july | august 2012 - international aquafeed

Volume 15 I s sue 4 2 012

the international magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

Tough environment produces world’s best Barramundi

EXPERT TOPIC - Tilapia– a collection of articles creating a worldwide

perspective

Noise– a source of stress for farmed fish

Enzymes– Unlocking the hidden potential of plant

proteins using solid state fermentation technology

Enzymes to improve water and soil quality in

aquaculture ponds

Volume 15 / Issue 4 / July-August 2012 / © Copyright Perendale Publishers Ltd 2012 / All rights reservedWHO CARES...…If profits in the aquaculture industry are as appetising as a salmon dinner?

As feed prices soar and formulation moves towards sustainability, aquaculture producers must think differently to stay on the menu.

In all phases of the fish’s life, proper nutrition will improve health. With decades of dedicated research, the “Alltech Aqua Advantage” programme responds to the challenges of today’s aquaculture producers

through nutritional innovation, addressing issues such as growth and performance, feed efficiency, flesh quality and immunity.

So, when asked who cares about your profitability? Remember

DOES!

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An internAtionAl mAgAzine for the AquAculture feed industryCONTENTS

aquaI n t e r n a t I o n a l

feed

Volume 15 / Issue 4 / July-August 2012 / © Copyright Perendale Publishers Ltd 2012 / All rights reserved

International Aquafeed is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. ©Copyright 2012 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1464-0058

Aqua News

3 EuropeanCommissioner:Europeanaquaculturethebestbutstagnant4 SFPreleasesannualsustainabilityoverview

offisheriesusedforfishmealandfishoil5 Alltech’s2012SymposiumisintheiBooks5 AQUCULTUREUPDATES6 AQUCULTUREUPDATES7 IFFOBacksMarineMammalandTurtleConservationinSouthAmerica8 AQUCULTUREUPDATES8 BestAquaculturePracticeswelcomesMarineHarvestCanadasalmonfarms

Features

28 Noise-asourceofstressforfarmedfish

32 Unlockingthehiddenpotentialofplantproteinsusingsolidstatefermentationtechnology

36 Enzymestoimprovewaterandsoilqualityinaquacultureponds

38 FishFarmMonitoring

Regular items

14 EXPERTTOPIC-TILAPIA24 PHOTOSHOOT42 INDUSTRYEVENTS

Preview-Aqua2012 Review-AquacultureUK2012

45 THEAQUACULTURISTS49 CLASSIFIEDADVERTS50 THEAQUAFEEDINTERVIEW52 INDUSTRYFACES

www.perendale.co.uk

EditorProfessorSimonDaviesEmail: [email protected]

Associate EditorsProfessorKrishenRanaEmail: [email protected]

AliceNealEmail: [email protected]

Editorial Advisory Panel•Abdel-FattahM.El-Sayed(Egypt)•ProfessorAntónioGouveia(Portugal)•ProfessorCharlesBai(Korea)•ColinMair(UK)•DrDanielMerrifield(UK)•DrDominiqueBureau(Canada)•DrElizabethSweetman(Greece)•DrKimJauncey(UK)•EricDeMuylder(Belgium)

•DrPedroEncarnação(Singapore)

Subscription & CirculationTutiTanEmail: [email protected]

Design & Page LayoutJamesTaylorEmail: [email protected]

International Marketing Team

DarrenParrisEmail: [email protected]

LeeBastinEmail: [email protected]

Latin American Office

IvànMarquettiEmail: [email protected]

More information: International Aquafeed7 St George's Terrace, St James' SquareCheltenham, GL50 3PT United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1242 267706Website: www.aquafeed.co.uk

Iwrite this editorial from the Perendale Publishers office in Cheltenham. Its always apleasure to be in the Cotswolds of England. In this month I would like to formallywelcomenewstafftothePerendalegroup,especiallyAlice,ournewAssociateEditor.Hercontributionisalreadyshowinginournewcontentideasandlayout.

Apartfromourregularfeatures,wenowincludeanewfocus on species, either established or under develop-mentaspotentialcandidatesforrearing.

ThiseditionincludesareportonBaramundi,byRobertTaylor of Marine Produce Australia.The attributes ofthisexcellentlyflavouredandtexturedfishishighlightedin relation to it's unique growing environment andhusbandryconditions.

We turn toTilapia as our selected focus species, witha sequenceof articles ranging fromnutritional aspectssuch as dietary additives, to a article looking at theimportanceofgenetic strainsandhatchery technology,bymyfellowWelshman,EricRoderickofFishGen.

IngridLupatschoftheCentreforSustainableAquaculture,SwanseaUniversity,WalesaddressesfeedformulationandfeedingstrategiesforTilapiawithadetailedexaminationofgrowthrates,proteinrequirementandbio-genetics.

ThesustainingofTilapiasupplyfromaChineseperspectiveisreportedbyHanHan-ProgramManager,SustainableFisheriesPartnership.

"Silenceplease-cutthenoiseandvibrationifyoudesirestressfreefish!".RecentstudiesfromtheInstituteofAquaculture,StirlingScotland,demonstratetheimportanceofreducingnoiseandbackgroundacousticdisturbanceswithinproductionsystems.Thiscouldbeanimportantissueworthyoffurtherexplorationwithrelevancetoourconcernsforfishwelfare.

JohnSweetman,IoannisNengasandSergeCorneillieofAlltechprovideuswithaninsightintothe use of solid state fermentation products that can enhance the nutritional value of plantingredientsforfish.TheirworkisnotableforresearchconductedonGiltHeadSeaBreamintheMediterranean.

Onthethemeofregulatingtheenvironmentalimpactofaquaculture,wepresentaninterestingreportbyElizabethMayerofBiominontheapplicationsofbothenzymetechnologyandmicro-organisms (probiotics) administered to pond water and soil.The process of bioremediationoffersgreatpotentialtoimprovetheyieldsoffishandshrimpinopenpondculture,byimprovinggrowthandfeedefficiency.

Additionallyasmentionedinthelastissue,wesummarizemyvisitwithDrDanielMerrifieldtotheAquacultureAmerica2012eventinLasVegasinourphotoshootsection.

Aswellasournumeroustopicalindustrycontributions,wehaveournewsreportsandupdateson forthcoming events in the aquaculture sector andrelatedareas.Thelatterisnowpresentedasadefinedsection within each edition, and the current issuehighlightstheAqua2012,EuropeanAquacultureSociety(EAS)meeting inPrague,CzechRepublic.Wehopetoseemanyofyouthere.

Fornow,greetingsagainfromtheCheltenhamHQ

Professor Simon Davies


Croeso (Welcome in Welsh)

July-August 2012 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | 3

A note from the publisher

InthelastissueofINTERNATIONALAQUAFEEDaerrorwasmadewiththeauthornameonpage24-thename that should have appearedontheExpertTopicforPolandwas'AnnaPyc'.

In the same issue, we used theincorrecttextfileagainstthephoto-shootforAquaBioTechGroup.Thecorrectitemscanbefoundonpage48ofthisissue.

The International Aquafeed teamwould like to apologies to bothpartiesfortheerrors.


In May 2012, CommissionerM a r i a D a m a n a k i a n dNicolaus Berlakovich,Austrian

Minister ofAgriculture, Forestry,E nv i r onmen t a nd Wa te rManagement hosted a confer-ence on the future of EuropeanAquaculture.Theydiscussedhowthe European Commission, theMember States, the EuropeanParliament and the stakeholderscan ensure the successful futureofEuropeanaquaculture.

Firstly, the Commission intendsto star t a consultation processto identify the problems whichprevent European aquacultureformflourishing.

For example, competition forspaceisamajorchallengetotheeconomicdevelopmentof fresh-water fish farming or farmingsites in coastal areas.To tacklethis, theCommissionwill lookathowtositeaquaculture inwaterand on land, and also considerthe potential co-location withother economic activities. For

example, some Member Statesareresearchingtheoptiontoco-develop aquaculture with windfarmsorsolarenergyplants.

At present, many aquaculturefarms are located in or close toNatura 2000 areas which con-tribute to the maintenance andpreservation of aquatic biodiver-sity.The Commission is devel-opinga setofguidelines to illus-trate the compatibility of aqua-culture activities and the Natura2000natureconservationobjec-tives.

Secondly, customers oftenhave limited access to infor-mation about the fish they buy.The Commission wil l worktowards highlighting qualityfeaturesproperly. Inaddition, theproposedcreationofanAdvisoryCouncil forAquaculture in ourCFP Reform will provide a per-manentconsultationforumforallinterested parties and can con-tributetothisperspective.

The Commiss ion real ises

that EU countr ieshave differ ing aqua-culture ambitions sothe European frame-work they suggest willbe limited to the mainpriorities and generaltargets.

Onamorepersonallevel, Ms Damanakimade some inter-esting remarks onthe matter on her blog. Shebelieves that European aquacul-tureisthebestintheworldbutisstagnant.However,sheispositiveabout the future, stating, "torevive EU aquaculture we needcoordinated action by all levelsof authorities, EU, national andregional:let’sworktogether."

About the European Commission

The European Commissionoversees and implements EUpoliciesby:

1. proposing new laws to

ParliamentandtheCouncil

2. managing the EU's budgetandallocatingfunding

3. enforcing EU law (togetherwiththeCourtofJustice)

4. representing the EU inter-nationally, for example, bynegotiat ing agreementsbetween the EU and othercountries.

ThereisoneCommissionerforeach of the 27 member states.EachCommissionertakesrespon-sibilityforonepolicyarea.

EuropeanCommissioner:Europeanaquaculturethebestbutstagnant


Aqua News

Susta inab l e F i s he r i e sPar tnership (SFP) hasreleased the annual sus-

tainability overview of fisheriesusedforfishmealandfishoil.Theoverview (previously known asthe‘Reduction Fisheries LeagueTable’) covers the 28 principalreduction fisheries around theAtlantic and South Americarated according to the sustain-abilityassessmentpresentedonFishSource (www.fishsource.com).The ratings arebasedonthe most recent assessmentperiod for which comparabledata is available as of May 14,2012.

In summary, the briefing con-cludes that for Atlantic andSouthAmerican reduction fish-eries:• No fishery featured in the

survey scores more thaneight across all FishSourcecriteria (categoryA – thetopcategory).

• 62.4 percent of the catchcomes f rom f i sher iesthat score above six in allcriteriaAND the score forbiomass (score 4) is eightor above meaning biomassis at or above target levels(categoryB1).These stocksare in very good shape,although may merit someimprovements in manage-mentregime.

• 8.3 percent of the catchcomes from fisheries thatscore six or above acrossallcriteriabutdonotscoreabove eight for biomass(category B2).These fish-eries are in good shapebut would benefit fromimprovements in manage-mentregime.

• 29.3 percent of the catchcomes from fisheries thatscorebelow sixonat leastone of the criteria.Thesefisheries have not beeneffectivelymanagedandsig-nificant improvements arerequired.

• Only three fisheries, repre-senting 6.7 percent of thecatch, score below six on

biomass and thus requireurgentimprovements.Theseare: European pilchard –Iberian,anchoveta–Chileanregions v–x, and Chileanjackmackerel.

• Cumulatively, 70.7 percentofthecatchfromthesefish-eries score six or above

on all five criteria – thisis broadly in line with therequirementsofexistingandproposed aquaculture feedsustainabilitystandards.

• Noreductionfisheryiscur-rently managed within anecosystem-based fisheriesmanagement regime.Thissituation needs to improvesignificantly. Fisheries thathaveestablishedasuccessfulsinglespeciesstockmanage-mentregimeshouldnowbelooking to evolve an eco-system-based approach toensure sustainability in thefuture.

• Changes in fishery scoresfrom2009to2010indicateasmalldeclineintheoverallscores.There were reduc-tions in the volumes ofcatch in categoriesA andB1 and an associated risein volumeof catch in cate-gories B2 and C. It cannotbeconcludedfromthedatathat the sustainability statusof reduction fisheries is indecline, but it is unlikely tohaveimproved.

• Changes for specific fish-eriesfrom2009to2010aresummarisedintable1.

Theresultsoftheoverviewwillprove invaluable to fishmealandfish oil buyers seeking guidanceon sustainable sourcing as wellasmanufacturers of aquacultureandfarmanimalfeeds.Buyersofaquacultureproductsandorgan-isations developing aquacul-ture standards will also find the

data useful in helping to shapepolicies.

Commentingon the launchofthe Sustainability Overview, JimCannon, CEO of SustainableFisheriesPartnership,said:

“In releasing this information,weaimtoencouragetheworld'sfishmeal and fish oil suppliersand forage fisheries to engagein improvement efforts, with apriorityon improvingthosefish-eries that currently fall short ofcurrent single-speciesbestprac-tices, and ensuring that all thefisheries move towards eco-system-basedmanagement.”

More InforMatIon:Website: www.sustainablefish.org

SFPreleasesannualsustainabilityoverviewoffisheriesusedforfishmealandfishoil

table 1: Changes for specific fisheries from 2009 to 2010

Fishery Change in category

Gulf menhaden – Gulf of Mexico B2 to B1

Blue whiting – northeast atlantic C to B1

Capelin – Icelandic C to B2

atlantic herring – north Sea autumn spawners a to B1

lesser sandeel – southeast north Sea B1 to C

atlantic horse mackerel – northeast atlantic western stock B1 to C

european pilchard – Iberian B2 to C

4 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | July-August 2012 July-August 2012 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | 5

Aqua News

The Industry

view

AQUACULTURE

Aquaculture is the future food source

by Kim Pagh

ANDRITZFEED&BIOFUELisbehindthedevelopmentofuniqueextrusionprogramsfortheproductionofallkindsoffishfeed,shellfishfeedandpetfood.

Alargegrowthwithinfishfarminginallregionsoftheworldmeansacorrespondinggrowthinthedemandforaquaticfeed.Successinbreedingfishrequirescorrectlyadaptedfeedformulaswithcon-trolledhomogeneouscontentandexactphysicalproperties.

Theextruderaccountsforthekeyprocessinthiscomplexproduc-tionline,whichconsistsofallprocessesfromthereceiptofrawmaterialstothefinishedproduct.

ANDRITZFEED&BIOFUELisauniquecompanywiththeabilitytomanufactureandsupplyeachandeverymachineinthefeedextrusionline.Withanintricateknowledgeofeachkeyprocess,wecansupplyacompatibleandhomogeneoussolutionfromrawmaterialintaketofinishedfeedbagging.

SHARE YOU NEWS

Sendyourpressreleasesto

AliceNealforinclusioninthe

magazine.

Emailyouritemsto:

[email protected]

The Alltech 28th AnnualInternational Symposium,held May 20 - 23, 2012,

inLexington,Kentucky,USA,wasavenueforcloseto3,000dele-gates fromaroundtheworldtodiscuss the future of agricultureandthechallengeoffeedingninebillion people by 2050, as wellas to explore the wide rangeof possible solutions to meetthat challenge.While the 2012Symposium is already 'in thebooks', the experience lives onin theAlltech28th InternationalSymposium iBook,which isnowpubliclyavailablethroughApple’siBookstoreandiTunes.

TheAlltech Symposium iBookoffersaninsidelookattheannualinternational event through acollectionofphotos, videos andar ticles. It is available as freedownload for the iPad throughtheiBookstoreorthroughiTunesforcomputers.

“The Alltech Symposium isan exhilarating event filledwithcontagious energy and exciting

newideas—youreallyhaveto see it to believe it,” saidCatherine Keogh, Alltech’schief marketing officer.“ThisiBook is agreatway for thedelegates who attended torelive the experiences theyhadthisyear ;andforanyonewho couldn’t attend, thisis an oppor tunity to get aglimpse at what this inter-nationaleventwasallabout.The great thing about thisformat is that through thephotos and video, the storyoftheeventcanreallycomealive.”

T h e 2 8 t h A n n u a lInternational Symposiumwas the forum for presen-tations by more than 170industr y exper ts in areasincluding aquaculture, beef,dairy, equine, food, informa-tion technology, legal, poultry,pig,petandregulatory.

More InforMatIon:www.alltech.com

Alltech’s2012SymposiumisintheiBooks


Aqua News

Anexceptionalalgaebloomhasbeendetectedoffthecoastof Ireland. Seawater samples submitted to Marine InstitutehaveshownthepresenceofaspeciesofPhytoplanktonthatcanharmmarineanimals.Somemortalityhasbeenreportedamong oysters, cockles and lugworms from the Mayo toDonegalcoastalregions.

