Only one year after opening its flagship aquaponics facility specializing in leafy greens, Atlantic salmon, and Steelhead trout, Superior Fresh is on schedule to harvest its first fish next month. The flagship facility, located in Wisconsin, is the first Atlantic salmon recirculating aquaculture system in the United States. The facility contains a 40,000 sq. ft. fish house with the capacity to produce 160,000 lbs. of fish, and plans to harvest salmon and steelhead on a weekly basis.

Fishpond farmers in Ghana are calling on the government to partner with them to set up mini feed mills to produce fish feed in selected production zones. Officials of the Ghana National Association of Fish Pond Farmers say fish feed prices constitute over 70 percent of the production cost in fish farming, and the cost of feed coupled with other challenges is impeding the local industry’s progress.

Bayer completed the acquisition of Monsanto today following the receipt of all required approvals from regulatory authorities. Bayer is now the sole owner of Monsanto Company. According to the conditional approval from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the integration of Monsanto into Bayer can take place as soon the divestments to BASF have been completed. This integration process is expected to commence in approximately two months. 

President Donald J. Trump has proclaimed June 2018 as National Ocean Month. \"This month, I call upon Americans to reflect on the value and importance of oceans not only to our security and economy, but also as a source of recreation, enjoyment, and relaxation.\" In his proclamation, President Trump declared support for domestic aquaculture production and promised to create new opportunities for American products in the global marketplace.

Nutreco has announced that CEO Knut Nesse will leave the company on October 1, 2018, and that Rob Koremans will join Nutreco and take over as CEO upon Mr. Nesse\'s departure. “It’s been fantastic to work in the growing agriculture and aquaculture industries and a real pleasure to work with so many great people across the company. I wish everyone in Nutreco all the best for the future.” 

In a letter to members of Congress, a coalition of more than 100 organizations announced their united opposition to industrial ocean fish farming in U.S. waters. “Industrial marine finfish farming poses serious risks to our oceans, coastal communities and public health. We write today on behalf of our organizations and our millions of members and activists to urge [Congress] to protect our oceans and oppose any legislation to develop marine finfish aquaculture in the United States.”

A new agreement between the Universities of Stirling and Ningbo, in China, will see aquaculture staff and students share knowledge and collaborate on research and teaching projects. The research element of the collaboration will initially focus on nutrition, health, breeding, and genetic improvement of commercially important aquaculture species in the Zhejiang province including the swimming crab, large yellow croaker, pomfret and cuttlefish. “The establishment of a joint laboratory for aquaculture by the two institutes in China and the United Kingdom will not only promote academic exchanges between the two sides, but also support the sustainable development of the aquaculture industry.”

Nutreco has formed a joint venture with Mumbai-based West Coast Group to build a feed production facility in west India. The joint venture will be managed by Skretting India, and is in line with Skretting’s strategy to continue expansion into nutritional solutions for warm water aquaculture species. \"Working together with West Coast Group, we’ll be able to ensure we serve the growing needs of the Indian aquaculture industry while delivering on Skretting’s ambition to further develop their warm water species activities.”

A new study has found that grass carp gain more weight and utilize nutrients better when fed an extruded fishmeal-free diet versus a pelleted fishmeal-free diet. Using the same fishmeal-free formula, researchers in China produced a pelleted feed and an extruded feed to administer to fish at various feeding rates. Results found that at the same feeding rate, fish fed extruded feed showed better growth, protein retention, lipid retention, and FCR. Results also found that feeding to 80% satiation results in the lowest FCR and highest protein retention efficiency.

India\'s Avanti Feeds saw turnover rise in the fourth quarter of its financial year, but earnings and profits both dipped. While revenue and profit after tax for the full 2018 year were in line with estimates, operating profit missed by 9%.

