A biotechnology company called Calysta, based in Menlo Park, California, is set to announce the first ever large-scale factory that uses microbes to turn natural gas – methane – into a high-protein food for the animals we eat. The factory which will be built in the US in collaboration with food-giant Cargill, will produce 200,000 tonnes of feed a year.

The topic of producing food and biomass that is \"grown in water instead of on the land\" is being explored at EuroTier 2016. The event is taking place in Germany at Hanover’s Exhibition Grounds from November 15 to 18, and aquaculture is the featured topic in Hall 24. The special \"Growth in the water\" showcase is illustrating the diversity of aquaculture, and fish, shellfish, algae, crustaceans and their feeds are on display.

AwF has formalized the working relationships between the different AwF Groups to ensure that there is consistency and cohesiveness in the worldwide operations of AwF as a charity. The new executive group is the ‘Aquaculture without Frontiers International Council’. The AwF International Council will be comprised of the global executive director and two members from each organizational board (USA, Australia and Latin America) on a rotation basis of three (3) years.

The F3 Fish-Free Challenges announced earlier this week that eight multi-national teams have qualified to participant in the global fish-free feed technology contest. Contestants from Thailand, Indonesia, China, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Myanmar (Burma), the Netherlands, Belgium, and the U.S. are advancing to the first sales reporting stage of the multi-stage contest to develop fish-free feed for the aquaculture industry. The F3 Fish-Free Feed Challenge launched in Nov. 2015, and is intended to help catalyze the development and sale of cost-competitive, viable aquafeeds free of fishmeal and fish oils.

Elanco’s novel in-feed treatment has been approved for the prevention and control of sea lice in salmon and trout in Chile. The approval follows the completion of a series of studies, demonstrating its efficacy against Caligus rogercresseyi, the most common louse species impacting salmonid farms in Chile. The study demonstrated that salmon treated with the medication remained below the Chilean industry regulated threshold for an extended period of time, compared to the untreated group, which exceeded the threshold five times in the same period. “Managing these parasites is a constant strain on salmon farmers – it is time consuming, cumbersome, and stressful to both fish and farmers. This option can help provide relief from sea lice management for an extended period of time, alleviating that stress.”

The Department of Commerce presented $260,112 to the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), as part of the International Trade Administration\'s Market Development Cooperative Program (MDCP). The award will assist in the development of international standards for feed machinery, thus increasing trade exports through trade standardization. Funding will specifically be dedicated to education, outreach, training, preparation, coordination and travel support for U.S. feed machinery industry representatives engaged in international standards development.

The American Feed Industry Association is pleased to announce the addition of three new staff members: Codi Coulter (Communications Coordinator), Kori Chung (Legislative and Regulatory Assistant) and Erica Burson (Membership Assistant). \"As we continue to grow as an industry, and in membership, AFIA\'s internal team must also grow. In the past few months, we have hired three team members who add value to our communications, membership, and legislative and regulatory teams\' success.\"

BühlerAeroglide has appointed Paul Branson Director of Product Management. In this role Branson will focus on increasing quality, reducing production cycles, and developing advanced products and solutions. Most recently, Branson served as Product Manager for Aeroglide’s global industrial markets.

AFIA President and CEO Joel G. Newman provided a statement yesterday regarding the election of Donald Trump. \"Based on pre-election discussions with the Trump camp, our president-elect plans to embark on a regulatory revolution come Jan. 23. AFIA asks the president-elect to hold true to his campaign promise and make addressing strict regulatory burdens a priority of this new administration. We plan to be active in these discussions where appropriate for the animal food industry. AFIA - a bi-partisan organization - has worked diligently to provide Congress, and current and former administrations, information and expertise about the animal food industry, striving for balanced regulation.\"

The Peru Ministry of Production has set the quota for the second commercial anchovy fishing season of 2016 at 2m metric tons, an amount higher than expected and 81% higher than the 2015 quota. The quota was set based on the recommendation from IMPARPE, whose recent survey assessed the anchovy biomass at over 6.6 million metric tons. This is one of the highest levels of biomass in decades. The second season of commercial anchovy fishing is set to begin on November 15.