Chinaistobuildaquacultureresearchcentre.ThehubwillbeinthecityofSanshaintheSouthChinaSeaandwillfocusonfish,shrimpandalgaebreeding.

Your BusinessDriven by Innovations

Your BusinessDriven by Innovations

Hanover / Germany13 – 16 November 2012

The world´s top event for animal production

The Marketplace for Aquaculture

Top exhibitors from all areas of fi sh farming, processing & water treatment

Information about new trends in Forum Aquaculture – market-driven and geared to practice

Visit the Aquaculture Advisory Centre to obtain individual solutions and make new contacts

Fish-Party and meetings

Hotline: +49 69/24788-265www.eurotier.com/aquaculture

includingDieses Projekt wirdvon der EuropäischenGemeinschaftkofinanziert.

This project is being co-fi nanced by the European Community

RZ_105x297_Anzeigen_Fisch ET_EN.indd 1 28.06.12 12:08

AQUCULTUREUPDATES


The Industry

view

AQUACULTURE

Beneficial bacteria in intensive aquaculture

by Elisabeth Mayer, Technical Manager for Probiotic Additives in Aquaculture, BIOMIN, Austria

Overthelastdecades,technologicaladvanceshaveledtoculturefishandshrimpatmoreandmoreintensiveproductionconditions.InThailand,forexample,traditionallyblacktigershrimpwerefarmed,butsince2001therewasadrasticswitchtothemoredisease-resistantpacificwhiteshrimp,whichcurrentlycorrespondsto99percentofThaishrimpproduction.

Atthistime,theaveragestockingden-sityfortigershrimpwasapproximately40–50animals/m²,butthishasincreasedtoabout120-200whiteshrimp/m²withtwotothreetimesgreaterprofits.However,withsuch

highproductiondensities,higherfeed-ingratesandthusincreasedorganicmatterlevelsintheponds,againprob-lemsofhigherdiseasesusceptibilityandeventhedevelopmentofnewdis-easeshavetobefaced.Whileyellowhead/whitespotsyndromevirusesandvibriosisseverelyimpactedproductionsincethe90s,whitefecesdiseaseisanewerpathologicalentity.Thesechangesinproductionconditions,therelatedimpactsofaquacultureonthewaterandpondbottomqual-ityandthebanofantibioticgrowthpromotersinimportingcountrieshasledtothesearchforsustainableandenvironmentally-friendlyalternatives.

Anaturalsolution,whichIhavebeenworkingonthelastthreeyears,isthe(preventive)applicationofbeneficialbacteria,probioticandbiodegradingstrains,infishandshrimpfeedorintheirponds.Suchproductsimprovegut/growthperformanceandwaterquality,enhancebacterialflocforma-tionandpromotethereductionofpathogenicbacteriaandpondbottomsludge.

Beneficialbacteriahasbecomewellacceptedandwidelyusedinaquac-ulturewithinthelastyears.WhileIseeonmyvisitstoAsiaandSouthAmericasomefarmersproducingtheirownundefinedbacteriamixtureinthe‘backyard’,agrowingnumberareask-ingforhighqualityproductsfermentedunderoptimalandtailor-madecondi-tions.Underthesecircumstances,thefarmerknowswhichstrains,atwhatconcentrationanddosagehedistrib-utesinhispondsandappliestohisfishandshrimpforbetterperformanceandincreasedprofitsthroughhighersurvivalevenathighstockingdensities.SomeproducershavesuccessfullymanagedwhitefecesdiseasebyusingprobioticproductscontainingbacteriathatinhibitthegrowthofpathogenicVibriospp.,whichhavebeenrelatedwiththedisease.

Aqua News

FEATURESEveryissueofInternationalAquafeedisavailabletoviewonlineinourArchive

section.Bothfullonlineeditionsandindividualfeaturescanbeviewed,andit

iscompletelyfree.

www.aquafeed.co.uk/archive.php

AQUCULTUREUPDATESBFAR's65thyearhighlightsconservation,pro-motion of sustainable fisheries.The Bureauof Fisheries andAquatic Resources' (BFAR),Philippines, 65th yearhighlights theprotectionofthecountry’sfisheriesandaquaticresourcesas set by environmental degradation causedbymanand thatofclimatechange. Inapressstatement, BFAR DirectorAtty.Asis G. Perezsaidthatplanningandcollaborationwithstake-holderswillhelp inthis task.Henotedthat inWesternMindanaoforinstance,bothmarginalandcommercialfishersarereportingincreasesintheirsardinecatch.Hesaidthatthesuccesswas attributed to the industry’s compliancewiththethree-monthclosedseasonalongwiththe government’s strict enforcement of theban.“Taal Lake is also another case in point.Whereas last year, our fish farmers had lostmillionsofpesos;thisyear,therehasnotbeenasinglecaseofamajorfiskkilldespitethecriticalfluctuations in water brought about by thehabagat season,” Perez said. He also said thattunafishershavesomethingtolookforwardtoascatchisexpectedtoriseafterthetwo-yearfishing ban of tuna in the so-called pockets1 and 2 of the high seas or those coveredby theWestern and Central Pacific FisheriesCommission.The ongoing aquasilvicultureprogramalsocontinuestoprovideanadditionalsource of income to fisher-families in theseareas, Perez said, more so after an estimatednumberofsixmillionmangrovepropagulesorseedlings planted in the coastal regions. PerezsaidthattheBFARiscurrentlystrengtheningitsfisherieslawenforcementprogramthroughtheformationofQuickResponseTeams(QRT)inallits16regionsnationwide,whichwascreated"tostrengthenseaprotectioneffortsbycurbingillegalfishinginlinewiththegovernment’sgoaloferadicatingtheabuseofthecountry’smarineresources."IncelebrationofBFAR'sanniversary,therewasaseriesofeventsincludingafoodfair,timecapsuleandstampseries. Inaddition, thebureau will also launch the‘Angry Fish’ essaywriting contest for high school students, andthe endangered fish drawing/painting contestforcollegiatestudents.

MusselgrowersKnightSomervillePartnershiphasbeengranteda20-yearconsenttodevelopa4.35mussel farmatTuhitarataBay inPelorusSound,NewZealand.ThenewscomesafterthecompanywasforcedtohalveitsoriginalplansinMay2012afterresidentopposition.

Japan has tightened its rules forVietnameseshrimp imports. The government has uppedtestingformfivepercentto30percentofimportsfollowingthedetectionofethoxyquin.

IFFO(theInternationalFishmealandFishOilOrganisation) is backing an initiativeby one of its members, the Compañía

Pesquera Camanchaca (Camanchaca),which aims to teach fishermen the art ofenvironmental stewardship, better pro-tecting marine animals including dolphins,seaturtlesandsharks.

The initiative provides training for theseniorcrewwhoworkaboardCamanchaca’svessels that land in the northern ChileanportofIquique.Theschemewillcontributetowards the gathering of vital researchinformationthatwillbeusedtohelpintheconservation of protected marine species.The first seminar took place duringApril2012.

IFFO has developed a Global Standardfor Responsible Supply (IFFO RS) forFishmeal and FishOil. Its overarching pro-gramme includes the goal to reduce anypotentialenvironmentalimpactarisingfromfishing catches made within its responsiblymanagedfisheries.

Camanchaca was one of the first com-panies in Chile to have its factories cer-tified under the IFFO RS standard earlierthis year. It hasnow formedapartnershipwiththeDepartmentofMarineSciencesoftheArturoPratUniversityanditsTechnicalTrainingCentre,toofferspecialisedtrainingseminarstothefishermen.

Large marine animals are sometimescaptured in the fishing nets designed tocatchsmalloilyfishsuchasanchovyandsardine, ingredients used in the pro-duction of fishmeal for animal feedand fish oil for human consumption.IFFO is keen to ensure that its membersareawareoftheimportanceofconservingmarinecreaturesaspartofthemarineeco-system.

Topics covered at the seminars includethe ability to identify and correctly recorddataonprotectedmarinemammals foundoff the coastofnorthernChile, aswell aslearning how to safely return these crea-tures to theseawith theminimumriskofdamage.MrAdolfoCarvajal,Camanchaca’sManagerfortheNorthernFishingArea,said,“Sustainable development requires us totakeaction inorder tocontrol the impactofouractivitiesonthemarineenvironmentandwithoutadoubtwehavenowunder-takenactions inthisrespect.Thesetrainingseminarsforourseniorcrewmemberswillallow them to demonstrate Camanchaca’scommitment to the responsible sourcingoffish”.

Andrew Jackson,Technical Director at

IFFO, said,“IFFO is delighted to see thisexcellent initiative from Camanchaca inChile and indeed other recent develop-ments in SouthAmerica regarding thequantification and avoidance of the inci-dental catches of marine mammals andsea tur tles. In creating the IFFO RSstandardwewerehopeful that this typeof conservation programme would bedevelopedbyourmembersandwelookforward to hearing more good news inthefuture.”

The Chile based project follows onetakenlastyearinPeru,inwhichanumberof fishing companies working with envi-ronmental NGOs such as the MarineConser vat ion Society (MCS) andProDelphinusdistributedaseriesofturtleidentification and resuscitation guides andheldaseriesoftrainingcourses.

Dawn Purchase, Senior AquacultureOfficer atMCS, said,“I amdelightedwiththesuccessofthisprojectandthespin-offconservation courses being run for fish-ermen.The IFFO RS standard provides areal opportunity to promote change onthe water, which is what MCS strives toachieve. Increasing the identification skillsandconservationknowledgeofthesefish-ermen in both Peru and Chile is a greatway of achieving environmental steward-ship”.

IFFOBacksMarineMammalandTurtleConservationinSouthAmerica

IFFOTheInternational

FishmealandFishOilOrganisationrepresentsthefishmealandfishoilindustryworldwide.IFFO’smembersresideinmorethan30countries,accountfortwo-thirdsofworldproductionand80percentoffishmealandfishoiltradedworldwide.Approximately5milliontonnesoffishmealareproducedeachyearglobally,togetherwith1milliontonnesoffishoil.IFFO’sheadquartersarelocatedinStAlbansintheUnitedKingdomanditalsohasofficesinLima,Peru,andinBeijing,China.

More InforMatIon:Website: www.iffo.net


Aqua News

The Global AquacultureAl l iance (GAA) BestAquaculture Practices

(BAP) programme has fur therexpandeditscoverageofsalmonfacilities with the cer tificationof five Marine Harvest Canadasalmonfarmsites.

"Mar ine Har vest is a largeand highly respected interna-tionalproducer,andweareverypleasedtoseetheongoingpar-ticipation of such an industr yleader in the BAP program,"GAA President Chamber lainsaid."Itisfittingforthecompanyto demonstrate leadership notonly in volume, but also inresponsible production prac-tices."

Mar ine Har vest Canada isBritishColumbia's largestsalmonaquaculturecompany.

"We are extremely pleasedto have achieved this cer tifica-tion milestone, which demon-stratesourcommitmenttoenvi-ronmental integrity and con-tinual improvement throughoutour operations," Marine HarvestSustainability Director ClareBackmansaid.

"BAPcertificationvalidates thatourfarmingpracticesprotectthe

environment for local wildlife aswellasourfish,whileprovidingasafe and effective working envi-ronment for Marine HarvestCanadastaff,"PaulaGalloway,cer-tificationmanager,said.

In addition to the newly certi-fied sites, third-party BAP auditswillbeconductedatallremainingMarine Harvest Canada salmonfarms.Theseauditsareafirststeptoward the company's plan toachieve‘four-star’BAPstatus,withcertifiedsalmonfarms,processingplants, feed mill suppliers andfreshwaterhatcheries.

BAP cer tification is basedon the internat iona l BestAquaculture Practices stand-ards developed by the GlobalAquacultureAlliance, the leadingstandards-settingorganisation foraquaculture seafood. For salmonand other major farmed species,BAP requires effective manage-mentofanimalhealth,feedinputs,waterqualityandfoodsafety.Inaprocess that includessite inspec-tions and in-depth audits, socialresponsibility and traceability areadditionalrequirements.

More InforMatIon: Website: www.gaalliance.org/bap

BestAquaculturePracticeswelcomesMarineHarvestCanadasalmonfarms


Aqua News

Never ones to stand still, it’s been a busy few months at theAquaculturists.Wearefortunatetohaveanever-growinggang

ofonlinereadershungryfornews.Sowehavebeenworkingevenhardertodigoutthebestaquaculturenewsthewebhastooffer.InJunewestartedadailydigestpost,whichisaone-stopshopfortheday’smostrelevant,interesting,and(attimes)quirkystories.

As huge show fans, our columnists are still dedicated toposting the latest event news as soon aswe get it. Recently,we’ve also been having fun exploring the growing number ofaquaculturevideosonline.Beingsharingtypes,weputthecreamofthecropontheAquaculturists.

Butthereallyexcitingnewsisthenew-looktheAquaculturistsis sporting. Thebloghasbeengivenawell-deserved revamp,makingiteasiertonavigateandgenerallyabitprettier.

We think it looks great but would love to hear what youthink.Comeandsayhiat:

www.theaquaculturists.blogspot.com

Popular posts from the Aquaculturists:• TheseNASAsatelliteimagesshowhowshrimpfarminghas

changedaPacificcoastal landscapeover25years. http://bit.ly/O2Ek2Y

• The IBISWorld report into US aquaculture predicts thatafterthedownturnfollowingthe2010DeepwaterHorizonoilspillintheGulfofMexico,fishandaquaculturerevenuewill slowly improveover thenext fiveyears. http://bit.ly/LkbeF7

• Theadvantagesofraisingsterilefishincludebettertastingmeatandthepreventionofescapeefishmixinggeneswiththeir wild cousins says research by Nofima in Norway.http://bit.ly/N2zLD1

• Seoulhasbannedseafoodimportsof35Japanesemarineproducts,citingdangersofradiationcontaminationasthereasonbehindtheembargo.http://bit.ly/KXKVti

• KofiAnnantolddelegatesatAquaVision2012inStavanger,Norway,thataquaculturehasthepotentialtocontributetoreducingworldhunger.http://bit.ly/MD1A0L

• Critics of farmed salmon fear thatAtlantic salmon raisedin open-net cages can pass on diseases to wild salmon.However,anoutbreakoftheIHNvirusinBritishColumbiainMay2012appearstohavebeencausedbypassingwildstocks.http://bit.ly/Mp0dWx

• Video: Octopus steals video camera (while it’s filming).http://bit.ly/OoIWP3

The Aquaculturist

Aregularlookinsidetheaquacultureindustry

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TheNorwegianfoodresearchinstituteNofimahasenteredintoastrategic research alliancewithAlltech, oneof theworld’s largestanimalhealthandnutritioncompanies.Themaingoaloftheallianceisthedevelopmentoffeedfortheaquacultureindustry.TheAmericancompanyAlltech has the goal of achieving an annual turnover ofNOK25billion. Increased saleswithin the aquaculture sector areseenasakeyfactorinachievingthisgoal,andAlltechVicePresidentandChiefScientificOfficerKarlDawsonpointstotheimportanceoflong-termresearchcollaborationwiththeworld’s leadingresearchenvironments.“Thesalmonindustryfaceschallengesthatrequireaprogressivepartnershipwith research institutions that are focusedonfindinglong-termanswers.Thisagreementprovidesuswiththestructuretoworkwithalternativefeedingsolutions,whichisoneofthesalmonindustrylargestchallenges,”saysDawson.

RussianandJapanesegovernmentshavebegunnegotiationstolifttemporaryrestrictionsofJapanesefishandseaproducts.Importsofmarineproductsarecurrentlyonholdduetosafetyconcernsfollowing the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.Representatives frombothcountriesmet in July2012, todiscussthepossibilityofrestartingimportsfromJapan.

AQUCULTUREUPDATES


FEATURE

IF PURITY MATTERS

www.pronova.com

When, in January this year,Western AustralianEnvironment Minister BillMarmion signed off on an

application by Marine Produce Australia(MPA)toharvest2,000tonnesoftopqualitybarramundiattheConeBayoperationinthestate’svastfarnorth,hedidmorethanjustdouble the company’s existing productionlicense.

AftereightyearsandaroundAU$50mil-lioninresearchanddevelopmentbyMPAononeoftheworld’smostremoteaquacultureventures,MarmionsentasignaltotheworldthatfinallythewatersofftheAustralia’snorth-west coastwith their huge tideswere openforbusiness.

