The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program has announced that there are now more than 2,000 BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills in 33 countries and six continents. The BAP program officially hit the 2,000-facility mark during last week’s Seafood Expo North America (SENA), at which GAA exhibited. The addition of 46 salmon farms operated by The Scottish Salmon Company, announced at the onset of SENA, pushed the program to its latest milestone.

FEFAC has prepared a detailed position paper, made public in the margins of the DG AGRI stakeholder survey on the European Protein Plan, to raise attention to the “protein quality” dimension of different protein sources and their use in animal nutrition. FEFAC stresses that different protein sources are needed for different animal nutrition requirements. \"Market demand from the feed industry for European vegetable protein is based on the nutritional requirements of livestock, i.e. identifying the optimal protein quality in available feed materials and delivering them to food-producing animals. We, therefore, need to ensure that the quality and nutritional composition of the protein is fully taken into account.”

IFFO RS has launched the new Improver Program (IP) Application Mechanism. IFFO RS has adapted the IP Application Mechanism to bring the Improver Program in line with current internationally recognized Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) guidelines. “We are proud to launch a very comprehensive mechanism that will provide the necessary steps to implement a plan of improvement for reduction fisheries as required by the market. In this way we are encouraging responsible behavior for a sustainable future.”

Viet Nam\'s aquaculture harvest in the first two months of 2018 has topped 551,000 tonnes, up 5.8 per cent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The output of tra fish, black tiger shrimp and white-legged shrimp all increased.

There are many performance indicators in aquafeed production for evaluating factory performance, so understanding how these key performance indicators define, monitor, and measure the overall factory efficiency can play an important role in equipment, process, and factory design.

Aqua-Spark, the first investment fund focused exclusively on sustainable aquaculture, has announced its investment in Hatch Accelerator 1.0, the first-ever global accelerator program dedicated to the aquaculture industry. The investment will be used to accelerate a group of eight companies between April and June of 2018. \"Between Aqua-Spark and Hatch, there is a clear opportunity for a symbiotic partnership that will improve collective deal flow. We can direct smart, early-phase companies to Hatch, and as Hatch actively finds and grows early stage startups, Aqua-Spark can absorb those that have progressed beyond accelerator. It is a holistic win for the aquaculture industry as a whole.”

A group of researchers from Chile and Spain has found that functional diets can help alleviate the impacts of crowding stress on farmed salmon. The aim of their study was to evaluate the effect of yeast extract and a combination of plant extracts on the antioxidant and immune status of Atlantic salmon grown under normal cultured conditions and then subjected to crowding stress. Results found that functional diets protected fish against the biomolecules oxidation and promoted the expression of humoral response in fish under crowding stress.

Chinese fish feed companies are seeking opportunities in Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam to escape “intense” competition at home, according to Chen Xiao Ru, a Tongwei executive who addressed the East China Aquatic Animal Nutrition and Feed Forum in Ningbo on 17 March. \"“Vietnam is attractive as conditions for aquaculture are great and there is strong government support for aquaculture, especially for export products like shrimp.\"

A group of Ecuadorian companies has launched the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP), a new sustainability initiative with the commitment to grow shrimp with the highest standards including zero antibiotic use and complete traceability. "There are consumers who care about what they eat and how it has been produced, it is time for them to be offered a choice of cultivated shrimp that meets the highest standards."

Unga Farm Care Ltd has launched a new fish feed for tilapia farmers in Homa Bay county. The feed will be offered to farmers at a relatively cheaper price compared to imported feed. Agriculture executive Aguko Juma said many farmers have had problems accessing fish feed. “We’re urging our farmers to go for products that have been tested and are certified.”