Speaking at the Biomin World Nutrition Forum 2016 in Vancouver, Dr. Daniel Merrifield, Plymouth University, United Kingdom said the application of probiotics in aquaculture faced unique challenges not faced by applications in humans, other mammals or poultry. Dr. Merrifield added that future research efforts must focus on three main themes. “Firstly, gaining a better understanding of the normal microbiomes of fish. Secondly, a better understanding of the functional attributes of the microbiome is required. Lastly, a better understanding of the localized host responses to the microbiome, and how such responses may change when the microbiome is modulated or manipulated.\"

The Chilean National Environmental Prize was awarded to BioMar for its project \"A sustainable aquaculture, our legacy and commitment to Chiloé Island\". Through its project, BioMar Chile managed to minimize its carbon footprint to more than half. This was accomplished by replacing a heater used to generate steam in the feed production plant in Castro, and by this going from the use of fossil fuels as an energy source to the use of clean and renewable biomass. \"We are proud to be recognized nationally for our project, enabling us to deliver a better quality of life for families Castro, Dalcahue and Putemún.\"

A group of researchers from the Technological Institute of Tuxtepec (Ittux), in collaboration with colleagues from other scientific bodies, has developed aquaculture feed from bean residue in an attempt to reduce rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) production costs. The objective of the research is to use the raw material in the region to generate low-cost feed that does not affect the quality of the trout.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has served a closure order on Golden Fish Meal and Fish Oil Company at Semmankuppam near here for violating the pollution control rules. According to a senior official, the TNPCB had issued the order for closure and disconnection of power supply under Section 31 A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981. The action was taken following repeated violation of air and water control norms.

Rearing European eels in captivity throughout their life cycle in a complex task, hampered by our lack of knowledge about several phases of their life cycle. Recently published research has been exploring the challenge of first feeding in captivity. To initiate first feeding, Dr Ian Butts and fellow scientists gave European eel larvae one of five specially tailored diets.

The American Feed Industry Association has added two programs to its spring lineup. AFIA will host a hazard analysis and critical control points training April 11-12, 2017, and a FAMI-QS Awareness in Animal Feed course immediately following, April 13-14, in Des Moines, Iowa. Both programs are currently running early-bird rates.

Tassal has announced it will become the first Salmon farming company in Australia to use natural pigment supplements for all of its farmed Salmon in Tasmania. “Sourcing a sustainable and reliable source of natural astaxanthin has been a complex task, but we are confident that by 2017 the first diets containing natural astaxanthin will be delivered to our farms.”

A new project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Commission (EC) and led by WorldFish, aims to use selective breeding to make improved fish strains more accessible to poor people. The three-year project, Improving the technological foundations for sustainable aquaculture, focuses on Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya and Mozambique, where small-scale aquaculture is important for rural livelihoods. The aim of the research is to ensure that improved strains of tilapia, Indian carp and African catfish – important species of food fish that are also easy to farm – become more widely available, are farmed sustainably and are distributed equitably.

NMC’s Cooperative Research Extension and Education Services is now preparing for the opening of its aquaculture wet laboratory. The facility, which will open next month, will allow for the breeding, hatching and rearing of various native fish species. Aside from providing seed stocks to farmers, the laboratory will also provide services to help fish farmers enhance their understanding of various fish. “The new aquaculture lab will help residents explore new sources of nutrition and revenue and is part of an overall effort to help ensure that aquaculture becomes a major contributor to the economy.”

Since the launch of the oceans economy initiative, under Operation Phakisa, in July 2014, government has invested around R17-billion in the initiative’s various workstreams, including marine transport and manufacturing, offshore oil and gas exploration, aquaculture, and marine protection services and ocean governance. Thirty-two projects in aquaculture have been initiated over the last two years, with ten projects, valued at R338-million, in the production phase. When Operation Phakisa was first introduced, only 24 projects had been identified for implementation.