ConeBay in theBuccaneerArchipelagois 100km from the nearest town, Derby(population3380),whichinturnis2400kmnorth of theWestAustralian capital Perth

(population 2 million). The Kimberley asthe northern part of Western Australiais known, occupies some 421,000 squarekilometres with a total population of just25,000people.

Top-notch barraBut this speckon theAustraliancoastline

israpidlymakinganameforitselfamongthenation’s best chefs as the hot spot for farmgrownfinfish.It’sallinthetides.

AstopAustralianfoodcriticRobBroadfieldwrote in The West Australian newspaperrecently, “Cone Bay Barra swim and swimandswimagainstthemassivetidesfrominsidetheir sea pens. They are perhaps the fittestfishonearthwhichiswhytheirfat–andfatis what barramundi flavour is all about – isspread evenly throughout the body (theirlaidbackestuarinecousinshavepotbellies incomparison).

“Thenthere’s theclean,briny flavouranda clear opaque flesh: aconsequenceofalifelivedin the warm waters oftheIndianOceannorthofDerby,”saysMrBroadfield.

ConeBay,withtidesofup to 11 metres twice aday, is fantastic for grow-ing fishbuttheKimberley,with temperatures push-ingabove50°cdegrees inthe wet season, crocodileinfested waters and hugedistances between tinysettlements is tough onhumans.

A happy accidentIttooksomethingofan

historical accident for the

areaevertobeconsideredforfishfarminginthefirstplace.

Broome, Derby, and the BuccaneerArchipelago have been the centre of theAustralian pearling industry for more than100 years. MPA’s lease over 700 hectaresof Cone Bay was initially granted by theWAFisheriesDepartmentasapearl farm-ing licence to the Hutton family’s pearlingcompany.

“The original licence was to do someresearch on the black lipped pearl, wetrialed and seeded that species of shellbut that fellbythewaysideastheTahitianand Polynesian black-lipped productionincreased,”saysJohnHutton,aformerAFLfootballernowheadingthefamily’saquacul-tureoperations.

ThelicenceinConeBaywasrenewableevery12monthsandthepearlingcompanycontinued to keep it going as staff testedotherspecies.

Meanwhile, Mr Hutton and his fel-low investors in MPA were looking foran alternative viable aquaculture species.The Fisheries Department pointed theHuttons in the direction of the blacktigerprawnandthecompanyspentthreeyears experimenting with the species,re-booting a rundownprawn farm in theNorthernTerritory.

When a group of investors dropped intoConeBayonthebackofa trip tocheckoutthe prawn operations in Darwin, a light bulbwenton.

“On that trip one investor wanderedoff, grabbed a small handful of feed andthrew it into what effectively was a bigwine barrel containing barramundi finger-lings.They startedattacking the topof thewaterwherethefeedwasandtheinvestor

Tough environment produces world’s best Barramundi

10 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | July-August 2012

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by Robert Taylor, Marine Produce Australia, www.marineproduceaustralia.com.au

declared thatwemusthavebarramundi inMPA,”saidMrHutton.

Biting the bulletIn 2004, the company announced to the

world it was entering into the fish farmingbusiness and kicked off with two small seacagesof40metrecircumferencegrowingthelocal Lates calcarifer, or Barramundi, foundacrossthenorthofAustralia.

A fact finding mission to Tassal’s salmonoperationinTasmaniafollowedandthecom-pany was soon confronted with a choicebetweencontinuingwiththeblacktigerprawnsandrampingupthebarramundioperation.

The prawn market was competitive withChinese importscontinuallyundercutting thelocal producers and consumers barely dis-criminating on quality, but the barramundioptionwasaleapintotheunknown.

“ConeBayBarramundiwaspurelyresearchand development, no one had ever donefinfishfarmingintheKimberleyandweweremaking educated assumptions as we wentalong.Howtodoseacages,thesebigplasticpipessittingonthewater,”saysMrHutton.

“We knew our anchoring systems withregardtolonglinesfromourpearlingopera-tionsbutwehadtotakethatknowledgeandadopt ittocircularseacageswithtenmetretidestwiceaday.”

Fingerlings from theDarwin Aquaculture hatch-ery where flown in eskiestoBroome,driventoDerbyandthenflowntoConeBayby helicopter at a cost ofAU$20,000atrip.

But those tides whichmeant no water pumping,and the 30°c water whichmeant no artificial heating,gavethecompanyaninsightinto the area’s potential forfarmingthelocalbarramundi,ahardy,marketablefishthathadalreadyproveditsfarm-ing durability in operationsonAustralia’seastcoast.

Thecompanybitthebul-let, sold the prawn businessand poured its resourcesinto growing barramundi atConeBay.

Reaching critical mass

In the eight years since the previouslyAustralianStockExchangelistedvehicleTigerInternational has morphed into the unlistedentityMarineProduceAustralia.

The company’s 800 investors have

been subject to regular rounds of fundraising as the capital intensive businesstook two steps forward and one-stepback battling to overcome conditionsas diverse as sky-high wages caused by


FEATURE

WA’sminingboom,aconfidencesappingglobal financial crisis, and bureaucraticredtape.

“To get to what we saw as being criti-cal mass, the 2,000 tonne, has taken a verylongtime.Fourto fiveyearsof lobbyingandanswering questions and doing studies andresearch into whether barramundi has the

ability tobe an aquaculture species that canexpand and gain approval from the WAGovernment,”saidMrHutton.

Initially thecompany sought and receivedlicenses from the Department of Fisheriesforsmallproduction levelsupto150tonnesperyear.

ButbeforelongtheEPA,whichhadbeencarved out of the break-up of the WesternAustralian Department of Environment bythe Carpenter Labor Government decidedthat MPA’s venture required more than anaquaculturelicense.

“The EPA become involved when theydecided the tonnagesaresuch that theywillstart having in their view an impact on theenvironment,”saidMrHutton.

“Wewere alwaysof the view that thereneedn’tbeafigureandthatapprovalsshouldbe based on an output, performance-basedmonitoring regime but the EPA has insisted

on input restrictions and output restrictionsandlimitedproductionto1,000tonnes.”

That equated to stocking rate of just1.5 tonnes a hectare compared to stockingrates in other jurisdictions, world heritageTasmania for instance, of 28 tonnes perhectare inwaterswith little tidalmovement.Nevertheless, the EPA, with no formal WAguidelinestoworkfromslappedthecompanywiththestate’shighestlevelofscrutiny–afullpublicenvironmentalreview.

Ittooktwofinanciallytoughyearstocom-pletethePERduringwhichthecompanywas

required to keep tonnages around the 350mark. But in a way the disciplines imposedduring this timehasbeen themakingof thecompany.

“It was tough financially but we startedto see major results from our research anddevelopment.Moving40metrecagesizesto60metrecagesizes–yestheywork.Differentanchoring systems, tying off systems, feedingsystems, establishing markets, operation sys-temsandcapabilities,”saidMrHutton.

Backedupbytheveryfavourableresultsofthecompany’senvironmentalmonitoringandwiththehelpofoutsideconsultantsthecom-pany knuckled down and just eight monthsafter receiving its 1,000 tonne approval inMay 2011, was granted the 2000tpa licenseby Minister Marmion as an interim steptowards the ultimate goal of 5000tpawhichthecompanyexpectstoreceiveinthesecondhalfof2012.

Aquaculture zoneMeanwhile on December 16, 2011,

WA Fisheries Minister Norman Mooreannounced State Government funding toestablish twoaquaculturezones for finfishfarmingontheWAcoastline,thefirstbeingConeBayintheBuccaneerArchipelago.

The government is currently doingdetailed environmental studies to createthe aquaculture zone thus streamliningMPA’s application for approval for 5,000tpaandeasingtheburdenonthecompany.

MPAisconvincedthatthegovernmentstudy will prove that Cone Bay, which is21kmlongand6.2kmwideat itswesternopening, has a carrying capacity far inexcess of the 5,000 tonnes and as thesole operator in the remote location andwithamassiveheadstartoverprospectivecompetitorsConeBayBarramundiwillbeintheboxseattocapitalise.

Presently harvesting over 1,100 tonnesper annum, at 2000tpa the company willturnoveraroundAU$20millionayear inrevenue. At 5000tps it will burst throughthe AU$50million level with seriouslydecreasedcostthroughupscaling.

“We are identifying and managing ourrisk to a much greater degree. The risksaresimilarinfishfarmingaroundtheworldand we are employing worldwide bestpractice”.

OnewayMPAhasmanaged tode-riskis by seekingout the best people in theirfieldlikeevolutionarygeneticistDrDesireeAllen recently appointed as research anddevelopment manager and Daryn Paynewho prior to joining MPA as farm opera-tions manager was Tassel’s regional man-agerforfiveyears.

Mark Asman for five years the ChiefOperatingOfficerforTassalwithalifetimeofexperiencehascomeonboardasaqua-


FEATURE


culture consultant through his companySmartAqua.

“After viewing the MPA operation, Iwasthoroughly impressedwiththequalityof the product, the vast and spectacularfarmingarea,andthepotentialforanothersuccessfulaquacultureprojectinAustralia,”saysMrAsman.

MPA has screwed down on coststhrough more automated and targetedfeedingregimesandslicktransfertomarket.

The MPA processThreeyearsagoMPAstruckadealwith

Fremantle based Challenger Institute ofTechnology’s Australian Centre of AppliedAquacultureResearch(ACAAR)inPerthtosupply all required fingerlings to the Cone

Bay farm,an arrange-ment thatsees 250,000healthy fin-gerlings peri-odically trans-ferred to thefarm withoutloss.

MPA nowoperates 80metre-circum-

ference sea cages, delivers feed direct intoConeBay and takes fish out at around the3-4kgmarkonapurpose-fittedharvestboat.

The fish are stun-killed as they comefromthecagesontotheboatandchilledin80kgbinsondeckbeforebeingshippedtoDerbyfortransferraltorefrigeratedtruckswhere they are dispatched to high-endrestaurants and wholesalers around thecountrywithouteverbeingfrozen.

With Government licenses in placeMPA’s next step is to re-list on theAustralianSecuritiesExchange.

AndtheWAGovernmenthasalsofinal-lybroughtoutaFisheriesPolicyStatement,whichwillbefollowedbylegislationwhichwillunderpintheprocessestosecurelong-termsustainabilityinaquaculture.

“We’ve learnt lot. We now believewe’ve got the right processes, the rightlocation and the right product, ConeBay Ocean Barramundi, to make a majorimpact on both the domestic and worldmarkets,”saysJohnHutton. ■


FEATURE

www.evonik.com/feed-additives | [email protected]

Your challenge is our passion.MetAMINO® is the best choice for your aquafeed.


EXPERTT●PIC


TILAPIAEXPERT TOPIC

Welcome to Expert Topic, a new feature for International Aquafeed. Each issue will take an in-depth look at a particular species and how it's feed is managed.

1

Effects of dietary potassium diformate on juvenile tilapia – a performance analysis

by Christian Lückstädt, Animal Nutritionist, ADDCON, Germany

Global production of farmedtilapia in at least 85 countriesexceeded 3 million t in 2009and requires high-quality fish

feeds.Insuchintensiveaquacultureproduc-tion, bacterial diseases have been identifiedas amajor causeof economic loss topro-ducers. Feeding antibiotic-medicated feedsis a common practice to treat bacterialinfections. Prophylactic useof antibiotics asgrowth promoters in aquaculture produc-tionhasalsooccurredwidely.

However, growing awareness from con-sumersandproducersofaquaculturespecieshasresultedinademandforresponsibleandsustainableaquaculture.Regulatoryauthoritiesin most exporting countries now focus onthe misuse of antibiotic growth promoters(AGP) in aquaculture, while public attentionhas shifted towards sustainable productionmethods.

Thus, alternative additives to replaceAGPs,whichhavebeenbannedinEUanimalfeeds since 2006, have had to be tested.Dietaryorganicacids,andespeciallypotassiumdiformate – the most widely tested organicacid salt in aquaculture, are among the vari-

ous alternatives spearheading environmentalfriendly and nutritive-sustainable aquacultureapproaches.

Dietary potassium diformate (KDF) hasbeentested in tilapiaaquaculturesince2005and since then numerous publications andconference contributionson theuseofKDFin juvenile tilapia have been published fromEurope,AmericaandAsia.Thisstudyanalysedthe average impact of the additive from allpublishedstudiesonitseffectonperformanceparameterssuchasweightgain,feedefficiencyandmortality.

The final data-set contained the resultsof eight published studies, comprising 18trials with KDF-inclusion, which ranged from0.2% to0.75%andcovered3,040 fish.Datawere subjected to statistical analysis and asignificancelevelof0.05wasusedinalltests.Results are expressed as percentage differ-encefromthenegativelycontrolledfish.

The average level of dietary potassiumdiformate from the data-set in all treatedfish was 0.41percent. Only a numericalincrease of feed intake (2.1%) could bemonitored (P=0.16) compared to fishwithout the additive. However, the per-formance of tilapia, based on final weightwas significantly increased by 5.6 per-cent (P=0.009). Furthermore, the feed

conversion ratio of fish fed KDF wasalso significantly improved (P=0.012): thistime the improvement was 4.5 percent.Dataonmortalitywereinconclusive,sincesomeof the trialswerecarriedoutunderclean laboratory conditions, while othersemployedachallengewithpotentiallypath-ogenic bacteria, such asVibrio anguillarum,Streptococcus agalactiae,Streptococcus iniaeand Aeromonas hydrophila. In these cases,dietary KDF, ranging from 0.2 percent till0.5 percent reduced mortality (P<0.05)when employed against V. anguillarum; ittended to reduce (dosages between 0.2-0.6%)mortalitycausedbyS. agalactiae andA. hydrophila, while it had no effect (KDFranging from 0.25-0.75%) on mortalitycausedbyS. iniae.

In general, results show significantlyimproved growth and FCR in tilapia fedwith dietary potassium diformate, whileits beneficial impact against pathogenicbacteria seem to be bacterial-challengedependent.Ifcalculatedasfishproductivityindex, which is a function of weight gain,survival and FCR (Lückstädt & Kühlmann,2011), the improvement extended toalmost 17 percent (P=0.020). The use ofKDF in tilapia feeding is therefore sup-ported as a promising alternative in thecontemporaryaqua-feed industry inordertocontributetoanecologicallysustainabletilapiaproduction.

This paper was presented at the XV International Symposium on Fish Nutrition and Feeding Molde, Norway June 4-7, 2012. Originally published on www.engormix.com

More InforMatIon:Website: http://www.addcon.com

table 1: effects of potassium diformate in tilapia diets against negative control performance (responses as per cent of negative control) – data-set consists of eight published studies covering 3,040 fish

Dosage (%) Feed intake Weight gain FCr

0.41 +2.05 +5.59 -4.46P.level 0.162 0.009 0.012


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Tilapia cage farm management in Brazilby Alberto J. P. Nunes, from the Instituto de Ciências do Mar – Labomar, tilpia cage farm management specialist. Originally published in Global Aquaculture Advocate

Much of Brazil’s expandingtilapiaaquaculturetakesplacein floating cages with sturdyframes and nets made from

plastic-coatedsteelorpolypropylene.

Althoughlargercagesarealsoused,mostcages have small volumes up to 20m3 thatsupport high stocking densities and intermit-tent harvesting without overstressing thefish. Earthenpondsmaybeused for thenursery of fry, but compartments incagesaremorecommon.Sizegradingisamajormanagementcomponent.

Tilapia were first brought toBrazil in1953,butonlyover thepast decade has tilapia farminggrowntocommercialscale.Since1999,theindustryhasexpandedat an average annual growth rateof 18 percent. In 2009, the BrazilianMinistryofFisheriesandAquaculturereportedthetilapiaharvestwas133,000metrictonnes.Over the years, Brazilian farmers have useda number of tilapia strains, starting with theFloridaredandmorerecentlythegeneticallymale tilapia.Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus,Chitralada strain, brought from Thailand in1995,hasestablisheditselfasthemainstrainfarmed in the country. Much of the tilapiaaquaculturetakesplaceinfloatingcagesnearmanyofBrazil’scoastalareas.

Cage characteristicsBrazilholdsabout10millionhaoffreshwa-

ter indams, rivers, lakesandman-made res-ervoirs.Floatingcageshavebecomethemostpopular system for rearing tilapia in Brazil inareaswithsuitablewaterquality,flushingratesandwaterdepth.