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority has acquired a fully integrated maize and soya bean farm in Panda, Nasarawa State to expand its investment portfolio in agriculture in the country. In addition to new development on the land, the NSIA is planning to invest in expanding the farm’s existing infrastructure, including a feed mill. Fish feed production capacity will be increased from zero to 26,300 tons, and it is anticipated this will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The US is considering imposing anti-dumping duties on shrimp farmed in India. However, the likely hike in duties will not be able to slow down the growth of the industry, according to managing director of Avanti feeds. \"Taking in to account the available infrastructure and idle land available which is suitable for shrimp culture, we are of the opinion that the Industry has the potential to grow 10-15 per cent year-on-year basis which amounts to shrimp production to the level of 8 lakh tonnes by 2021.\"

At the recent Seafood Expo North America, SeaWeb announced the 2018 Seafood Champion Awards finalists The annual Seafood Champion Awards program recognizes individuals and organizations for excellence in promoting environmentally responsible seafood. Four winners, one in each of four categories, will be announced at a ceremony on June 19 at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Barcelona, Spain. The Seafood Champion Award for Innovation recognizes those who identify and apply new solutions to ecological challenges, market needs or sustainability barriers. The finalists in this category include Skretting, which is being recognized for its fishmeal-free salmon feed.

Following a successful lab trial last year, SARDI has partnered with Port Fairy abalone farm Southern Ocean Mariculture, Aquafeeds Australia and Tarac Technologies to conduct an on-farm trial of abalone feed made with recycled grape marc. During the three-month lab trial, greenlip abalone fed the grape marc diet showed a 6 per cent improvement in biomass gain and a 2.9 per cent increase in shell growth rate compared with abalone fed on a commercial diet. The grape marc-fed abalone also outperformed the other abalone in Food Conversion Ratio. The group is now in the midst of a six-month farm trial. “They are accepting the food, there’s been no mortalities and they are growing well.”

Aqquua LLC recently collaborated with the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Aquaculture Program to bring canned juvenile mahi-mahi to the market. The hatchery-raised fish reach market size in 45 days and very little food goes into the production cycle, increasing the sustainability of the final product. The product is being tested with the first 4,000 juveniles offered in olive oil and sea salt in two different can sizes and jars. To gauge buyers interest, the company launched the product with the first jars shown at the North America Seafood Expo in Boston from March 11-13. “When we tested them in the kitchen, we discovered that these fish were delicious, with much of the character of a full grown mahi at a tin-able size.\"

According to its financial report for 2017, BioMar delivered an increased revenue of 12% compared to 2016, mainly boosted by a significant capacity expansion in Norway and the acquisition of the shrimp feed producer Alimentsa in Ecuador. \"On top of this we initiated our factory project in Australia, started the biggest fish feed line in the world and began operations of our new LNG vessel in Norway, reinforcing our state-of-the-art technology and fleet. And finally we started the construction of our trial facility in Ecuador to supplement the ATC network together with lots of interesting product concepts launched in our different markets.\"

Dr. Benedict Standen, Biomin, will discuss the benefits of in feed probiotics and summarize results from recent trials, including probiotic application at the feed mill at Aquafeed Horizons Asia, taking place in Bangkok March 27.

Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech died on Thursday, March 8, due to an acute lung condition that developed during his recovery from heart surgery. He was 73.

Ghana’s goal to nearly double its aquaculture production this year is only feasible if problems related to seed stock, feeds and fish health are solved. Ghana has over 1500 small scale pond farmers who find commercial feeds too expensive, so they compound their own feed on-farm, using alternative feed sources like cocoa pod husk, palm kernel cake and copra cake. Whilst most of the ingredients used are proven to be viable, they are not produced under strict bio-secure conditions, and naturally affect the final product.

Fish 2.0 winner NovoNutrients is looking for new partners to take their waste-to-feed project to the next level. The company says it has perfected the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industry, destined for the Earth’s atmosphere, and diverting them into a reactor to make high-quality protein suitable for feeding fish. “It is possible to produce something that is the equivalent or more available than fishmeal at a production cost equal to or less than soy protein concentrate.\"