Monitoring of farmed fish and their environment will receive a boost as the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) is investing nearly £250,000 in two projects to improve biodiversity and fish health in farming. The first project aims to create a method of assessing fish health with earlier and more specific diagnoses that reduces veterinary requirements and shortens the diagnostic period – which is typically seven days or more. A second, 18-month long project will develop a new, more efficient method of monitoring the diversity of organisms living in the seabed around fish cages, a legal requirement of fish farm consent-compliance.

A group of researchers from Egocreanet University of Florence recently formed a fish feed consortium, and is calling for potential partners and stakeholders to join in their efforts to innovate fish feed production. Interested parties should send a letter of interest to specify their contribution on the topic \"Innovative sustainable solutions for improving the safety and dietary properties of seafood.\"

The Joint Venture between the Danish feed company BioMar and Turkish seafood company Sagun officially opened a state-of-the-art fish feed factory in Söke, Turkey. The factory has 50,000 tons production capacity and will supply locally produced diets including grower feeds for trout, sea bass and sea bream. \"We have a great team here in Turkey, and together we hope to make a solid contribution to the continued development of the aquaculture industry and to help realise the full potential for aquaculture in Turkey”.

Progressus AgriSchools is offering a Certificate in Aqua Nutrition. The course will take place September 26-30 at Kasetsart University in Thailand and will cover the following topics; 1) Future Trends & Nutrient Requirements; 2) Manufacturing, Nutrition & Ingredients; 3) Ingredient Assessment & Feeding Strategies; 4) Farm Tour & Group Exercises; 5) Formulations & Satisfying Customer Demands.

Norwegian University of Life Sciences is starting a new PhD course for all PhD students studying at Scandinavian Universities and abroad. It is a feed manufacturing course which includes both traditional and novel ingredients for compound feed, related to both terrestrial production animals and fish, striving for nutritional progress.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) division invites new auditor candidates and returning auditors requiring refresher training to attend a BAP auditor training course in Hialeah, Florida, USA, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3. The course will cover all of the BAP standards, including three sets of standards that have been revised or added to the program in recent months.

Due to unprecedented amounts of rainfall in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana since August 11, 2016, the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) home office is currently closed for business. Much of the Louisiana State University (LSU) campus is currently closed and the WAS home office staff is either unable to leave their homes or have been forced to evacuate due to flooding, an announcement on the society\\\'s website states. The impact of the recent widespread flooding on the upcoming crawfish season will depend on many factors

Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. is to begin selling bluefin tuna farmed from egg to adult after developing a way to mass produce the fish. Sales will begin in winter 2017

Prairie AquaTech is a small company now, but developers say if it can help farmers in the Dakotas and Minnesota capitalize as a substitute for high-demand fishmeal on the world’s fish farms, it could bloom into something bigger.

USSEC Indonesia sees development of marine aquaculture will eventually lead to soy use in aquafeed.

The University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and Hendrix Genetics, a global leader in animal breeding, has established a research agreement to improve the sustainability of animal production. Researchers will focus on driving innovations that lead to greater disease resistance in farmed animals and better selective breeding programs. Their goal is to reduce losses and improve welfare in the fish farming and livestock industries.

Piotr Ostaszewski has been appointed Managing Director of Sp.zo.o. , Poland, Krosniewic, a daughter company of Germany-based speciality yeast manufacturer, Lieber. He replaced Dariusz Piorkowski.

As the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) continues, the agency today issued two draft guidances to assist industry with the implementation of the Preventive Controls for Animal Food rule and another draft guidance to assist businesses in determining whether the activities they perform are within the “farm” definition.rnAFIA chides FDA on tardiness of GMP guidance

The FDA is amending its regulations in order to preserve the availability of medicated feed drugs intended for therapeutic use in minor animal species by ensuring that these products can still be produced by both licensed and unlicensed feed mills.

The fifth annual Alltech Corporate Career Development Program seeks to recruit recent bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates for participation. Alltech invites graduates who wish to develop skills in science, veterinary science, biotechnology, information technology, marketing and finance to apply during the window of Aug. 15–Sept. 30 via the Alltech Corporate Career Development Program website. The program will commence in February for the 2017 group. “This is a life-changing opportunity for recent graduates to interact with colleagues from other countries, develop both their technical and interpersonal skills, and share innovative ideas.\"

With growing focus on sustainability and fish welfare, GRAINTEC is partnering with Norway-based Ocean Farming AS in a project to bring salmon farming offshore. The project has been in the works for a long time, as feasibility studies started back in 2012 and various technical solutions have been assessed. The outcome of the extensive studies has resulted in an offshore farming installation that combines marine biology, marine cybernetics and marine engineering with newest data technology. Production start for the offshore facility is scheduled for mid/end 2017.

Scientists at Nofima have started to breed lumpsucker (lumpfish) families which have a special liking for consuming salmon lice. \"Louse eating is the sole reason that lumpsuckers are of interest to us, but not all lumpsuckers are equally keen on this diet. Currently, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the proportion of them that will eat lice. Some estimate 30-40 per cent, others believe that well over 50 per cent have this trait.\"

As part of the agreement, Gfresh, an online marketplace for seafood, will promote on its e-commerce platform products from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified facilities, encouraging Chinese and international retail and foodservice buyers to source seafood from responsible operations. A section of its e-commerce platform will be dedicated to the BAP third-party certification program and responsible aquaculture. In turn, GAA will encourage its network of BAP-certified facilities to capitalize on Gfresh’s service, networks and insights.

The new forum, known as the Seafish Domestic Aquaculture Advisory Committee (SDAAC), provides a mechanism for directing the work areas and resource allocation of Seafish\' Domestic Aquaculture Strategy Program. To further equip this continually developing UK food sector, Seafish is updating its aquaculture web pages and a suite of new resources has recently been announced.

Ms. Sherry Ayittey, the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, has encouraged increased investment in fish farming, saying, it is more rewarding. She said it was one area, Ghanaian entrepreneurs, should put in their money to create wealth and jobs for the population.