De Heus Myanmar has opened its second feed production site in the country. Located on 26,000 square meters near Mandalay in upper Myanmar, the factory has an annual production capacity of 280,000 MT of feed for a variety of livestock, including fish. “This production facility is the most modern compound feed plant in Myanmar. The new equipment from top European feed milling suppliers includes a hyper modern packing robot and extensive bulk storage solutions. To monitor the quality of incoming raw materials and outgoing finished products, a state of the art laboratory will make a big contribution to future farming demands.\"

The American Feed Industry Association will begin accepting applications for the 2018 Feed Facility of the Year (FFY) program tomorrow. Sponsored by AFIA and Feedstuffs, the FFY program recognizes overall excellence in feed manufacturing operations, emphasizing safety, quality, regulatory compliance, employee development and overall operating efficiencies. Four industry categories with category-specific applications will be considered: commercial dry livestock feed, integrator, liquid feed and premix manufacturing.

The Waterbase Limited has reported that its 2018 fiscal year profit is its highest ever due to an increased focus on shrimp feed production. "With an enhanced base for shrimp feed, wider distribution network and improved offerings comprising hatchery and ancillary products, we have created a strong platform to address the steadily growing opportunity in the aquaculture industry in India."

Oceanus Group Limited is proceeding with its development of a self-sustaining floating food city, and is currently in talks with officials to locate the city off the coast of Singapore. The Oceanus Aquapolis City will integrate renewable technology with hi-tech aquaponics to grow vegetables, seaweed and fish in an environmentally friendly, multi-story closed-contained platform. The city is one of the projects being developed as part of a recent MOU between Oceanus Group, Shaw Investment Holdings, and China Construction to jointly explore global aquaculture-related investment opportunities and development projects worth US$500 million.

Less than a year after acquiring the majority stake in Alimentsa, BioMar is accelerating development of the Ecuadorian shrimp feed producer with the commissioning of a new production line and reorganization of personnel to strengthen the integration of the two companies. \"We have just commissioned a fifth production line in order to secure sufficient capacity next year. It is a relatively small investment as the new line fits into our present facilities, and thereby we expect it to be ready already early next year. Our new feed trial and development facility announced in November, is also progressing according to schedule and will be operational later this year.\"

On a California farm, hundreds of prehistoric-looking fish swim around in 50-foot diameter tanks. These are white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America. The roe of these sturgeon are harvested for a boutique food producer regally named Tsar Nicoulai Caviar. Until recently, wastewater from the fish tanks on the Tsar Nicoulai farm emptied into a giant man-made pond. Tsar Nicoulai is now using the “nutrient stream” to grow something they can sell: vegetables.

Fishmeal and fish oil firm Daybrook, a subsidiary of Oceana Group in the United States, experienced record landings of Gulf menhaden in the new fishing season, which started in mid-April. Management expects an improvement on fishmeal and oil prices compared with 2017, with oil yields expected to improve markedly to 11 per cent-13 per cent from 7 per cent a year ago and the meal yield holding steady.

At the Aquaculture UK conference taking place this week, BioMar and Skretting each acknowledged that it is part of their role to help salmon farming grow sustainably, and that pressure over environmental concerns does filter down to them. 

Researchers in Canada and the UK have demonstrated the different effects that partially defatted black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) and mechanically-extracted black soldier fly larvae oil (BSFLO) have in rainbow trout performance, nutrient digestibility and physiology. Among their findings, the discovery of enhanced digestibility of hydroxyproline in diets containing BSFL products has potential benefits for fish fed low fishmeal diets.

Deinove has confirmed that the COLOR2B project is progressing on schedule and has reached its third phase. The project, being done in collaboration with the Avril Group, is focusing on the development of a production process for natural feed additives. The third phase of the project, launched in early 2017, aims to validate the final choice of the strain and to test the various production options in the perspective of the industrialization and marketing of a range of feed additives. Currently, the final producer strain has been selected for its performance among seven strains and has been tested in experimental farms. Its performance is comparable to petrochemical products in use today.