Two different bills have been introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives that prohibit aquaculture under specific but significant circumstances. The Ban Aquaculture in the Great Lakes Act (HR 961) intends to authorize the Department of Interior to prohibit aquaculture in the Great Lakes. The Preserve Fishing on Wild and Scenic River Act (HR 962) intends to authorize the Department of the Interior to prohibit operation of aquaculture facilities that contribute to pollution of wild and scenic rivers “unless the Secretary of the Interior has certified that such operation will not discharge a pollutant into a river any segment of which is a wild and scenic river.”

Enterra Feed Corporation has received approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to sell its Whole Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a feed ingredient for salmonids, including farmed salmon, trout and arctic char. This is the first Canadian approval of an insect-based aquaculture feed ingredient, and follows the CFIA\'s approval using this same product in feed for chicken broilers last year. Enterra received a similar U.S. approval for use in salmonid feeds in 2016. \"Aquaculture feed producers have been keenly awaiting this approval and we look forward to supplying their needs immediately. Fish eat insects in their natural environment and our product is a healthy, digestible and renewable source of protein and fat that can replace less sustainable ingredients, including fish meal and soybean meal.\"

Using a high-tech blueprint developed with Christof Industries, AgriProtein plans to roll out 100 factories by 2024 and a further 100 by 2027 (200 in total). The USD 10 million partnership will help bring insect protein into the mainstream of feeds used in aquaculture, poultry farming and petfood.
 
“Waste-to-nutrient technology is starting to get traction and price per tonne is key in the fight to replace fishmeal. Christof’s expertise has enabled us to boost output and reduce costs, making us even more competitive and giving us a sound model for rapid global expansion.”
 


Last month, Dr. Arun Dhar moved to Tucson to begin his duties as an Associate Professor in the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences and as Director of the Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory. The Arizona Aquaculture Pathology lab serves as the OIE Reference lab for crustacean diseases and was developed and led by Dr. Donald Lightner for many years before his recent retirement. As Director, Dr. Dhar leads a world class research and development team with expertise in diagnostics, treatment and biosecurity against virtually all classes of pathogens and parasites of shrimp and other crustaceans.

The pangasius industry finds itself in the media spotlight, and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has released a message to extend support for the industry. \"Any fish species, whether in a natural or a farm setting, will interact with its environment. Pangasius is no exception and the interactions arising from production systems in Southeast Asia do have the potential to generate localized negative impacts. For this very reason, organizations such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and BAP have established production and environmental standards for farmed fish to recognize those producers who mitigate against those potential negative impacts.\\\"

The Aquafeed Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $156 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 13.3% during the period 2016-2022. Fish and molluscs accounted for more than three fourths of the total aquafeed consumption. Amino acids and vitamins segments accounted over one third of the aquafeed additive market in 2015.

A few dynamical model forecasts anticipate an onset of El Niño as soon as the Northern Hemisphere spring. Because of typically high uncertainty in forecasts made at this time of the year for the upcoming spring and summer, and the lingering La Niña-like tropical convection patterns, the forecaster consensus favors ENSO-neutral during the spring with a ~60% chance. Thereafter, there are increasing odds for El Niño toward the second half of 2017.

According the researchers in Brazil, additive essential oils can boost farmed catfish survival in the face of a challenge from Aeromonas hydrophila. \"EOs affect the host in a number of ways, mainly modulating blood/immune and other physiological responses, showing potential to be applied as new generation compounds for animal health and nutrition.”

Microbial-derived nutrients have been drawing attention because some fishmeal alternatives, such as plant meal, may not be entirely suitable for certain aquatic species. The presence of anti-nutritional factors and amino acid restrictions, for example, can also limit the use of plant meal or lead to additional processing and costs. \"Different microbe species offer nutritional characteristics that are just as good as, or even better than, plant-derived products. Thanks to novel production methods, it\'s also possible to predict high production of single cell proteins, and a concomitant reduction of retail prices.\"

The survival rate of fertilized salmon eggs became as high as 80 per cent in New England aquaculture industry, but since 2000, salmon embryos began to die in large numbers and the average survival rate fell to about 50 per cent. Previous studies showed that a range of factors could negatively impact egg quality and production, including nutrition, stress, temperature and the endocrine status of the female. A study conducted by the University of Maine (UMaine) has found that two hormones may play significant roles in achieving an 80 percent embryo survival rate.

