of aqua products in the market. Since it started operating last October 27, they have already produced 30,000 bags of feed per month.

Leading academics and industry practitioners from the aquaculture sector gathered at the 2016 World Nutrition Forum, hosted by Biomin, to discuss the latest developments regarding nutrition, genetics, management and more. Presentations from the Forum, held from 13-14 October in Vancouver, Canada, are now available to watch online.

The technical design has recently been completed for a new shrimp feed facility near the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador. As we first reported last year, the facility will have the capacity to annually produce around 130,000 tons of high quality shrimp feed for supplying the local market. In addition to having the industry’s most modern technology, the Ecuadorian facility will be earthquake secured and constructed with the highest local safety requirements. Commercial production at the new facility is expected to start prior to summer 2018.

A new Trade Agreement negotiated between the EU and Ecuador will provide an exciting international growth platform for Ecuadorian aquaculture. Ecuador and the EU have been negotiating a Trade Agreement since 2014 that will enable them to benefit from preferential trade arrangements and to obtain better access for Ecuador’s main exports to the EU, including its fisheries and aquaculture products. Essentially, the agreement will eliminate tariffs for all industrial and fisheries products, increase market access for agricultural products, improve access to public procurement and services, and further reduce technical barriers to trade.

Dr. Jose Charal has joined ADM Animal Nutrition as technical business manager in Latin America. At ADM, Dr. Charal will oversee product development and sales of specialty ingredients to customers throughout parts of Latin America. “We welcome Dr. Charal to ADM and to our offices in South America. His experience in animal science and nutritional program management will be integral in serving customers throughout that region.”

Ynsect, a French company that grows farmed worms to create high-protein feed, has managed to raise about USD 15.2 million in funds it will invest to expand its insect protein production capacity. This announcement comes shortly after EU Member States approved a proposal from the European Commission to allow a wider use of insect proteins in animal feed. The outcome of the vote during a session of the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, opens the way for insect protein to be used in fish feed in Europe from July 2017. The main product of Ynsect is TMO – Tenebrio molitor protein – a de-fatted protein meal made of farmed mealworm larvae.

The National Fisheries Society (SNP) predicts that the second anchovy fishing season in the north-central region of Peru will generate about USD 900 million in fishery exports. \"In November 430,000 tonnes of Pacific anchovy were caught and an estimated 800,000 will be caught in December; compared to 301,000 tonnes in November 2015 and 514,000 tonnes in December 2015, which means that the fishing and national GDP will have an increase due to the realization of landings this season.\"

A scoping study into the concept of a center of innovation excellence for Scottish aquaculture has found industry-wide support for the initiative. Over 100 industry figures ranging from senior management and eminent academics to representatives from industry bodies, government agencies and non-governmental organizations contributed their views. \"This early-stage study makes the informal formal, confirming that there is indeed strong cross-sector support for such a concept and identifying perceived gaps in the existing R&D infrastructure.”

A new aquaculture-specific training course is aimed at equipping first-time managers with the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective team leaders. The concept for the course, titled ‘Managing and Leading the Team’, was first developed at an industry workshop initiated by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC). “Ensuring that industry has ready access to the skills and knowledge it needs to grow is a key part of our work. By bringing together Scotland’s leading producers, we were able to identify the specific training requirements of first-time managers and how best to meet these needs.”

The featured report on QYResearchReports, titled “Global Aquaculture Additive Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021” offers a comprehensive peek into the market by studying it from different angles. The 158-page report provides definition, specification, classification, and application of aquaculture additives. It also describes the industry chain structure, policy analysis, industry overview, and news analysis.

The QMAR project - Unlocking the nutritional and technical Quality potential of MARine by-products in sustainable salmonid feeds - is a business innovation project for the industrial sector that is set to commence in January 2017. It is being supported by the Research Council of Norway, and has been granted funding up to a maximum limit of NOK 16 million spread over a four-year period. The project will enable BioMar and its partners to develop ingredients and feed products based on by-products of marine raw materials. In addition, work will be conducted on understanding the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of components based on marine raw materials.

Earlier this week, the Council of the EU voted to accept proposed amendments to legislation governing farmed insects used in animal feeds. \"Trawling the oceans to produce fishmeal is one of the most destructive activities on the planet. Replacing fish protein with insect protein in animal diets allows us to dedicate our oceans to production for human consumption alone.\" While the new regulations will permit insect protein as a feed in EU aquaculture, it is still not permitted in feeds for other farm animals.

A new initiative called the \"Seafood Business Ocean Stewardship\" aims to clear-out IUU fisheries and inhumane working conditions. The initiative is comprised of eight of the world\'s largest seafood companies, including Cermaq, Cargill, Nutreco and Marine Harvest. The eight companies came together to reduce the global extent of illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries. They will also address shortcomings in reporting and documentation of the value chain in order to prevent illegal fishing and forced labor linked to the sector. \"We are part of a small but very influential group, and we have a responsibility to ensure that the seafood industry is not only profitable but also sustainable in line with UN development goals, particularly related to the sea.\"