Tilapiacagesaresimpletobuild,inexpen-sive(US$400 fora6-m3cage)andeasy tomanage. Cages are usually constructed withrigidorflexiblenetsmadefromplastic-coatedgalvanized steel, stainless steel or syntheticfiberssuchaspolypropylene.

Steel nets are more widespread, as theybetter resist predatory fish such as the pira-nhas found in some inland areas in thecountry. Cage frames are made from stain-less steel or galvanized steel. Strong, long-life,high-densitypolyethylene framesare lesswidely available and more costly, but havebecomethechoiceoffarmsthatoperatewithmedium-volumecages.

In sites close to shore, stationary cagesare spaced two to four metres apart ingroupsanddockedwithanchoringpolesfixedinshore. Otherwise, submerged chains andropes attached to concrete bottom weightsare used as mooring systems. To facilitatedaily management, many farms now adoptwalkways made from wood attached toemptybarrelsorplasticcontainers.

Most cages used for tilapia rearing havesmallvolumesoffourto20m3.Thesecan be round or square inshapewithheightsnotgreaterthantwometres.Thecagescan

safely operate with high stocking densities(starting at 120 kg tilapia/m3) due to rapidwaterexchange.

Since much of Brazil’s tilapia sales aredomesticandretail,small-volumecagesallowthe harvest of fewer quantities of fish with-out imposing stress on the greater stockedpopulation.Ascagesmovebeyond10m3involume with monthly harvests exceeding 10metrictonnes,farmsrequireamoderatelevel

ofcapitalinvestmentandcashflow,andscaleharvests for consistent sales and productionflow.

Tilapia farms that operate with cagesbeyond 300 m3 in volume are sometimesvertically integrated from fingerling produc-tion to fish distribution. They operate withprocessing plants and sales contracts thatrequiretheharvestoflargevolumesoftilapiaata time. In larger-volumecages, final stock-ingdensitiesarereducedto60kgoffish/m3.Theyhavethedisadvantageofpoorflexibilityandmaneuverability, buton theother hand,canrepresentsignificantsavingsinlaborforce.

NurserySex-reversed tilapia are usually sold to

growoutfarmsasfrywithwetbodyweightsbetween0.2and0.5g.Athousandtilapiafrycost US $30 to $45, depending on quality,location and availability. When available atshortdistances,somefarmerspreferacquiringjuvenile fish of 10- to 30g weight, althoughtheir prices may exceed $80/1,000 fish. Atthis stage, fish mortality can be significantlyreducedandthegrowoutcycleshortened.

Earthenpondsmaybeusedforthenurs-ery of Chitralada fry prior to stocking incages. However, cages equipped internallywithflexible5mmmeshnetsareusuallymore common, as

they facilitate fish han-dling and transfer to grow

out cages. In cages, it takes fivetoeightweeks togrow0.5g fry to30g

juveniles,dependingonstockingdensity,feedandwaterquality.

Size GradingTilapia growth can vary widely within the

samestock,especiallywhenthefisharesubject-edtohighdensity.Thisisinpartduetogeneticdifferences, but also because of competitiveinteractionsamongfish.Somefishoutcompeteothersforfeedandconsequentlygrowfaster.As

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aresult,sizegradingbecomesamajormanage-mentcomponentoftilapiacagefarming.

When tilapia are transferred to differentcages,italsoallowsmovingthestocktocleanunits with larger mesh sizes, which promotesgreaterwaterexchangewithintherearingunit.From 5mm mesh sizes, 10g fish are usuallymoved tocageswithmeshsizesofup to15mm.Then 30 to 200g tilapia are heldwithinnetsof15to25mmmesh.Themeshonnetsforfishlargerthan200gis25mmorwider.

Grading frequencydependsonanumberof variables, including the targeted fish sizeatharvest,numberofcagesavailableonsite,stocksizevariation,degreeofprevalentstressand health status of the stocked population.Many farmers target tilapia above 900g inweight to achieve premium prices. For thisfishweight,gradingcanbecarriedouttwotothreetimesinaproductioncycle(Figure1).

Duringtherainyseason,whenfishbecomemore susceptible to disease outbreaks, thereisareductionintilapiastockingdensityaswellas grading frequency. When size grading isadopted,finaltilapiabodyweightvariationcanbereducedfrom40percentatinitialstagestoabout 15 percent at harvest time. Tilapia areoftensortedintofoursizecategories,withthesmallest,mostchallengedfishremovedasearlyaspossiblesincetheirdelay ingrowthcannotberecoveredduringtheproductioncycle.Fish

areusuallysortedmanuallybyeye,butinlargeoperations,thisprocedurecanbemechanised.

Feeds, feedingCage-farmed tilapia in Brazil received

only extruded diets. Feed protein content,pelletsizeandsuggestedfeedingratesmayvary according to the feed manufacturer.Fish feeds tend to be high in protein con-tent at initial stages anddropas fish attainlargersizes(Table1).Growoutandfinishingfeedsareusually32percentinproteincon-tentandmayrepresentupto80percentofall feedingcostsatacage farm.Feedcoststoproduceaonekilo tilapiacanrangeUS$1.10-1.30/kg of fish harvested. As such,feedmanagementiscriticaltotheeconom-icsofacageoperation.

Todeterminemaximumrationsizes,farm-ersusually followsuggestedrates fromcom-mercial feeding tables. However, rations areadjusted on a daily basis depending on fishappetite. In small-volume cages, rations arenever delivered in full amounts. Initially, fishcanbe fedonlyhalfof thecalculated ration.The remainder isoffered if the first ration isfully consumed within 30 minutes after dis-tribution.Afterthisperiod,uneatenfeedcanbeoversaturatedwithwater,andtheheavierpelletsexittheconfinedfeedarea,leadingtofeedloss.

Cageoperationsequippedwithwalkwaysallowmoredetailed inspectionsof feedcon-sumption. They facilitate feed handling andstorage,andpromotefeeddeliverytoasoftenas eight times a day during grow out com-pared to three times when distributed fromfeedboats.Walkwaysalsoallowthecollectionof fishdebrisandmorefrequentcleanupoffeedingringsornetcurtains.

PerspectivesTilapiacagefarmingwillcontinuetogrow

quickly in the years to come in Brazil toreduce the increasing domestic deficit offisheries products in the country. Tilapiaare mostly marketed fresh and degutted atweights of 700 to 900g. Farm gate pricesrangeUS$2.00-2.80/kg.

TodayagreatproportionofBrazil’stilapiaproduction is consumed in the countryside,butthefisharealsonowfoundinlargesuper-market chains, restaurants and fish marketsall over the country. As capture fisheriescontinue to decline in Brazil and more cityresidentslearntoappreciatetilapia,increasingdemandwillfurtherdrivenewentrepreneursinto tilapia aquaculture. In this new scenario,medium-size cages and more mechanisedpracticeswillemergetokeeppacewithlarge-scale production and more-efficient opera-tions.


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Tilapia genetic strains and hatchery technologyby Eric Roderick

Tilapia isadiversegroupofover100species,butsurprisinglyonlyahandfulofspeciesareculturedcommerciallyandonlyonespecies,theNiletilapia,

Oreochromis niloticusaccountsfor95percentofglobalproduction.

Culture systems range from small backyardoperationsproducingafewfishtosustainasmallfamily, to huge agro-industrial units producing

over 20,000 metric tonnes annually. With therapidgrowthof theglobal tilapia industryoverthe past 25 years, genetic improvement pro-grammesenable amoreprofitable industry tobenefit from the increasedpopularityof tilapiaasaglobalfoodcommodity.

From humble beginnings being farmed forthePharaohsinAncientEgypt4,000yearsago,the Aquatic chicken is now a very importantglobally traded commodity with productionworldwideof3.23millionmetrictonnesin2011andstillgrowing.

SupermalesMost commercial farms only grow male

tilapia,whichgrowmuchlargerandfasterthanfemales. This was initially achieved throughmanual hand-sexing of the fingerlings, and dis-cardingthefemales,whichwaslabourintensive,

inconsistent, and wasteful. It was then foundthat certain hybrids between different tilapiaspecies(O.niloticusandO.aureus)gaveveryhighpercentmaleprogeny.Thedownsidewiththistechnique was that it required hatcheries toholdtwoseparatestocksoftilapiaspecies,andas thepurityof tilapia stocksdeteriorated, thetechniquebecameunviable.

Researchers thendiscoveredthat tilapia fry,whenfedmalesexhormonesforthefirstmonthafter hatching, were able to change sex, from50-50maletofemaleratio,toratiosofalmost100 percent male fry. This is a highly variabletechniqueduetohormonepurityandoperatorexperience.

One of the major challenges facing theindustryisthatuseofMethylTestosteronewillbephasedout.This isovercomeby the latesttechnology to effectively provide allmale fry -theYYMaleTechnologydevelopedbyFishgen.AftermanyyearsofresearchintheUKandinthe Philippines, Fishgen produced supermaletilapiawhichhad twoYchromosomes insteadof the usual Y and X chromosome. Femaleshave two X chromosomes. These supermalesproduceonlymalefryaddressingtheproblemsofafuturebanonhormonalsexreversal.

Which strainDeciding on which commercial strain of

tilapia to use in a new tilapia project can bedaunting,andtherearemanycommercialstocksavailableglobally.The farm’s locationcanhavea deciding influence as there are restrictionson importation of some strains from somecountries, to minimise disease and biodiver-sityissuesparticularlyinAfricawheretherearemanyuniqueendemicstrainsoftilapia,requiringprotection fromcontaminationbythecarelessintroductionofnewgeneticlines,whereescap-ees could interbreedoroutcompetewith thepureendemicspecies.

The big fourThere are currently four main genetically

improved commercial lines that are globallydistributedandproventobefastgrowing.Thebiggest genetic improvement programme wastheGIFTproject(GeneticallyImprovedFarmedTilapia) and the current stock was originallyproducedfromeightstrainsof theNileTilapiacollectedfromAfricainthe1980s.

After extensive selective breeding pro-grammescarriedoutinthePhilippinesbetween1988 and 1997by ICLARM (NowWorldFishCenter)incollaborationwithAKVAFORSK(TheInstituteofAquacultureResearchinNorway)anew strain was produced and distributed glo-bally.WorldFishCenterhasmovedtoPenang,Malaysia now and the breeding programme isstillcarriedonscientificallyandcommercially inbothMalaysiaandthePhilippines.

The commercial rights to a recent GIFTgeneticlinewassoldtoGenomar(aNorweigianVenture Capital Genetic Improvement com-

pany) a few years ago and is now marketedgloballyasGenomarSupremetilapia(GST)andtheprocessedfishasTRAPIA(traceabletilapia)ensuringfullgenetictraceabilityoftheirproductsto the food industry. Trapia is produced inGenomar’s cage farms in lakes inMalaysiaandmainlyexportedtotheUSA.

SincethesaleoftheGIFTlatestgeneticlinesto Genomar, the Philippines have carried onwith their own Genetic Improvements of theGIFTlineandmarkettheGIFTExcellinenow.TheselinesareallbasedontheoriginalgeneticstockscollectedinAfricainthe1980s.

Anotherwell-known stock is theChitriladastrainwhichisfarmedextensivelyinThailand.ItoriginatedasagifttotheKingofThailandbytheEmperorofJapanin1965,andwasmaintainedas a pure line in the Royal Jitralada Palace inBangkokformanyyearsbeforebeingdistributedthroughout Thailand by the Thai Departmentof Fisheries in 1967. Since then it has beenimproved by selective breeding programmesandisnowwidelyfarmedinSouthandCentralAmerica, particularly Mexico and Brazil. ThisstockalsooriginatedfromEgypt.

The only other tilapia genetic line com-mercially usedextensively around theworld istheYYSupermalestrain,developedbyFishgenintheUK.ThisstockisalsobasedontheNileTilapia from Egypt, but the main differencebetweenthislineandalltheothersavailable,isthatnohormonesarerequiredtosexreversethe fry for growout, as theYY supermale hasbeenspecificallybredtosireonlymaleoffspring.

Hatchery systemsTilapia hatchery systems are diverse with

costofconstructionandproductionoftilapiafryvaryingenormously, frombasicpondhatcheriesin tropical countries costing almost nothing, toexpensivehigh-techbio-secure indoor recircula-tion systems. The low-cost breeding systemsutilise simple earth broodstock ponds, with ashallowareaaroundtheedgewherethefryoncereleasedfromthefemale’smouth,tendtocon-gregateintightshoalsandarecollectedwithlargedipnetsorsmallseinenets,onadailybasis.Largerhatcheriesuselinedpondsinpoly-tunnelswhichgivebettertemperaturecontrol,biosecurityandpredatorprotection.Thefryareincubatedbythefemalewhich is lessefficient than removing thefertilisedeggsfromthefemale’smouthandusingartificialincubatorstohatchthefry.

Manyoftheworld’slargesttilapiahatcheriesare inAsia,where75percentof global tilapiaproductiontakesplace.TheyutiliseHapa-basedproductionsystems,wherethebroodstockarebredinlonghapas(netpens)andtheeggsareharvested from the female’s mouth every fivedays.Thisisdonebyopeningthebuccalcavityofthefemaleandgentlyrinsingtheeggsoutofthemouthintoabucket.

Global perspectiveWithglobaltilapiaproductionstillgrow-

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ing steadily, hatcheries are alsoexpanding to provide fry for thegrow-out farms and some of thebiggest hatcheries now have thecapability to produce one millionfryperday.

At present themain tilapia pro-ducing countries are China, Egypt,Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines,Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico andHonduras.Thereare largehatcher-ies in all these countries but thebiggestfarmsareverticallyintegratedunits which produce their own fryto minimise biosecurity issues andensuresupplyoffry.

RegalSpringsisoneoftheworld’slargest tilapia businesses, producingover70,000metrictonnesin2010inseveral countries around the world.ACIinCostaRicaisoneofthelarg-estindividualfarms.Bothcompaniesexport all their production as freshfillets to the USA. Biomar is justcompleting itsbrandnewhigh techfeedmillveryclosetotheACIfarmto meet the growing demand fortilapiafeedinCentralAmerica.

Future marketsWith the tilapia market firmly

establishedandgrowingintheUSAand globally, future challenges for

tilapiaproducerswillbetofindnewmarketsand to overcome stiff competition fromPangasius species (Basa and Tra) import-ed from Vietnam. This is especially true inEuropeanmarketswhichisstillseenasanewhighvaluemarketfortilapiaproducersaroundthe world. Spain imports 20 percent of theEUtotalandPoland33percentbutthesearemainlyfrozentilapiafromChinawithdemandfuelledbythelowpricesreflectingthecurrenteconomicdownturnthroughouttheEU.

Rapidly expanding importers of tilapiaare Russia and the Middle East, but asChina becomes far wealthier, consumingmoreof itsown tilapiadomestically,priceincreases and possible shortages of tilapiaas an export commodity are possible.Manycountriesarerampingupproductionto fill this perceived new demand. TheseareVietnam,Bangladesh,Brazil, EgyptandMalaysia, where government support ishelping to drive this new wave of expan-sions.Themaingrowthareasare in valueaddedproductsparticularlyintheproduc-ingcountriessoincreasingprofitability,andfilling new and growing markets. Tilapia’sfutureisrosy.

More InforMatIon:Eric Roderick, FishGen Tel: +44 7973 135609Email: [email protected] Website: www.fishgen.com


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Feed formulation and feeding strategies for tilapiaby Ingrid Lupatsch, Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Swansea University, UK

Tilapia are now the world’s secondmostpopulargroupoffarmedfishafter carp. Worldwideproductionexceeded2.5million tons in2007

accordingtoFAOanddemandcontinuesatasteadypace.

Tilapia are farmed worldwide in inlandaquaculture in various kinds of facilities andproduction strategies. The majority is stillgrown extensively in polyculture but moreandmoreintensivemonoculturesystemsarebeing used where the manufactured feed istheonlysourceofenergyandprotein.

Tilapiaareoftencalled the ‘aquaticchick-en’.Theirsuccessisattributedtoatoleranceto wide ranges of temperature and salinity,resistancetodisease,theirabilitytoreproducein captivity, and their capacity to grow wellat high stocking densities, which make themfeasible for farming under various culturesystems.

