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.\"

Researchers at have found that a curcumin dietary supplement is an effective bactericidal against Streptococcus agalactiae in silver catfish. \"Our results demonstrated that curcumin dietary supplement exerts potent bactericidal action against S. agalactiae, presenting 100% of therapeutic efficacy when compared to infected and non-supplemented animals. Also, the treatment prevented the occurrence of clinical signs of disease, as erratic swimming, corneal opacity, skin lesions in the fin and tail, and loss of appetite. In summary, curcumin can be a promising dietary supplement for improving disease resistance.\"

As part of its efforts to help facilitate the global growth of tilapia production, Skretting hosted the industry’s leading stakeholders at its first-ever global tilapia business conference in Egypt. Skretting’s top 50 tilapia farming customers from around the world were invited to join leading authorities from areas such as genetics, farming, health, raw materials, feed, nutrition, processing and retail. In addition to looking at the market developments in recent years, discussions at the forum focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the tilapia sector today and in the future. For example, with soya bean being a key ingredient in tilapia feeds, there were sessions on the situation and outlook for raw materials, as well as for the application of novel feed ingredients.

Fruit peels may no longer be considered as wastes, as the result of the SEAFDEC study suggests that they can be used as additives for tilapia feed. The result of the preliminary study showed that percentage weight gain of tilapia fingerlings fed the fishmeal-based control diet was comparable to those fed diets containing citrus pulp, okara meal, and pineapple peel. The pesticide residue analyses also indicated that among the agricultural waste samples examined, mango peel and citrus peel had pesticide residue levels but still below the maximum residual limits set by FAO Codex Alimentarius.

A tilapia farm in Campeche, Mexico, is the first aquaculture operation in Latin America to implement the In-Pond Raceway System (IPRS). The IPRS technology has been widely adopted throughout China and Vietnam for its product safety, operational efficiencies and resource conservation, and a 12-month demonstration project of the technology at La Granja Tilapia Farm resulted in 50 percent more yield while using less water, electricity and labor. “We were skeptical of the new system at first, but were surprised at the much faster growth rate. We saved a lot of water and electricity, and it took much less effort in harvesting. We’re able to stock much smaller fingerlings at five grams, and don’t have to move them at 70 grams, so we can do several cycles a year without stopping.”

The effects of bioactive peptides on growth, nutrient utilization, digestibility, intestinal health and meat quality of rainbow trout fed with high levels of vegetable protein, and the effects of dietary nucleotides in white shrimp affected AHPND

With an investment of over US$ 50 million, the balanced aquaculture feed production plant—part of the Vitapro Group, which manufactures under the Nicovita brand name—is celebrating five years of operations in Ecuador.

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has developed a database of Indian export-oriented aquaculture farms using information obtained through GPS. With this initiative, the aim is to ensure that shrimp and other exportable fish are free from banned antibiotics and other unwanted substances. \"Such a measure will go a long way in addressing concerns of USA, Japan and the EU for stringent quality controls over exports of seafood.\"

Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) has a chain-of-custody traceability process that’s an integral part of its third-party certification program. Chain-of-custody traceability is the way standards certify how seafood products pass through the various stages of a supply chain — from harvest of the resource to production and distribution of the finished product. All BAP-certified sites — whether processing plants, farms, feed mills or hatcheries — must maintain detailed traceability records for at least “one step forward and one step back” in their supply chain. This means that they know exactly where the seafood comes from and to whom the finished products are being sold.

Dr. Thomas Zeigler was presented with the US Aquaculture Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony of Aquaculture America 2018 in Las Vegas. With a vision for the future, Dr. Zeigler has been a leader in the development of nutritional technologies for aquaculture for over 50 years.

A review was conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to determine nutrient levels in fish feeds that may impact the health and safety of the respective animals, humans, and environment. Stakeholders are being provided with an opportunity to comment on all proposals, including the maximum nutrient values being suggested for each species or class of species, before they are incorporated into a regulatory framework.

Aller Aqua has officially inaugurated a new 100 m2 warehouse in Tirana, Albania. With an initial 100 tons stock capacity, Aller Aqua feeds have now moved closer to the Albanian fish farmers. Trucks will deliver Aller Aqua feeds to customers in the North, South and Coastal areas of Albania, and smaller quantities can be picked up directly at the warehouse.

An innovative new project led by University College Cork will use duckweed and algae to treat wastewater from fish farms. The project \'AQUASUS\' will leverage the natural ability of duckweed and algae to thrive in and purify polluted water, producing both clean water for fish farms and a supply of animal feed, as duckweed and algae are edible and high in protein. \"Algae and Duckweed have the potential to offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly method of nutrient uptake. The AQUASUS project is one of a number of innovative studies BIM is supporting Industry and third level partners with to further develop Ireland’s valuable aquaculture sector.\"

Compared with other aquatic species, formulating shrimp feed is based more on experience then on exact science. The optimal nutrient profile of a shrimp feed will depend on many factors, including the culture density, environmental conditions (temperature, salinity, oxygen, etc.), productivity of the pond water, the stability of the feed, feeding method and frequency, etc. The present study investigated the different nutritional strategies in commercial shrimp feeds during 2016

Scottish Sea Farms is seeing one of its current crops outperform all previous years following the introduction of new anti-sea lice shields. Specially engineered to suit Scottish marine conditions, each shield consists of a permeable fabric that lets water and oxygen move freely into fish pens whilst keeping natural health threats out. This fabric fully encases the pen to a depth of 6m, providing a barrier against sea lice which are most commonly found in the first few meters below the water’s surface.

Following the recent opening of the first fish feed plant in Vijayawada, Cargill has opened its Technology Application Center (TAC) in Kaikaluru. The center encompasses 3.60 hectares and 20 fish and shrimp ponds. It also features a training facility and research station that supports innovation in aquatic feed development. \"This center will enable Cargill to speed up the pace of product development and deliver better feed solutions to shrimp and fish farmers alongside our new fish feed plant.\"

Vietnam is the leading country in Asia and the 10th in the world in animal feed production. However, the rapid expansion of foreign producers in Vietnam is posing threat to local firms. According to Hoang Huong Giang from the ministry’s Animal Husbandry Department, there are 218 animal feed plants Vietnam, with an average monthly capacity of 28,200 tonnes. Of these, 71 are foreign firms, with an average monthly capacity of more than 15,700 tonnes and hold a market share of some 65 per cent.

With salmon prices soaring, producers are turning to lasers, automation and artificial intelligence to boost production and cut costs. New technology includes a hydro-acoustic system that listens to salmon feeding to determine when they are satiated. \"I think it could improve [expenditure] by about 5%. That could be between $900,000-$1.3m for our firm.\"