NemiNatura, a producer of farmed trout in Mexico, announced this week that they will begin trials of aquafeed that is free of fishmeal, fish oil and animal products. The feed trials will investigate different products and formulations presented by contestants during the F3 Challenge meeting, which took place in early January 2017 in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to NemiNatura CEO, “using alternative ingredients for feed opens new possibilities for ecosystem restoration and for producing better trout in rural aquaculture operations. With better fish we can also encourage forest conservation and water management to support rural communities.” F3 organizers added that they “are thrilled by NemiNatura’s commitment to support the efforts of the fish-free feed innovators that are participating in the F3 Challenge.”

Nutriad has announced the appointment of Anand Srivastava and Thiyagarajan Rajaram as Area Managers covering the Indian subcontinent. “Asia Pacific is a focus region in Nutriad’s strategic growth plans. With the hiring of Anand and Raja we will seek to further increase our presence in India as we will provide increased support to our customers and partners in providing practical answers for their production challenges.” Both Anand and Thiyagarajan bring 20+ years of experience in the feed additive business.

A total of 87 organizations and companies from the food and agriculture sector, which supports more than 15 million jobs nationally, recently sent President Donald J. Trump a letter highlighting the importance of trade with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the industry’s interest in working with the administration to build strong trade relationships with the world’s largest market for food and agriculture. “Reducing and eliminating tariffs and other restrictive agricultural policies in this region will help American workers in our sector compete, creating an opportunity to supply Asian markets with high-quality food and agricultural goods.”

Results from the latest Biomin Mycotixin Survey found that 90% of 387 corn samples and 100% of 79 distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) samples tested positive for at least one mycotoxin. “The mycotoxin threat was higher in 2016 than in 2015. Deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins (FUM) and zearalenone (ZEN) in particular present a potential risk to livestock animal production. This gives greater importance to regular monitoring of feed, crops, and silages.”

As traditional commercial fishing is threatening fish populations worldwide, U.S. officials are working on a plan to expand fish farming into federal waters around the Pacific Ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is creating a plan to manage commercial fish farms in federal waters, the area of ocean from three to 200 miles offshore, around Hawaii and other Pacific islands.

The second anchovy fishing season officially ended at midnight last Friday in the north-central area of Peru, which generated a revenue of about USD 1 billion to the sector, according to the Ministry of Production. Minister Bruno Giuffra stressed that the implementation of a policy of responsible management of the sector during this fishing season allowed the preservation of around 300,000 tonnes of juvenile anchovy for future fishing seasons.

With support from the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA) and other agencies, the government of Rongelap atoll started a commercial aquaculture project to raise and harvest rabbitfish and moi, two popular fish throughout the region. One of the main aspects of the project is local production of feed using locally available ingredients, including cassava, marine bycatch, and fishmeal from a tuna cannery on the island. The feed is made on a regular basis by Marshallese technicians trained under the project.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Saadia Sohail on Wednesday submitted an adjournment motion demanding a debate on the usage of pork fat (pig fat) in the feed of fish imported from Vietnam. Saadia Sohail in the adjournment motion submitted that according to a report published in a section of media, the fish imported from Vietnam which is later used as ‘finger fish’ was fed on pig fat due to which it has become difficult for Muslim population of Pakistan to differentiate whether it was Halal or Haram.

The Northern Marianas College officially opened Monday its new aquaculture development center with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The center, which will teach CNMI farmers how to cultivate fish, will be under the college’s Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Service program, or CREES. The new center used to be the CREES main building. Its roof was torn off by Typhoon Soudelor in 2015.

AU - Australian feed producer Ridley is planning to make a significant investment in a new feed mill in Tasmania. The mill will run five days a week and have the capacity to produce roughly 50,000 tons per year. The mill will primarily supply the local salmon industry, in addition to other producers of different species on mainland Australia and New Zealand.