Tilapia as herbivores areperceived tobemoresustainableandwhilstfeedingonalowtrophic level, are able to convert low costfeedintohighqualityprotein.Thereiscontin-uedcriticismthatcarnivorousfisharethoughttorequirehighlevelsofproteinintheirfeeds(that are mostly supplied by fishmeal) while

most herbivores such as tilapia are fedfeeds containingonly25 to30percent

protein.Thisgivesthe impressionthatherbivoresaremoreefficientconvert-ersofproteinintogrowth.

However, expressing proteinrequirement based solely on dietaryinclusion levels is incomplete if feedintakeisnotconsidered.Proteinintake

istheproductoftheproteincontentofthe feed and the total amount of feed

consumed. As such the protein demandperkiloof fishproducedwill giveaclearer

pictureoftheoverallefficiencyofthespeciesinquestion.

Generally speaking, in order to formulatefeeds for fish two main issues have to beaddressed:a)whataretherequirementsandb) how can we cost-effectively meet thoserequirements.

First,tilapia-likeallanimals-needenergyand protein. This seems trivial, but the chal-lenge istodeterminehowmuchenergyandproteinhastobesuppliedtoguaranteeopti-malgrowthandmostefficientfeedutilisation.

Second, what are the sources of energyand protein? Various potential feed ingredi-entshavetobeevaluatedfortheirnutritionalvalue, chemical composition and their avail-abilitytothefish.

Calculating requirements Nutrient requirements are generally

defined for animalsof a given age and for aspecificphysiologicalfunction,suchasmainte-nance,growthorreproduction.Infishfarminggrowth is one of the major goals. Growthmeansdepositionofnewbodycomponents,whichinfishconsistmainlyofproteinandlipidbesideswater.

The feed has to supply the material forbuildingnewtissue,butalsotheenergyneed-edtodepositthenewgrowth.Inadditiontothese, energy and protein for maintenancehave to be supplied as well. Therefore, thisbasiccalculationdictatesthattheenergyandprotein requirement of a growing fish is thesumofitsneedsformaintenanceplusgrowth.

The energy and protein requirement formaintenance at a constant temperature isprimarily dependent on body size. It is pro-portionaltothemetabolicbodyweightintheformoftheequation,axBW(kg)b,whereaisaconstant,characteristicofacertainfishspe-ciesatasettemperatureandb istheexpo-nent of the metabolic weight which in fishhasbeendetermined asb=0.80 (Lupatschetal.2003).

Therequirementforgrowthisdependenton the amount and the composition of theweight gain including the metabolic costs todepositnewgrowth.

Daily energy requirements per fish inunits of digestible energy can therefore beexpressedas:

Digestible energy needs (kJ) = a × body weight (kg)0.80 + c × energy gain (kJ)

Where c = cost of production in units of dietary energy to deposit energy as growth.

Thesameapproachisusedforthequan-tification of protein, except for the use ofa different exponent of b = 0.70 for bodyweightasdetermined forseveral fishspecies(Lupatsch et al. 2003, Lupatsch and Kissil,2005).

Digestible protein needs (g) = a × body weight (kg)0.70 + c × protein gain (g)

Where c = cost of production in units of dietary protein to deposit protein as growth.

Using this approach energy and pro-tein requirements are quantified as abso-lute requirements per fish body mass andanticipated daily weight gain and only thenexpressedasaninclusionlevelinthefeed.

The necessary parameters to obtain arethusthefollowing:

Growth data and feed intake Aprerequisiteforestimatingfeedrequire-

ments of tilapia is to define its maximalpotential forgrowth.Thismodelling requiresgrowthdatafromtrials,wherefeedsupplyintermsof energy and nutrients is not limitingandoptimalgrowingconditionsaremet.Itisthoughnecessarytodefinetheseparametersfor different stocks or strains as differentselection programs result in faster growingstrainsofallmaleOreochromis niloticussuchasforexampletheGIFTstrain.

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Figure 1: Energy requirements of tilapia for maintenance and growth (at 27°C)

Figure 2: Protein requirements of tilapia for maintenance and growth (at 27°C)

The following equations are all based ontrialscarriedoutinIsraelusingmalehybridofO. niloticusxO. aureusatawatertemperatureof27°C.

The equation defining the relationshipbetween daily weight gain and fish sizeappearsbelow:

Weight gain (g / fish / day) = 0.12 × Body weight (g) 0.547

Another prerequisite is an assessmentof the maximum voluntary feed intake, theamountorbulkthatthefishisphysicallyabletoconsume,thisisneededtoadjusttheener-gydensityandnutrientdensityofapotentialfeed. The following relationship betweenvoluntaryfeedintakeandfishsizewasfound:

Feed intake (g / fish / day) = 0.15 × Body weight (g) 0.600

Composition of weight gain As a large proportion of the energy and

protein consumed by the fish is retained asgrowth,thecompositionofthegainisamainfactordeterminingthesubsequentenergyandproteinrequirement.Whenmeasuringwholebody composition of fish at increasing sizes,

each gram weightgain is assumed toequalthebodycom-position at a certainsize.

There is anincrease in energycontent with fishsize, whereas theprotein contentremains quite con-stant at 160 mg/gfish

Energy (kJ / g fish ) = 5.53 × BW (g)

0.055 Protein (mg / g fish

= 160.2)

Thefact thatpro-tein content remainsquitestableandener-gy content is increas-ingwithincreasingfishsizeistypicalformostfish (Lupatsch 2009).However, comparedto species such assalmonorgiltheadsea

table 1: Protein and energy requirements of tilapia grown at 27°C

Body weight, per fish 25g 150g 300g

Weight gain1, g / day 0.70 1.86 2.72

energy requirement

Demaint2, kJ /fish /day 2.90 12.17 21.18

Degrowth3, kJ/fish /

day 7.42 21.81 33.11

Dem+g4, kJ /fish /day 10.32 33.98 54.29

Protein requirement

DPmaint5, g /fish /day 0.048 0.170 0.276

DPgrowth6, g/fish /day 0.238 0.634 0.926

DPm+g7, g /fish /day 0.286 0.803 1.202

DP/De ratio g/MJ8 27.7 23.6 22.1

1Predicted weight gain for tilapia at 27°C

2DE required for maintenance: 55.5 x BW (kg) 0.80

3DE required for growth: (weight gain x body energy) x 1.61 (cost of production)

4DE required for maintenance and growth

5DP required for maintenance: 0.64g x BW (kg) 0.70

6DP required for growth: (weight gain x body protein) x 2.13 (cost of production)

7DP required for maintenance and growth

8Dietary DP/DE ratio for optimal protein utilisation


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bream, tilapia can be catego-risedasaleanfish,afactwhichintheendwillaffectthedietaryproteintoenergyratio.

Maintenance requirements and efficiency

To determine the main-tenance requirement as wellas the relationship betweenweight gain and feed intake,groups of tilapia are fedincreasinglevelsoffeedswitha

knowndigestibleenergy(DE)anddigestiblepro-tein(DP)content.Feedinglevelsincludedazerogroup(nofeed)uptomaximumvoluntaryintakeatapointwhenthefishrefusedtoeatmore.

Figure1demonstratesthattherelationshipbetweendailyDEconsumed (x) andenergyretained(y)islinearandcanbedescribedbythefollowingequation:

y = - 34.4 + 0.62 x

TheDE(kJ)requirementformaintenance(noenergygainorloss)canbefoundwherethey-axisis zero. According to the equation above, themaintenancerequirementperdaywouldamountto34.4/0.62=DEmaint=55.5kJ×(kg)0.80.

TheslopeofthelineinFig.1isameasurefor the efficiency of energy utilization forgrowth. For tilapia this amounts to 0.62, orin other words, 62 percent efficiency. Thereciprocal value 1/0.62 = 1.61 is a measureforthe‘costofproduction’inunitsofDE(kJ)todepositoneunitofenergy(kJ)asgrowth.

Requirementforproteincanbeobtainedinasimilarmanner(Fig2).Therelationshipbetweenprotein intake (x) andprotein gain (y) referringtoametabolicbodyweightofkg0.70isasfollows:

y = - 0.30 + 0.47x

MaintenancerequirementDPmaint(g)=0.64×BW(kg)0.70andadditionally2.13unitsofDP

(g) are needed todeposit one unitof protein (g) asgrowth.

Practical application

Hence, withthe parametersobtained energyand proteinrequirementsfor tilapia can becalculated andadaptedtochang-ing conditions forthe duration ofa growth period(Table1).

Ingredient evaluation and feed formulation

Asmentionedbefore,oncetherequirementsareknown,variouspotentialfeedingredientshavetobeevaluatedfortheirnutritionalvalue,chemicalcompositionandtheiravailabilitytothefish.Table2providesnutrient composition includingdigest-ibilitydataofseveralingredientsthatarecommonlyusedinaqua-feeds(Sklanetal.2004).

Table 3 describes two potential feedsthatcouldbeformulatedfromcommerciallyavailable ingredients. The feeds describe a30 percent protein feed, commonly usedin tilapia farming and a40percentproteinfeed.

The full amount of protein consumed bytilapia is a function of the quantity of feed andthe protein content of that feed. As the dailyrequirementsforproteindonotchange,thefeedamount fedhastobehigherwhenofferingthelowproteinfeed(Table4),whichwillresultinanincreasedFCR.Inthiscaseonehastoconsiderthecostofgrowingonekgoffishandnotjustthecostper1kgoffeed.

The results presented here indicate, thatherbivores such as tilapia do not utilise pro-tein more efficiently than other fish species(Lupatsch, 2009), but their advantage mightbe,thattheycouldbefedlowerproteindietsas they are able to consumehigher amountsof feedcomparedtocarnivores.This facthasbeen highlightedby Lupatsch andKissil, 2005whilstcomparingwhitegroupertogiltheadsea-bream.However,itisimportanttorecognizethateventilapiamightreachtheirphysicallimitstoconsumeallthefeedtoacquiretheproteinneededformaximumgrowthespeciallyatthejuvenilestages(Table4).

Using this approach toquantifyingenergyand protein demands in tilapia, it is possibletoestimatethebiologicalandeconomicaleffi-ciencyofdifferentfeedsandculturesystems.

References

Lupatsch,I.,Kissil,G.Wm.andSklan,D.(2003).Definingenergyandproteinrequirementsofgiltheadseabream(Sparusaurata)tooptimizefeedsandfeedingregimes.TheIsraeliJournalofAquaculture-Bamidgeh,55(4),243-257.

Sklan,D.,Prag,T.andLupatsch,I.(2004).ApparentdigestibilitycoefficientsoffeedingredientsandtheirpredictionindietsfortilapiaOreochromis niloticus×Oreochromis aureus(Teleostei,Cichlidae).AquacultureResearch,35,358-364

Lupatsch,I.andKissil,G.Wm.(2005).Feedformulationsbasedonenergyandproteindemandsinwhitegrouper(Epinephelusaeneus).Aquaculture,248,83-95.

Lupatsch,I.(2009)Quantifyingnutritionalrequirementsinaquaculture–thefactorialapproach.In:Newtechnologiesinaquaculture:improvingproductionefficiency,qualityandenvironmentalmanagement.BurnellG.andAllanG.(Eds).WoodheadPublishing,Cambridge,p417-439.

table 3: Proposed feed formulations for two sets of commercial feeds – low protein and high protein (for ease of presentation vitamins, minerals and other supplements are considered under ‘others’).

Feedlow

proteinHigh

protein

Ingredients (g kg-1)

Fish meal 100 200

Corn-gluten 100 160

Soybean meal 120 160

rapeseed meal 120 130

Sunflower meal 120 130

Wheat meal 180 70

Corn meal 140 70

Plant oil - 50

others 120 30

estimated composition ( per kg as fed)

Dry matter (DM), g 920 920

Crude protein, g 298 405

Gross energy, MJ 16.9 19.7

Crude lipid, g 29 87

ash, g 72 77

Carbohydrates, g 521 351

Digestible energy (De), MJ 11.9 15.3

Digestible protein (DP), g 263 363

DP / De ratio, g / MJ 22.1 23.7

table 4: Proposed feeding table for tilapia and expected FCr whilst feeding a high or low protein feed.

Body weight, per fish 25g 150g 300g

Weight gain1, g / day/ fish 0.70 1.86 2.72

Voluntary feed intake, g/day/fish 1.0 3.0 4.6

De requirements, kJ / day/ fish 10.3 34.0 54.3

DP requirements, g / day/ fish 0.29 0.80 1.20

Feed selection (protein) low High low High low High

required feed intake , g/day/fish 1.1 0.8 3.0 2.2 4.5 3.3

required feed intake, % biomass / day 4.4 3.2 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.1

FCr 1.56 1.13 1.64 1.19 1.68 1.22

table 2: nutrient composition of selected ingredients used in practical feed formulations (per kg as fed)

Crudeprotein, g

Digestible protein, g

Grossenergy, MJ

Digestible energy, MJ

Fish meal 635 573 19.91 17.76

Corn gluten meal 604 559 21.65 18.06

Soybean meal 441 398 17.68 14.94

rapeseed meal 366 311 19.49 11.17

Sunflower meal 378 336 17.87 11.70

Wheat meal 118 94 17.69 12.72

Corn 79 59 17.52 10.76


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ThisprestigiouseventattractedhundredsofvisitorsfromallsectorsoftheaquacultureindustrymainlyfortheUnitedStates

butwithmanyfromLatinAmerica,Canadaandbeyond.IhadthepleasureofattendingwithDrDanielMerrifieldandmyPhD

studentsMarkRawlingandHolgerKuhlwein.ThiseventisheldannuallyanditwastheturnofLasVegastohostAquaculture

America2012formFebruary29thtoMarch2ndatthefamousParisHotelandCasinoalongtheiconicstrip.

Thisyear’sthemeentitled‘alltheplayerstothetable’wasmeanttobringattentiontotheconnectionsand

networkingopportunitiespresentedbyallthestake-holdersinvolvedtoopendoorstosuccessfulenterprise,

innovationandpartnershipsinthemulti-scientificdisciplesandeducationalaswellastechnicalaspects.The

exhibitioncoveredmanykeyareasfromengineeringreflectingnewdevelopmentsinfishrearingtechnologies

toadvancesinfeedingredientsandfeedproduction.Theconferenceappealedtothoseservingtheentire

aquaculturevaluechain,includingresearchers,hatcheries,feedproducers,equipmentmanufacturersand

academiaaswellasbusinessmanagersandfishfarmers.Varioussuppliersgrowoutoperations,harvesters,

processors,packaging/distributorsandmarketers,healthprofessionalsandfishnutritionists’wereinabundance.

Assuchtherewerenumerousparallelsessionsrelatedtodietandnutrition(particularlyaforumconcerningthe

roleoflipidsandessentialfattyacidsinnutrition,metabolismandphysiology).Feedsandnutrition,alternative

feedingredients,definitionandmeasurementofperformancetraitsrelatedtodietandnutritionwereastrong

themeapplicabletodifferentfishspeciesandproductionsystems,innovativeapproachestonutrientrequirement

assessments)whichwereindicativeoftheincreasingfocusonthecostandefficiencyofproduction,theimportance

ofdietinperformance,andtheneedtoreducerelianceonmarinefisherysourcedproteinandoil.Anotherarea

concernedfeedmanagementandtheimportanceofenvironmentalimpact.Ofcoursethetopicoffeedadditivesand

dietarysupplementsweremostprominentandseveralspeakersgaveresultsofexperimentsonnovelprebioticsand

probioticsforuseinaqua-feeds.Aswellastrout,tilapia,Channelcatfishandstripedbass(themainstreamofUSfish

production)thereweresomeveryinterestingpresentationsonemergingspeciessuchasflounders,cobiaandexotic

speciesthataredestinedtomaketheircontributiontoaquacultureinthecomingdecades.Daniel Merrifield sampling a new generation of pro-biotics

Professor Simon Davies discusses the latest developments in fish nutrition with the King


ProfessorSimonDaviesattendstheAquacultureAmerica2012nationalconferenceandexpositioninLasVegasPHotoSHoot

Zebrafishwerealsoafocalpointwithsessionsontheirhusbandry.Thisspeciesisnowfirmlyestablishedontheaquaculturecircuit

duetotheneedforeffectiverearingandbreedingtechnologiestoprovideanimportantresourceforbiomedicalresearchthroughout

theworld.Advancesinthedesignsoflifesupportsystems,feedsandmanagementallowforbetterconsistencyandreliabilityofresults

intheareasofnutri-genomicsandunderstandingtheirdevelopmentalbiology.

