U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. announced a formal agreement aimed at making the oversight of food more efficient and effective by bolstering coordination between the USDA and FDA. The formal agreement outlines efforts to increase interagency collaboration, efficiency and effectiveness on produce safety and biotechnology activities, while providing clarity to manufacturers. “Over the last several months, the Secretary and I have worked closely and identified several areas where we can strengthen our collaboration to make our processes more efficient, predictable, and potentially lower cost to industry; while also strengthening our efforts to ensure food safety.\"

According to the 2018 Alltech Global Feed Survey, international feed tonnage has exceeded 1 billion metric tons for the second consecutive year, with a total of 1.07 billion metric tons of feed produced in 2017. Aquaculture feeds showed a slight increase in 2017, particularly in the European and Asia-Pacific regions. Although China reported a five percent decline for the year, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than thirty five percent of the world’s feed tonnage and seventy percent of global aqua feed production.

Cargill has opened its first feed mill dedicated to fish species in India. The plant is strategically located in the Andhra Pradesh region and has a capacity to produce 90,000 tons per year of fish feed products for tilapia and other warm water species. Cargill invested more than US$10 million in the opening of the plant, which also bring around 200 new jobs to the region. “This is a vibrant market and we’re excited to better serve farmers across Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Bengal. The new facility positions us to better meet their demand.\"

Researchers in Taiwan have found that dry grape extract is an antioxidant solution that can be used as an alternate for vitamin E in shrimp starter diets. Nor-Feed carried out the 8-week trial at the National Taiwan Ocean University to evaluate the effect of a supplementation with Nor-Grape 80 on the growth performances of the Pacific White shrimp at an early stage. Results demonstrated that the replacement of vitamin E with Nor-Grape 80 led to an improvement of the FCR in all supplemented groups, despite the fact that vitamin E was totally removed.

The FDA issued the first five chapters of a draft guidance to help animal food facilities subject to the Preventive Controls for Animal Food rule develop a food safety plan to significantly minimize or prevent hazards that could cause illness or injury to people or animals. The FDA is seeking public comments on the draft guidance.

Nofima reports that production costs for Norway’s aquaculture industry rose by 50 per cent in the four years between 2012 and 2016, and the main culprit seems to be the rising price of fish feed. \"There is a limit to what breeders can do when it comes to increased feed prices.\"

The project GoJelly, which aims to investigate the suitability of the organisms as fish feed, microplastic filters, and fertilizers, has officially begun after the recent kick-off meeting in Portugal. The six-million-euro project is funded by the EU and coordinated at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. \"The GoJelly project will actively contribute to the newly proposed European strategy to combat plastic pollution while empowering the industry sector through the development of a variety of blue-green biotechnology products based on jellyfish raw material.\"

As part of a comprehensive, multi-year regulatory modernization process, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has initiated the renewal of the federal Feeds Regulations (Regulations) as one of several priorities identified for modernization. The CFIA is now seeking public comments on the proposal Maximum Nutrients Values in Fish Feeds. The proposal forms part of the suite of documents CFIA will put forward for incorporation by reference in the modernized Feeds Regulations, thus providing greater flexibility in amending the document as required. 

Chinese freshwater tilapia experts have visited Brazil to share expertise and advise their Brazilian counterparts on topics including feed management, breeding technology, and seed production.

EFSA has opened a public consultation on its draft guidance for the risk assessment of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications in the food and feed chain. The guidance covers the relevant areas within EFSA’s remit, such as novel foods, food contact materials, food and feed additives, and pesticides. The new document takes account of scientific developments that have taken place since publication of the previous guidance in 2011. Comments are due by March 4.

Researchers at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brasil have determined that swine liver hydrolyzate can be included in carnivorous fish diets. Their study evaluated the performance of juvenile dourado Salminus brasiliensis fed with increasing levels of swine liver hydrolysate. Results found that feeding dourados with up to 140 g kg− 1 swine liver hydrolysate promoted better immune and hematologic indices in the fish.  

An independent jury awarded Aller Aqua the Danish Entrepreneur of the Year Award, as well as the Globalization Award. The award is given out by Ernst & Young as part of the world’s largest competition for growth companies. The jury placed emphasis on three key areas for awarding Aller Aqua the national Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOTY) prize.

The Indonesian government has committed to developing sustainable offshore marine aquaculture farming. The materials necessary for cages, a feed barge, and other equipment have already been imported from Norway. The U.S. Soybean Export Council has expressed a great interest in this development, as the production of high volume of high value species will be a key opportunity for USSEC to partner with Indonesian feed manufacturers to include U.S. soybean meal products in forthcoming feeds.

George Lockwood, the Chair of the Aquaculture Working Group advising the USDA on organic aquaculture standards, has written a letter urging industry stakeholders to reach out to USDA Undersecrtary Greg Ibach in support of organic aquaculture. \"Our request of him is simple: please publish the USDA proposed Final Rule for organic aquaculture for public comment without further delay.\"

The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) has commissioned Gael Force Group to build a new state-of-the-art SeaMate feed barge for its Portree site, with delivery expected later this year. Work on the 400 tonne, 14m long SeaMate Feeding Barge has begun at the Gael Force base in Inverness. It will be fitted with innovative and highly sophisticated SeaFeed technology, including an eight line feeding system and barge design offering the highest of safety standards. This new system is a first for SSC and has been exclusively designed and manufactured in Scotland by Gael Force.

Tarique Arsiwalla, founder of Protix, and Aquacopia co-founder and now CEO of NovoNutrients, David Tze, will argue the merits of SCPs and insect proteins at Aquafeed.com\'s international technical conference in Bangkok

Experts at the University of Stirling will play a key role in a two-year project to develop advanced insect processing solutions for aquafeed. The University’s Institute of Aquaculture has joined a consortium that is seeking to work with leading and emerging producers of black soldier fly larvae in producing new insect products for a series of animal feed sectors. The consortium will provide general expertise in fish farming, specific knowledge on fish nutrition and health, and will carry out assessments and fish trials during the project.

New research out of Canada has found that different species of salmon have varying levels of susceptibility to soybean meal-induced enteritis (SBMIE). In a recently completed study, three species of salmon were fed soy-based diets to asses and compare the effects of soybean meal on intestinal morphology, inflammation and microbiome composition. During a three-week feeding trial, Chinook salmon, Atlantic salmon, and pink salmon were fed either a 20% soybean diet or a control diet containing fishmeal. Results found that Chinook were more susceptible to SBMIE than Atlantic, whereas pink salmon were not susceptible to SBMIE at the levels tested.

Researchers in Argentina have demonstrated that a single screw extruder can be used under optimal process conditions to produce vegetable-based feeds that may support growth of juvenile pacu. The research team first developed an optimal extruded feed containing cornmeal, soybean meal, and bovine plasma protein concentrate. They then conducted a feeding trial with juvenile pacu to compare the feed with a commercial control feed containing fishmeal. Results found no significant difference in growth performance between the two. The results of the study were published in the December 2017 issue of Journal of Animal Feed Science and Technology.

Registration has opened for the international technical conference for aquafeed professionals. Early Bird discount available until January 31.