Researchers at Nutriad have written an article on how adding lyso-phospholipids and bile salts to aquaculture feeds can improve the absorption efficiency of major nutrients, particularly lipids, by fish. The article describes different digestibility enhancers and illustrates the potential of their application in aquafeed to reduce cost while optimizing digestive potential and growth performance.

The American Feed Industry Association has published its biannual print and online magazine, AFIA Journal, to keep members, association friends and affiliates of AFIA up-to-date on organization, industry and government information.

FAO has released its latest official world fishery and aquaculture statistics report, the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2018. According to the report, aquaculture is responsible for the continuing impressive growth in the supply of fish for human consumption. With 5.8 percent annual growth rate during the period 2001–2016, aquaculture continues to grow faster than other major food production sectors.

EUFOMA has updated their Country Profiles. EUMOFA Country Profiles offer a detailed snapshot of the fisheries and aquaculture supply chain of each EU country, providing data and information on the following: position of the country in the world & in the EU; fishing fleet and gear composition; producer organizations; landings; aquaculture; first sales; wholesale; processing, trade; supply chain structure; supply balance; and consumption. 

Feed and residual use for the four feed grains and wheat for 2018/19 is projected at 143.4 million metric tons, 0.2 million tons below last month’s projection. U.S. feed grain supplies are projected 2 million metric tons lower at 428.8 million due to reduced corn beginning stocks resulting from higher exports and slightly lower imports in the 2017/18 balance sheet.

U.S. feed grain supplies are projected 18 million metric tons lower at 430.8 million tons, mostly due to a production decline. Feed and residual use for the four feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) and wheat for 2018/19 projected at 143.6 million metric tons, 2.7 million below 2017/18. Declines were seen for corn and oats, while wheat feeding is projected to increase.

U.S. Feed Additives and Feed Pre-mixed with Additives Approved for Imports to China and Feed Raw Materials, Pet Food and Compound Feed Approved for Imports to China by Countries and Regions (Updated to March 1, 2018)

FAO’s Global Aquaculture Production Quantity and Value Statistics have been published online with the time series updated to cover 67 years from 1950 to 2016 (value data from 1984 to 2016). There are statistical details significantly improved retroactively for some back years for some countries, including a few global and regional major producing countries. The organization has also released a pen drive of all its publications.

‘Innovation and The Ripple Effect’ by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) is published today – a progress report for 2014-2017

Projected U.S. 2017/18 feed and residual use for the four feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) and wheat is projected at 148.9 million metric tons this month, 2.5 million lower than last month’s 151.4 million. World coarse grain production for 2017/18 is reduced 2.3 million tons this month to 1,321.9 million.

According to the recently released U.S. Animal Food Consumption Report, a total of approximately 708,000 tons of aquaculture feed was fed to 493.9 million catfish, 1.4 billion shrimp, 186.9 million trout, 44.5 million tilapia, 7.4 million hybrid striped bass and 25.9 yellow perch in 2016. More than 27 percent of this amount came from soybean meal.

An oral vaccine delivered via fish feed that protects European sea bass as tiny as 1 gram from Viral Nervous Necrosis (VNN) could be ready for market in the next 12 to 18 months if everything goes according to plan for VakSea. The vaccine is grown in cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) larvae, which are then ground up and manufactured with other aquafeed ingredients into pellet form. It is then administered to fish during their normal feeding regimens.

One of the systems needed in nearly every feed mill is compressed air to operate equipment in the plant. The proper design and installation of a compressed air system often isn’t thought about. This article discusses compressed air uses and the components of a properly designed compressed air system. 

According to a recent report, EU fisheries for non-food use constituted approximately 20% of the catches in volume and 3% in value in 2016. The main catching Member State was Denmark, accounting for 78% of total EU landings in volume. The catches for non-food use goes mainly to the production of fishmeal and fish oil. The EU produces approximately 500.000 tonnes of fishmeal and 120.000 tonnes of fish oil each year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published its annual report summarizing sales and distribution data for all antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals. The 2016 report shows that antimicrobial sales decreased from 2015 to 2016, with domestic sales and distribution of all antimicrobials decreasing by 10 percent and domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials decreasing by 14 percent.

According to Rabobank's 'Global Animal Protein Outlook Report for 2018,' animal protein production is expanding around the world, and increasing competition between the species and in trade flows is creating many areas of opportunity for both producers and processors. The report states that in seafood, sustainable growth of the seafood industry solely depends on aquaculture, although Rabobank expects the wild catch industry to recover after El Niño recedes in 2017.

Organizers of Aquaculture Europe 2017 have released a summary report of the event. The report contains a wrap-up of the conference, parallel session summaries, and poster awards. The theme of the event was “Cooperation for Growth” and this was addressed by three plenary sessions that paved the way for the parallel sessions of oral and poster presentations derived from a record submission of 752 abstracts.

A 3.6-bushel-per-acre boost in the forecast national average corn yield, reported in USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Crop Production report, resulted in a near 300-million-bushel increase in U.S. corn supplies to 16.9 billion bushels. World coarse grain production is projected higher this month, led by the increase in U.S. production.

A new report estimates that the global fishmeal market will experience steady growth during the 2017-2027 forecast period. In 2017, the global fishmeal market is valued a bit under US$6 Bn and is estimated to reach a valuation of approximately US$10 Bn by the end of the period of assessment. The main factors contributing to the growth of the global fishmeal market are rising demand for naturally sourced protein additives in animal feed, expansion of the feed industry, and extensive salmon aquaculture farming, among others.

In the October FAO News Report on Grains, it is reported that some of Europe’s biggest trade partners fear a potential EU ban on glyphosate could hit exports of crops ranging from Australian wheat to Brazilian soybeans. It was also reported that world grain markets have a recipe for strong volatility.