The United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) has launched the first aquaculture feed formulation database which lists 293 different ingredients for more than 20 different species group.

The Asian Aquaculture Feed Formulation Database (AAFFD) was set up because the organisation felt that the industry did not have all the nutritional information needed to formulate the best diets.

Lukas Manomaitis, Southeast Asia technical director for USSEC worked with a consortium led by University of Guelph aquaculture expert Dominique Bureau, to create the database, which lists 293 different ingredients for more than 20 different species groups, including the main farmed species tilapia, pangasius and carp and lesser known species such as abalone and sturgeon.

The database has two sub-databases; one for nutrient specifications for the different farmed species and the other for ingredient specifications.

The AAFFD was rolled out at seven workshops held in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and USSEC worked with feedmill formulators to enable delegates to formulate in real time.

The database will be invaluable as a basic tool to formulators by giving them an understanding of the different ingredients available and Manomaitis hopes that feed companies will use the website, add information about their own ingredients, and provide feedback.

The database can be accessed here.