ItwasreallygoodtoseeanumberofUSstudentsfromcollegesanduniversitiesfromacrossAmericaasthenextgenerationof

aquaculturists’.MygroupbecameclosefriendswithgraduatesfromtheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatWilmingtonwhohavean

excellentmarinesciencesandaquacultureprogrammeattheircoastallocation.

OurownpreviousEditorAlbertTaconalsomadehisappearanceandashisformerPhDstudentsome30yearsagowehadmuchto

discussthroughouttheweek.Ifeltlikeastudentagain!

Themainplenaryspeaker,PatrickDempster,generalmanagerofAquaGenChile,presenteddelegateshisinvaluableexperiencefrom

theresearchsideofaquaculturetooperations,farmmanagementandbusinessdevelopment(farm-to-market).Hedescribedthe

re-emergenceofsalmonproductioninChileafterrecentproblemsandissuesandremindedusofthemanyelementsandcomplexity

ofthefoodchainwithexamplesofthechallengestheChileanindustryfacedandthewayithasre-emerged(fromworstyearever

performancein2008tobestyeareverperformancein2010)mayholdsomevaluablelessons.Thespecialsessionon“FourPsofaSafe

andSustainableAquacultureIndustry”alsohighlightedthelinksinthevalueandsupplychainandtheimportanceoftraceabilityand

consumeracceptanceofaquacultureproduce.

ItwasnotallworkhoweverandLasVegasliveduptoitsreputationforplayandalthoughtempted,Ididnotengageingamblingany

ofmyresearchgrantsonthecasinofloor.MygroupdidseesomeshowsandwemadeatriptotheGrandCanyonandHooverdam

whichwasbitterlycoldandnottheusualpicturepostcardsceneofswelteringheat..

AquacultureAmericawillnextbeinLasVegasin2016.Iamsurethattheglobaleconomicpositionwillbedifferentbythenandthatmaynew

policieswillhavebeenimplementedinrespectofsustainabledevelopment.Forsure,theeverexpandingresearcheffortsinfishnutritionand

feedtechnologywillguaranteemanynewscientificadvancesanddevelopments.Ilookforwardtofuturemeetingsandreporting.

Simon Davies with previous International Aquafeed Editor Albert Tacon


Sustaining the supply of Chinese tilapia

by Han Han, Program Manager, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

Tilapia, the third most internation-ally traded aquaculture product aftersalmon and shrimp, has been widelyfarmedinChinasincethe1950s.With

strong governmental support for the researchanddevelopmentofhybridsandculturetechnol-ogy,Chinesetilapiaaquaculturehasgrownrapidlyfromtheinitialstagesinthe1960s,toexpansionintheearly1980s,andthentolarge-scalefarmingandprocessing inthe2000s.Recentyearshavewitnessed a stable annual production of 1.1or1.2millionmt,abouthalfoftheworldtotal.Guangdong,Hainan,GuangxiandFujianprovincesinSouthChinahavebecometheworldhuboffarmed tilapia thathasbeenmainly supplied toNorthAmericanandEuropeanmarketsforthepastdecade.

Tilapiawas rankedAmerican’s fourth favoriteseafood in 2011. The so-called ‘aquatic chicken’is popular in different forms, including live, fresh,frozenaswhole, frozen fillets,gutted,guttedandscaled, fillets, skin-less, andboneless. In2010,USimportsoftilapiafromChinatotaled139,863mtatavalueof$555million,andincreased22percentinvolumeand36percentinvalueoverthepreviousyear.AccordingtotheFAO,EUimportsoffrozentilapiafilletduringthefirstquarterof2011postedamarginalgrowthof3.2%fromthesameperiodin2010withChinasupplyingnearly90percentofthesharetomarket.Meanwhile,Chinahasseenitsexportof tilapiamakingnewpath intocountrieslikeCameroon,Ghana,CongoandUnitedArabEmirates.

Problematic growthSuchphenomenalgrowthinbothsupplyand

demandacrosstheworldinevitablyfacessustain-abilitychallenges.Overthepast20years,ageneraltrendtowards intensification intilapia farminghasled to an increasing dependence on formulatedfeeds and freshwater supply. Poor management

andunsustainableuseofwaterandfeedsinvariablylead to contamination in receiving water bodies,diseaseoutbreaks,cropfailure,andexcessiveuseofantibiotics.Reflectingtheissuessurroundingthegrowth of the tilapia industry worldwide, Chinastands on the frontline facing the challenge ofmaintainingasteadyyieldwhileminimisingenviron-mentalandsocialimpactsofaquaculture.

The risks of environmental degradation anddiseaseassociatedwiththerapidintensificationofaquaculture have resulted in unfavorable assess-mentsofChinesetilapia inanumberofseafoodguidespublishedbyNGOs.Chinesetilapiafarminghasbeenchallengedmainlyonthefollowingissues:

• Theimpactonpublichealthfromtheuseofartificialhormonesandantibiotics

• Farmeffluentsandwastesdischargedwith-outpropertreatment

• The impact on biodiversity from escapedtilapiagiventhattilapiaisnotanindigenousspeciestoChina

• Theuseoffishmealincompoundfeedsanditstraceability

• Potentialconflictswithotherlandandwaterusers

More complicated and problematic scenariosmight appear, as global warming will probablyexpand the geographic range for some farmedtilapiaandenhancethesurvivalofescapees,aswellasincreasingthefrequencyandseverityofextremeweatherevents(i.e.floodsanddroughts).Thecur-rent challenges in accessing sufficient amountsofcleanwaterwillbeaggravatedasChina’sindustrialdevelopmentcontinuesitsrapidgrowth.

The problems facing tilapia aquaculture inChinaareattributedtoa lackof scientificzoningand regional planning, poor farm-level manage-ment,farmers’insufficientknowledgeofsustainablepractices, and inefficient regulatory enforcement.TheChinesegovernmenthasestablishedregionaland national technology support teams with aseriesofstandardstoregulateantibioticsusageandeffluentdischarge,aswellas investing inresearchanddevelopmentregardingtilapiabreeding,feed-ing,andprocessinginrecentyears.However,theimprovementshavebeenlimited.

Exploring solutionsTo identify solutions, we first need to both

quantitatively and qualitatively identify the prob-lems. Unfortunately, when assessing Chinesetilapia’s environmental impact, very limited dataisavailabletothepublic.Neithershort-termfarm-leveldata,norlong-termregional-scaleinformationiseasily accessible and theenvironmental impactof tilapia farming has never been systematicallyassessedinChina.

Although farm-level certification guaranteescompliancewithspecificstandardsatanindividualfarm this does not provide information aboutenvironmentalimpactsandrisksataregionallevel.Giventhelargenumberoffarmsconcentratedinareas where both agricultural and industrial sec-torssharewaterresourcesitisclearthatregionalassessments are highly desirable. Such studies

would examine direct pollution and disease riskas well as the biodiversity impact of tilapia onindigenousspecies(aparticularconcern inwarmareaslikeHainanIsland,theonlytropicalprovincein China, where wild tilapia can easily survivethroughwinter).

Some of the existing Chinese tilapia farmingregulations and practices do not match inter-national standards, which is critical in meetingthegrowingdemand foreco-labelcertification inexportmarkets.Thiscouldbeimprovedthroughbuildingamulti-stakeholderdialoguewitheffectiveknowledge-sharingandinformation-exchange.

Buyersandretailersneedtobeinformedaboutprogressonsustainabilityissuesthroughbothwrit-ten information and face-to-face communicationwith producers and suppliers. Guided trips tofarmsandplantswillnotonlybringmoreattentionandacknowledgementtotheissues,butalsohelpbuyers understand the specific support needsofindividual aquaculture operations. Their face-to-facecommunicationwith thepolicy-makerswhoregulateChinesetilapiaaquacultureonthegroundwillalsoenhanceawarenessofsustainabilityissues,thusfacilitatingtheadoptionofimprovedpolicies.

Buyers can also encourage the sustainablesourcingof feedsbyaskingtheirsupplierstofindouttheingredientsoffeedandwhereitiscomingfrom(i.e.thetraceabilityandtransparencyofrawmaterialssuchasfishmeal).

Giventhelargenumberofbuyersandsuppliersit is also essential that stakeholders participate inpolicyroundtablesbothwithinandacrossregionstoeffectivelybuildconsensusaroundpoliciesandpracticesandtodevelopconsistency inprocure-mentstandards.

Where SFP’s Aquaculture Improvement Projects can help

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is anindependent NGO that promotes sustainablefisheriesandaquaculturebyengagingstakeholdersineffectivedialoguestomobilisethesupplychaintowards sustainability. The organisation providesstrategic and technical guidance to seafood sup-pliers and producers, helps convene them withother like-minded companies in fishery improve-mentprojects(FIPs)andaquacultureimprovementprojects(AIPs),andbuildsconsensusaroundspe-cificimprovementsinpolicies,marineconservationmeasures,andfishingandfish-farmingpractices.

SFP involvement in China started in 2007,whentheorganisationbegantoadvisekeycorpo-ratepartnersontheirtilapiaprocurementpoliciesand sourcing, evaluating sources in Hainan andGuangxiprovinces.From2008to2010,SFPcon-ductedauditson10tilapiafarmsinsixcountries,comparing the three main international stand-ards:GLOBALG.A.P,GlobalAgricultureAlliance’sBest Aquaculture Practices (GAA/BAP), and theInternational Standard for Responsible TilapiaAquaculture developed by the World WildlifeFund(ASC/ISRTA).Theobjectiveoftheseauditswas to identify similarities in criteria and areaswhere the standardsdiffered.Thebenchmarking

5


EXPERTT●PIC


projectincludedfourtilapiafarmsinChina.Thesefarms represented both small- and commercial-scale production facilities utilising two differentproductionsystems(pondandcages).Asidefromidentifyingsimilaritiesanddifferencesamongcriteriaand requirements used by the three standards,thisprojectalsoidentifiedoutstandingissuesinthefarms,whichmostproducerswereabletoaddressasaresultofthetrialaudit.Todate,allfourfarmsarenowcertifiedunderoneormoreofthecom-mercialaquaculturestandards.

SFP is widely acknowledged for its expertiseby stakeholders in Chinese tilapia, including keyUSandEuropeanbuyersandretailers,aswellasproducers and processors in China, aquacultureinstitutes, industry associations, and localChinesegovernments.GiventhehighleveloftrustthatSFPenjoyswiththetilapiasupplychainitwasappropri-atethatatilapiaAquacultureImprovementProject(AIP)wasofficiallylaunchedin2011.

SFPhasnowinitiatedtworesearchprojectstoassess the impactof tilapia farmingon theexternalenvironment.Thefirstproject,startedinApril2011, involvesmonitoringwaterqual-ityonselected farms inHainanprovince,andwas undertaken by the Hainan Institute ofAquaculture.Dozens ofwater quality param-eterssuchaschemicaloxygendemand(COD),nitrogen and phosphorus content, and heavymetalswereanalysed for five farmsover twocroppings (10 months). The study helped

identifythekeyproblemsandcausesrelatedtowatermanagement.

The second project is an assessment of theregionalenvironmentalimpactsoffishfarmclusters,whichwillbejointlyconductedbySFPandHainanResearchAcademyofEnvironmentalSciences,theleadingenvironmentalresearchinstituteinHainan.Thestudywillexaminethepotential forregionalscaleimprovementbylookingatcarryingcapacityandthepotentialforzoninginaspecificarea.

As more first-hand data becomes available(along with a more in-depth understanding ofexistingpoliciesandmanagementmeasures), theAIPwillestablishaworkinggroupthatconvenesthekeybuyers,suppliersandproducersalongtheChinesetilapiasupply-chaintosharethescientificfindings.TheAIPwillthenformamulti-stakeholderpolicyroundtabletofurtherdiscusstheproblemsandsolutions.TheAIPparticipantswilleventuallyagreeontheactionsandtimetablesnecessarytoachieve the sustainability objectives defined bythegroup.SFPwillplayaleadingroleinengagingstakeholders,providingscientificadviceandfacilitat-ingcommunication.

Up-to-date progressSFPhasworkedcloselywithlocaltilapiaassocia-

tions to assessdifferent tilapia standards that areavailable in the market. A workshop introducingthreeinternationalstandardsfortilapiafarming,i.e.BAP,GlobalGAP, andASC,was held inHaikou

inApril,2011.Over40farmers,processors,tech-nicians and government officers attended theworkshop.Participants found theworkshopveryinformativeandhelpful.Thisenhancedtheproduc-ers’awarenessofincreasingdemandsforcertifiedsustainable seafood from overseas markets, thusfurther facilitating the engagement of Chinesestakeholders into a supply-chaindialogue aroundsustainability.

SFPiscurrentlyworkingwithlocalinstitutesofaquacultureandenvironmentalsciencestoidentifyand evaluate both qualitatively and quantitativelythe environmental impacts of tilapia farming inHainan.Thisincludesanecologicalstudyaswellassocio-politicalanalysistoadviselocalgovernmentsandindustrialassociationsabouthowtoefficientlyaddress theenvironmental issuesassociatedwithtilapiafarminginHainan.ThepreliminaryresultswillbesharedwithkeystakeholdersattheAquaculturePolicyRoundtablethisfallinChina.

SFP is also developing partnerships withChineseuniversitiesandlargefeedmanufacturersto improve feed sourcing for tilapia farming inChina. This work is to be undertaken throughresearch projects on improving feeding efficien-cy and developing alternative feeds with fewerimpactsonwildfisheries.

More InforMatIon:Sustainable Fisheries PartnershipWebsite: www.sustainablefish.org


EXPERTT●PIC

It iswidely recognised that fishwelfareandstressareinextricablylinked.Whenwelfare is compromised and fish areunder stressful conditions there are a

widerangeofnegativeeffectsthathavebeenreported.These includeareduction in feedintake, growth, food conversion efficiencyandfleshquality;an increase indiseasesus-ceptibility and aggression; disruption of thereproductiveaxisandultimately,inextremecasesmortality.

Researchhas focusedonnumerousdiffer-entpotentialstressorsincludingenvironmentalfactors such as light, temperature and waterqualityaswellasphysicalstressorslikecrowd-ing,handlingandtransportation.However,thepotential for sound to act as a stressor hasbeenlargelyoverlookedinaquaculture.

The importance of soundSound plays an important role in the life

of terrestrial andaquatic animals as ameansofcommunicationaswellasitsroleinecho-location,predatoravoidance,orevenjusttheperception of changes in the environment.As such it deserves greater attention thanit has received so far as a parameter to bemonitored/managedinculturesettings.

Itmustbeacknowledgedthatairandwateraretwocompletelydifferentacousticenviron-ments. With water being athousand timesdenser thanair, a greater energy inputis required to initiate soundpropagation which resultsin sound underwater hav-ing a greater velocity withless attenuation. In practicaltermsthismeansthatgreat-erenergyisrequiredtocastanoiseunderwateralthoughwater is less restrictive toaspreading sound wave, andthus aquatic fields can beverynoisyenvironments.

The concept of sound

involvesaseriesofcomplextermsbutessen-tiallysoundisenergytravelingasamechanicalwavecausedbychangesinthemediumpres-sure.Detectionof those variations is knownastheaudiblesoundanditsloudnessdependson the specific sensitivity to the frequencies.Thecolloquialterm‘soundvolume’oftencon-foundsthedefinitionsofsoundpressureandsoundintensity:soundintensity istherateofflowofenergythroughanarea(W/m²),whilesoundpressureisthe‘strength’ofthesoundwave (Pa). Sound pressure levels (SPL) arethelogarithmicexpressionintherelativescaledecibel(dB)oftherootmeansquare(RMS)compared to a reference value. Thus, toquantifyanthropogenic sounds in thecultureenvironment,weusetheSPLofagivennoiseoverthebackgroundreference.

Sound perceptionAquaticanimalsareprovidedwithawide

range of sensory organs and systems toperceive and filter relevant environmentalsignals. The capability of fish to cast andrecognise sound is well documented forsome species, showing significant variabilityamongthem.

In general, sound perception in fish islocalised to three interconnected systems:the auditory, the equilibrium and the lateralline.Theyinvolveaseriesofcomplexorgans

or tissues and specialised cells distributedthroughouttheanimalbody,givingthefishtheabilitytosenseanddiscriminatesoundsbasedontheirdirection,distanceandsource.

Fish auditory thresholds are believed tobeprimarily in the rangeof20 to3,000Hz.However sensitivity does clearly vary withspecies(Figure1)andstageofdevelopment.Reportshaveindicatedthatsomefishspeciescouldevendetectverylowfrequenciesintheinfrasoundrange(<20Hz)aswellaspossiblyin the ultrasound range (>20 kHz) althoughthis may depend on sound levels fish areexposedto.Whetherfishperceptionofthesesoundfrequencies is functionalhearingoranartefactofpast auditory requirementsneedsfurtherclarification.

‘Grunts’ and ‘clicks’Fish do not only passively perceive

soundsgeneratedintheirenvironment,theycanalsobevocallyactiveasshowninmanyspecies. The swim bladder has an audi-toryaccessoryfunctionreflectingsoundandamplifying theircommunications.Some fishalsousethis‘soundbox’togeneratevocali-sations for a variety of potential reasonsincluding maintenance of contact, warningof predators, aggression or mate choice.Atlanticcod(Gadus morhua)isaparticularlyvocalspecieswhichproducessoundsduring

aggression, chasing, escapingbutmainlyduringcourtship.

Cod vocalisations arenamed ‘grunts’ and ‘clicks’based on the human percep-tionofthesound.The ‘grunts’are produced by repeatedlycontracting the drum musclesendingvibrationstotheswimbladder.Onegruntisarepeti-tion of single pulses of 60 to200 ms in frequencies rangingfrom30to250Hz(Figure2).

It is believed that duringcourtship females will assessthe fitnessof themales based

Noise a source of stress for farmed fishBy Rogelio Sierra Flores1 2, Andrew Davie1, Tim Atack2 and Herve Migaud1, Institute of

Aquaculture, University of Stirling, UK and Ardtoe Marine Laboratory, UK

Figure 1: Hearing thresholds comparison of humans, dogs, bats and fish. Hearing thresholds for five selected fish species (Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, Common carp, Tunids, and goldfish) Adapted from Popper et al., 2008


FEATURE


on their grunting. As such, male gruntingvigourhasbeenrelatedtothevolumeofthedrummusclemass aswell as the individual’sspecificimmunecondition.Duringmatingthefemalewillsettleontheground,whilemales‘perform’ a courtship characterised by bothvocalisationsandaswimmingpatternaroundthefemale.

Inenclosedaquaculture systems it is verylikely that mating performance/mate choicecould be impaired if the males ‘singing anddancing’performance is somehowrestrainedbythephysicalconditions.Whileeveryefforthas been directed to optimising broodstockholding tanks to ensure enough space andlowturbulences toallowpairedmating, littlethoughthasbeenputintotheacousticcondi-tionsexperiencedbyfishinculture.

Negative effects of soundThe negative effects of anthropogenic

sound are well documented in the naturalenvironmentwhere awide range of specieshavebeenshowntoaltertheirnaturalcom-munication and behaviour with there evenbeing evidence of panic and confusion inresponse to different anthropogenic soundstimuli. In the natural marine environmentthese sound sourcesarediverseand includeoffshoreengineering,piledriving,seismicsur-veying, busy shipping areas as well as navalactivity.

Incaptivitysoundsourcesaremorespe-cific, being related to the general operationofanaquaculturefacilityincludingequipmentand general husbandry activities. Literaturesuggeststhatgeneralactivityandfarmnoisewill generate low frequency vibrations i.e.<1kHz which is within the auditory sensi-tivity of fish. Thus,priortoquantifyinghow sound couldact as a stressor,it was felt impor-tant to more pre-ciselycataloguethesound-scape in atypical land-basedaquaculturefacility.

A sound map-ping exercisewas performedin the facilities ofArdtoe MarineLaboratory inScotland whichrevealed a surprisingly quiet backgroundsound level in the rearing tanks as com-pared to what would be expected inshallow coastal waters. That said, sounddisturbanceswereevident.Commonhus-bandry activities like hand feeding, walk-ing, hand netting, talking, water inflow,aeration bubbles, and knocks against the

tank walls all create obvious perceptiblenoise (Figure 3). Some basic activitieslike hand feeding showed a low soundlevel increase of 8-11 dB re µPa abovebackgroundnoise.

However, the analysis showed thatotherdaily activities can reach worrying levels.

Accidentaland/orintentionalknocksagainstatankwall,whichcancausestrongbehaviouralreactions in the fish stocks, generates lowfrequencysoundswithvolumesrangingfrom21-39 dB depending on the vigour/cause ofthe perturbation. Such SPL are clearly per-ceivedbythefishandcouldpossiblytriggerastressreaction.

Figure 2. Waveform and spectrogram of four different cod grunts recorded in the facilities of Ardtoe Marine Laboratory, Scotland during Spring 2010.


FEATURE

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Fish reactionStressreactionsinfishinresponsetosound

perturbations can be behavioural, acousticand/or physiological. Behavioural responsesaretheapparentavoidanceor freezingreac-tion.Acousticresponsesaremoredifficultto

characterise,howeverevidence suggests thatfish may attempt to alter their vocalisationform and structure (length, frequencies andamplitude)to increasetransmissionprobabil-ityashasbeenreportedinothervertebrates.

Finally, the physiological responses arevariedasastressactivationofthesympatheticnervoussystem(SNS)andthehypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis can impact onmanyprocesseshoweverevidenceof soundstimulatingtheseprocessesis lackingtodate.Buscaino et al. (2009) demonstrated in seabassandseabreamthatsoundperturbationsaboveathresholdcanresultinanincreaseinblood glucose levels and haematocrit whichconfirms the involvement of the HPI axis inthisspecies.

Acute stress response Our studies have shown that noise does

elicitanacutestressresponseinAtlanticcod(Gadus morhua) juveniles. Fish exposed tosound in the100-1000Hz range for10min-utes,usingsuspendedunderwaterloudspeak-ers, showed a significant increase of plasmacortisol concentrations within 10 minutes ofexposure.

Furthermore, the response was dosedependentassoundpressurelevelsweredirect-

ly correlated to peak cortisol concentrations.Testedsoundlevelswerecomparabletothoseencountered during the site sound mapping,whichsuggeststhataperturbationassimpleasknocking a tankwall canbe strongenough totriggerasignificantincreaseofcortisol.

Recovery from the sound perturbationwas also rapid indicating it to be an acutestress response that fish should be able tocopeandadaptto.Thiswouldinturnsuggestaminorimpactinthelong-termperformanceof the fish stocksalthough, in fish farm facili-ties, thoseacutesuddennoisesarecommonand frequent.Thus, thesecondphaseof thework considered how short ‘acute’ soundstressorsappliedovera longtime framecanimpactonfishperformances.

Sound stressors over time: a significant impact

We discovered that cod broodstockexposed to six hours of daily randomisednoiseataSPLof34dBreµPa(comparableto a loud knock on a tank wall) significantlyimpacted on the their spawning perform-ance. Egg production in terms of volume ofeggs and egg size was comparable betweenbroodstocks that were both exposed, andnot exposed, to sound though in the soundexposed population fertilisation rates werereducedbyalmosthalf.

Workiscurrentlyunderwaytoinvestigatewhysoundperturbationsresult insuchasig-nificant reduction in fertilisation successwithone possibility being the maternal transfer

of elevated cortisol to the oocytes reducingtheir viability. Another possibility is that thecourtshipritualcouldhavebeendisruptedbytherandomisedsoundexposuremaskingthegruntsand interrupting thematingbehaviourexplaining the reduction in fertilisation rate.Regardless of the causative mechanism, thefact that fertilisation success and egg qualitywere so clearly affected in sound stressedbroodstockshouldbetakenasaclearindica-tiontheacousticconditionsinculturedeservemoreattention.

Implications for other species WhileevidencesuggeststhatAtlanticcod

is oneof themore acoustically sensitive fishwe firmly believe that there are implicationsforthiswork inmostotherculturedspecies.Future work should focus on the long-termeffects of noise as a stressor including tem-poraryauditorythresholdsadaptationascop-ing strategies. Acclimatisation to noise mightbe possible, although negative physiologicalresponses could be present even without aclearbehaviouralresponse.

In terms of the culture facilities we use,clearly more attention has to be paid inreducingthenoisecausedaroundland-basedaquaculturefacilitiesand,bydoingso,makingaquaculture production more reliable andpredictable possibly helping to reduce thecommonlyreportedvariabilityinfishperform-ancesinmostaquaculturefacilities.

Instituting some routine simple andcheap sound measurements on a farmcould mitigate many unnecessary distur-bances that might be acting as stressorsaffecting thewelfareandthusperformanceofthefish.Theresultsofdoingsomaywellbeseeninthebottomline. ■

Acknowledgments

Thisprojectwasco-fundedbytheMexicanCouncilforScienceandTechnology(CONACYT)andEUFP7project232305“PROSPAWN”.

References

Buscaino,G.,F.Filiciotto,etal.(2010)."ImpactofanacousticstimulusonthemotilityandbloodparametersofEuropeanseabass(DicentrarchuslabraxL.)andgiltheadseabream(Sparus aurataL.)."MarineEnvironmentalResearch69(3):136-142.

Figure 3: Noise disturbances monitored in an aquaculture on-growing tank. Waveform and spectrogram representations: A) Background sound level; B) Hand feeding commercial dry pellets of 4.5 mm two times five pellets at the time; C) Knocks against the tank wall. Three sets of three knocks caused with the bare fingers.


FEATURE


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In the terrestrial animal feed industrythe use of exogenous enzymes is arelatively common practice and todaytheglobalfeedenzymemarketisworth

more than US$550 million.This saves theglobal feed market an estimated US$3-5billionperyear.Todatetheuseofenzymesin aquaculture feeds has been limited, butinterestisgrowingduetotheincreasinguseofplantbasedprotein ingredientsandtheirby-products.

The incorporationofSynergen™(AlltechInc., USA), a natural solid state fermenta-tion complex that improves profitability bymaximizing nutrient release, has enabled thefishmeal content of diets for several com-mercialcarnivorousfishspeciestobereducedby up to 65 percent. These diets have alsomaintainedthesameorachievedevenbettergrowthperformancewhencompared to thehighfishmealdiets.

This article highlights the recent workcarriedoutwithGilthead seabream (Sparus aurata),redseabream(Pagrus major),amber-jack (Serioli dumerili), pangasius catfish andNiletilapia.

Modern aquafeed challenges: maximising nutrient availability

Theeconomicsuccessandsustainabilityofaquaculture depends on minimising produc-tion cost to maintain profitability, and feedgenerallycomprisessome50to60percentofthetotalcostinintensiveculture.Traditionallyfishmeal has been the preferred ingredientdue to its high protein content, favourableaminoacidandmineralprofiles,oilandotherbenefits.Itsreplacementwithplantbasedpro-tein ingredients has been brought about bytheincreasingcostoffishmeal,itslimitedavail-abilityandtherequirementtoensurethatthisexpanding industry remains both financiallyprofitableandenvironmentallysustainable.

Plant derived feed ingredients howeverhave several limitations. Non starch polysac-charides (NSPs) are a complex group ofpolysaccharides which act as energy storagecarbohydratesingrainsandseed.Whiletheymayprovideacheapsourceofdietaryenergy

NSPscannotbebrokendownbythedigestiveenzymes of many fish species especially thecarnivorousones.

A wide range of anti-nutritional factors(ANFs) such as protease inhibitors, non-digestiblecarbohydrates,lectins,saponinsandphytatesmayalsobepresentinanumberofplantderivedmaterialssuchaslegumeseeds,soybeanmeal, rapeseedmealetc.Thesecanimpede digestion in fish often decreasingintestinal viscosity and bacterial loads whichinturnaffecttheanimals’performance.TheseANFshave therefore tobe removedbeforetheycanbeincorporatedincommercialfeeds.

TheuseofhighlydigestibleandprocessedsoybeanmealsuchaslowantigenSPC(soypro-tein concentrates) or proc-essed corn gluten to replacefishmealispossiblebutthesehighly processed ingredientsare expensive and the eco-nomic savings can thereforeberelativelylow.

Anothersolutionforcoun-terbalancing the digestibilityproblemsofsuchingredientsistouseenzymesthat improvesubstratedigestibilityresultingin higher nutrient availabilitythus improving growth, foodconversion rates and there-foreeconomicefficiency.

Today a better under-standing of how enzymeswork inanimal feedsandtheincreasing evidence of theirabilitytoimprovefeedquality,shown in the last 10 years,has allowed a more flexibleapproachbyfeedformulators.

Solid State Fermentation Technology

Alltech has pioneeredthe production of SSF tech-nologies for the animal feedindustry. Eight years of col-laborative research between

Alltech’s Bioscience Centers in Dunboyne,Ireland; Bangkok, Thailand; and Kentucky,USA,haveresulted ina$40millionstate-of-the-artproductionfacilityinSerdan,Mexico.

The SSF process involves the carefulselectionofspecificstrainsofnaturallyoccur-ring fungiwhichhave the ability to fermentawiderangeofagriculturalproductssuchasDDGS, corncob, palm kernel, wheat bran,rapeseedoilcakeandsoybean.Theselectedfungiarefirstpropagatedinaliquidmediatoproduce a large volume of inoculum whichis mixed with pre-sterilised selected solidsubstratemediatoproduceamixtureknown

Unlocking the hidden potential of plant proteins using solid state fermentation technologyby John Sweetman1, Ioannis Nengas2 and Serge Corneillie3

table 1: Diet composition for Gilthead sea bream

Diet 1 2 3

Control natural complex

Pre-treated with natural

complex

Fish meal 25 25 25

Soybean meal 40 40 40

Wheat meal 16.7 16.65 16.65

Corn gluten 5 5 5

Fish oil 13 13 13

Vit-Min 0.3 0.3 0.3

Synergen 0.05 0.05

table 2: effect of diet on the performance of Gilthead sea bream after 12 weeks.

Control natural complex

Pre-treated with natural

complex

Initial weight (g) 31,11±0,65 30,77±1,37 31,65±0,80

final weight (g) 84,04±5,76 95,57±3,57 100,75±1,90

FCr 1,45±0,13a 1,18±0,01b 1,13±0,02b

SGr 0,83±0,05a 0,94±0,07b 0,97±0,04b

Values are means of three replicates expressed with the standard deviation between tanks. Values with common superscripts demonstrate no significant differences among groups (p<0.05)

Specific growth rate (SGR) = (ln final weight - ln initial weight)*100/days

Feed conversion ratio (FCR) = feed consumed g / weight increase g


FEATURE


as ‘Koji’.Under strict aseptic conditions theKojiisthenevenlydistributedontotraysandintroduced into environmentally controlledSSF culture chambers for up to five days.During this time the fungus grows rapidly,breaking down the fibrous and non-fibrousportions of the chosen substrate. Doing sodramatically changes the nutritional profileofthematerialandresultsinthegenerationofproductsthatcanbeusedtoreformulatediets.Onday five, theKoji isextractedandtheby-productisdried.

The product from the Alltech SSF proc-ess, Synergen™, allows for a more flexibleapproach to feed formulation through theinclusionofby-productsorbyreducingnutri-ent constraints in the diet. It has also beenshown,throughanimalperformance,toremain

effective over awide range of feedprocessing condi-tions.

Carnivorous fish: Gilthead sea bream

At the Instituteof Aquaculture ofthe Hellenic Centrefor Marine researchan experiment wasperformed in whichapproximately 31 gjuvenileGiltheadseabream were fed 3differentdiets(Table

table 3: experimental diet composition for red sea bream.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Ingredients FM50 FM20 Ft FtP Fte0.05 Fte 0.1

anchovy meal 50 20 20 20 20 20

Soybean meal 0 18 18 18 18 18

Corn gluten meal 5 23 23 23 23 23

Fish oil 5 5 5 5 5 5

Soybean oil 5 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.4

Ca(H2Po4)2 1 1 1 1 1 1

taurine - - 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Phytase - - - - - -

(IU/g) - - - 1000 - -

natural complex - - - - 0.05 0.1

others* 34 25.6 25.4 25.2 25.35 25.3

others: Starch, vitamin premix and wheat flour

Figure 1. Feed conversion ratio (a) and Specific growth rate (b) of the Gilthead sea bream fed different diets

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FEATURE

1)intriplicateatawatertemperatureof18±2°C.Theseabreamwerefedwithacontroldiet(1)withamoderate25percentfishmealinclusion and two other diets in which aportion of the wheat meal was replaced bySynergen, incorporated at 0.05%. In diet 2,‘Natural complex’, Synergen was incorpo-rated into thewhole ingredientmixprior toextrusion while in diet 3, ‘Pre-treated with

natural complex’, the plant ingredients werehydrolyzedwith theSynergen for fourhoursat40°Cpriortoextrusion.

The diet whose ingredients were pre-treated by hydrolysing them with Synergenbefore the extrusion gave slightly better butnot significantly different results than thediet which incorporated Synergen as a sup-plemented ingredient, mixed directly withthe rest of the ingredients. Both these dietsperformedsignificantlybetterthanthecontroldiet with improved growth, SGR and FCR(Table2andFigure1).

Pre-treatment of raw materials in com-mercial feedproductionunits isaprocedure

that requiresadditionalfacilities andtherefore itwould need achange in theproductionline. Sincethe resultsobtainedfromthe ‘naturalcomplex’diet have nosignificant dif-

ference from the ‘pre-treated with naturalcomplex’ diet, this indicates that the naturalcomplexcanbeeffectivelyaddeddirectly totheingredientmix.The‘naturalcomplex’dietgave an improvement of 18 percent in FCRanda13percentimprovementinSGRwhencomparedtothecontroldiet.

Currently industrial trials and commercialapplication are underway. Based solely on

the improvement in FCR, areturn on investment of 1:43 can be expected whenSynergen is added in thismannerforthisspecieswithadditional increased profitbenefits to be added fromthe growth rate improve-ments.

Carnivorous fish: Red sea bream

Improved growth rateshave also been achievedbySatohetal.(2011)withjuvenile red sea bream. Inthis case red sea bream,of approximately 13.5 gwere fedsixdifferentdiets(Table 3). A high fish-meal diet with 50 percentanchovymealwas fedasacontrolandfiveotherdietsallwith low fishmeal inclu-sion (20%) but to whichdifferent components wereadded (taurine, taurine and

phytase enzyme, taurine and Synergen). Inthesediets the fishmealwas replacedwithordinary corn gluten and soybean meal,whicharecheaperand industriallyavailableingredients.

Diet2waslowfishmeal,diet3waslowfishmealandtaurine,diet4lowfishmealandtaurineandphytaseenzyme,diet5waslowfishmeal and taurine and500 g Synergen/tonne feed and diet 6 low fishmeal andtaurineand1kgofSynergen/tonnefeed.

Thebestperformancewasobtainedwiththepositivehighfishmealdiet(bestgrowthand lowest FCR).Comparable growth andperformance to the high fishmeal dietwas

onlyobtainedbythelowfishmealdietscon-taining Synergen. The lowest growth andhighestFCRwereobtainedwithdiet2(lowfishmeal).Addingtaurinealoneortaurine/phytase to the low fishmeal diet improvedtheperformancebut thisperformancewasstillmuchlowerthanthehighfishmealdietortheSynergentreatedgroups.

Adding higher amounts of the naturalcomplex (1 kgof Synergen/tonne) did notfurther improve the results. These resultsshow clearly that highly carnivorous fish(RSB) can be fed with low fishmeal levelsandthatordinaryplantproteinscanbeusedifappropriateingredientsareadded.

Field trials in Japan with red sea breamhaveconfirmedtheseresults.Incommercialcages, red sea bream performed betterwhenSynergenwasincorporatedinthedietwith an increased SGR (0.70%when com-paredto0.55%inthecontrolgroup)andafinalweightgainof175gwhichwasgreaterthan the 138 g achieved by the controlgroups. The FCRwas 21 percent lower inthefishfedthedietincorporatingSynergenand the feed efficiency of the Synergenincorporateddietwasalsoimproved.(86.6versus 68%). Amberjack (Serioli dumerili)alsoshowedsimilargrowthresultsgrowingfrom2.2kgto2.6kg(withoutSynergen)or3.1kg(withSynergen).

Pangasius and tilapiaIt is strongly believed that omnivo-

rous and herbivorous fish can digest plantproteins better than carnivorous fish andtherefore do not need additional ingredi-entsintheirdiets.HowevertheinclusionofSynergenindietsforfishspeciessuchastraand basa catfish and tilapia has resulted insignificantly improved growth and loweredsignificantly the FCR in both low and highfishmealdiets.

Inrecenttrials,byHungandKim(2007),a comparison was made between a 15percent fishmeal diet and a five percentfishmeal diet (65% reduction)with addedSynergen (200 or 500 g per tonne feed)to both diets. They demonstrated thatirrespective of the diet used (low or highfishmeal) theadditionof thenaturalcom-plex resulted in dramatic improvements inperformance parameters. Growth reachedapproximatelydoublethatofthedietwith-out the enzyme present. Tra catfish grewfrom14gto36g(withoutSynergen)or70g (with Synergen) while Basa catfish grewfrom6gto57g(withoutSynergen)or82g(withSynergen).

SimilarresultshavebeenrecordedforNileTilapia inwhicha zeropercent fishmealdietwas used as the control diet where growthfrom3gto21goccurredwithoutSynergenandto35g(withSynergen).

This indicates thatsupplementing the low

table 4: effect of dietary treatment on the performance of red sea bream after 12 weeks.

treatments

Parameter FM50 FM20 Ft FtP Fte0.05 Fte 0.1

Final body weight (g) 71.5c 49.8a 55.2ab 59.7ab 74.5c 67. 8bc

Weight gain(g) 57.7b 35.9a 40.4ab 59.7ab 59.9b 53.7b

SGr (%/day) 1.96c 1.52a 1.57ab 1.70ab 1.94c 1.87c

FCr 1.12a 1.30b 1.27b 1.25b 1.16ac 1.21ac

Feed intake (g/day) 64.7a 46.6b 51.2ab 56.6ab 69.6a 64.9a

a,b Means differ P<0.05.

Figure 3: Growth of Amberjack with and without Synergen

Figure 2: Growth of red sea bream fed different diets


FEATURE


andhighfishmealdietswiththenaturalcom-plex has enhanced the availability of dietarynutrients and compensated for the poorerquality of the raw ingredient characteristicsin the low fishmealdiet so improvingoveralldietaryperformance.

ConclusionTheapplicationofthisSSFtechnologyin

this manner opens the door more flexiblefeed formulation and allows the incorpo-ration of lower cost vegetable proteinsubstitutessuchassimplesoybeanmealandcorn gluten. Improved nutrient availabilityimpactsdirectlygrowthandperformancesoincreasingdietaryefficiencybothintermsofcostandenvironmental impact.Thesavingsin fishmealusageaddressesconsumercon-cernsandsustainabilityissueintheindustry.There is still much to learn about thesecomplex interactions but the indicatorsshowthepotentialofthistechnology. ■

References

HungLTandTNHKim.2007.ReducingfishmealutilizationinPangasiusCatfishfeedsthroughapplicationofenzymes.PresentedatAsianPacificAquaculture2007,Hanoi,Vietnam,5-8August2007.

SatohS,HaniniI,SarkerMSA,HagaY,OhkumaTandHNakayama2011.EffectofTaurine,PhytaseandenzymecomplexsupplementationtolowfishmealdietongrowthofjuvenileredseabreamPagrus major.PresentedatWorldAquaculture2011,Natal,Brazil,6-10June2011.

1Alltech Aqua, 28200 Lixouri, Kefalonia, Greece

2Institute of Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre of Marine Research, Agios Kosmas, Elliniko, 16610 Athens, Greece

3Alltech Japan, Shiba-Koen 2-3-27, Minato, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan


FEATURE



In aquaculture, environmentalimpacts such as deterioratedwater quality and poor pondbottoms are becoming challeng-

ing and omnipresent problems.Thisarticlehighlightsmeasureswhichcanbe taken to improve the quality ofwater and soil in aquaculture ponds,and therefore the immediate envi-ronment of fish and shrimp. Betterrearing conditions will improve theoverallperformanceofyour fishandshrimp.

As the aquaculture industryexpands and develops, several chal-lengeshavearisen.Akeyproblemcausedbyaquaculture operations is its environmentalimpact. Intensive aquaculture pond systemsresultinhighorganicloadingsthatcausedete-rioratedwaterqualityandpondbottomandthe accumulation of toxic compounds suchas ammonia, nitrites and hydrogen sulfides.Thischangesthebacterialcompositioninthewaterandsoilofpondsbyincreasingthepres-enceofpathogenicbacteria,thuscontributinggreatly to the occurrence of diseases in fishandshrimpfarming.

Direct enzyme application One way of improving water and soil

quality in aquacultureis the direct applicationof enzymes and ben-eficial micro-organismsto ponds. This type ofbiotechnology applica-tion is often referred toas ‘bioremediation’, anenvironmentally friendlyapproach which involvesthe manipulation ofmicro-organisms inpondsto reduce pathogenicbacteria, enhancing themineralization of organicmatter and removingundesirable waste com-poundsthroughspecificenzymes.

In the bioremediation process, enzymesplay the role of catalysts that acceleratebiochemicalreactionsinpondsoilandwater.

Whenaddedtotheculturewaterorspreadontopofthepondbottomsoil,enzymesareable to degrade the major organic constitu-entsnormallyfoundinshrimpandfishponds.

Eachenzymehasitsmodeofactionandisveryspecificinthechemicalreactionitcataly-ses.Forexample,proteasehydrolyzesinsolu-bleproteinsandamylasepolysaccharidessuchas starch; cellulase catalyses the breakdownof cellulose (the major cell wall material inplants);ß-Glucosidaseisinvolvedincatalysingthe hydrolysis and biodegradation of variousß-glucosidespresentinplantdebris;andlipaseworksonlipidsorfats(Table1).

Enzymes are also naturally producedand excreted by somemicrobes. These extra-cellular enzymes, such ascellulase, protease andamylase, are producedduring the aerobic fer-mentationoforganicmat-ter by micro-organisms,for example by someBacillus species. Bacilli arecommonly found inpondsedimentsandcanalsobeaddedtothepondwaterfor bioremediation pur-poses. Some Bacillus sp.are also able to degradenitrogenous compounds

and their largevarietyofexcreted (extracel-lular)enzymesadditionallyhelpstospeedupthe degradation of organic matter and toxiccompoundssuchasammonia.

Somespecificenzymescanbeactiveinaverywide rangeofenvironmentalconditions. While some micro-organ-isms have a narrow range of environ-mentalconditionswheretheyareableto proliferate (pH, oxygen, availability,etc.), certain enzymes are able to actinmultipleenvironments.They remainactiveevenwhenenvironmentalcondi-tions change drastically, especially ifthey are immobilisedon a carrier. Forexample, protease is able to workeffectivelyinpHsbetweenfourand11andwithtemperatureslessthan20°Cand greater than 70 °C (Whiteley etal.,2002).

Furthermore, another advantage of thisimmobilisation is that the enzyme activity ispreservedandcanthusbereused(KaramandNicell,1997).

There is currently a lot of interest inmanufacturing such enzyme preparationsdespitethehighcostsofisolation,purificationandproduction.Nevertheless,someoftheseproductsarealreadybeingusedasbioreme-diationagentsinaquaculture.

Proven benefits of bioremediationEnzymeshavethecapacitytostabilizethe

soilorganicmatterandcanbeusedeffectivelytomanagesoilqualityandrearingconditionsforaquaticspecies.There isnotonespecificenzymethatworksbestinallcases(RuggaberandTalley,2006).Ablendcontainingavarietyofenzymesmaybethemosteffectivemeansfor bioremediation in aquaculture. The effi-cacyandmodeofactionofenzymesrequirethatthey:• Catalyse the degradation of organic

matter (such as feces, undigested feedanddeadalgae)

• Break apart large sludge particles(deflocculation) and reduce sludgeaccumulation

• Reducesolidscontent• Decomposeplantdebris• Reduce anaerobic conditions in the

pondbottom• Promote the degradation of certain

complexnutrients• Facilitatethereleaseofhighlydigestible

nutrients

table 1: a diverse range of enzymes used as bioremediation agents in aquaculture

enzyme Substrate

amylase Starch

ß-Glucosidase ß-Glucoside

Cellulase Cellulose

lipase lipids and fat

Protease Protein

Xylanase Xylan, Hemicellulose

Pectinase Pectin

Enzymes to improve water and soil quality in aquaculture pondsby Elisabeth Mayer MSc, BIOMIN, Austria

Picture 1: Samples of the pond bottom soil of the AquaStar® groups

Picture 2: Samples of the pond bottom soil of the control groups


FEATURE


Enzymes strongly reduce sludge accu-mulationandanaerobicconditionsinpondbottoms. They promote a faster degrada-tion of the organic matter that accumu-lates in ponds, especially under intensiveproductionconditions.Thisorganicmattercomprises uneaten feed, dead plankton,mineral soils, feces andpathogenicmicro-organismsinthesoilwheretheconditionsare often anaerobic. However, for allthese bioremediation processes catalysedby enzymes, the presence of beneficialbacteria is important as well (Boyd andGross,1998).Enzymesacceleratemicrobi-alprocessesbybreakingapartlargesludgeparticles, thuscreatingmore surfaceareaswhichcanthenbeattackedandfermentedbymicrobes.This reductionof sludgeanddead organic matter can be seen visuallynotonly throughbetterwaterquality,butalsothroughbettersoilquality.

Combining bacteria and enzymes

To test the effects of a combinationof beneficial microbes and enzymes onsoil quality under practical pond condi-tions, a field study was conducted usinga commercial probiotic product (2 x 109CFU/g, AquaStar® PondZyme, BIOMINGmbH, Austria) containing an enzymeblend(amylases,xylanases,cellulases,pro-teases)under intensive farmingconditionsforwhiteshrimp(Litopenaeus vannamei)inZhuhai,China.

Fourearthshrimpponds(0.7–0.8ha/pond) with a depth of 1 – 1.2 m werestocked with juvenile shrimp (approxi-mately 1.4 g/shrimp) with a density of 50shrimp/m².The trialwas carriedout for aperiodof57dayswithadosageof500g/haofproductappliedonceamonthtothetreatmentgroup(twoponds).Thecontrolpondsconsistedoftwopondswithnormalproductionoperations.Theshrimpinbothtreatmentsreceivedthesamediets.

Figure 1 shows that the average dailygrowth of shrimp in the treatment groupincreased by 36 percent. It can be seenfrom Figure 2 that feed conversion ratio

(FCR) was improved by nine percent inthetreatmentcomparedwiththecontrol.

The soil of the treatment ponds inPicture1wasyellow,whichisregardedasthebestbottomtype,whilethesoilofthecontrolpondsinPicture2exhibitedadarkblackcolor,anindicationoftheaccumula-tionofdeadorganicmatter.

Results suggested that with the com-bined use of beneficial bacteria andenzymes, pond soils containing black andglutinous organic sludge turned into amoreyellowsoil.Fortheanimals,enzymesimprove the growth and performance ofshrimpbybalancingtheirambientenviron-ment.

The improvements of enzyme appli-cation may begreater in pondswith even higherstocking densitiesand feeding rateswhere the waterand soil qualitydeteriorategreatlyduring the pro-ductionperiod.

Promising results

For the amel-iorationofaquaticenvironmentalconditions underintensive farmingoperations, thecombined applica-tion of enzymesand beneficialbacteria as aneffective manage-ment tool seemsvery promising.Enzymes playimportantrolesasbiological controlagents in pondculture, particu-larly with respectto water and soil

quality of thepond, and theperformance ofthe cultured fishandshrimp.

Studies haveconfirmed thatponds using bac-terial strains andenzymes showedbetter soil condi-tions (yellow soil)and enhancedshrimp perform-ance, while the soil

of ponds without the treatment showed anaccumulationofdeadorganicmatter(blacksoil).

The addition of specific enzymes (pro-teases,amylases,cellulases,xylanases)and/or enzyme-producing bacteria, such asBacillus sp., promotes thepre-digestionofcer tain complex nutrients and facilitatesthe release of highly digestible nutrients.This helps to reduce sludge and organ-ic matter accumulation, as well as theanaerobic conditions in pond bottoms,thus improving the rearing conditions forshrimpandfish. ■

More InforMatIon:BIOMINwww.biomin.net

Figure 1: Avergae growth rate of shrimp during the production period

Figure 2: Feed conversion ratio of control and probiotic test groups


FEATURE

The monitoring of what happenswithinapenatafishfarmhaspro-gressivelybecomeagreaterneces-sityforfisheries.Asthecomplexity

and importance of monitoring the relevantbehaviour of the fish developed so did theengineeringsolutions.

Traditional methods focussed arounddiversgettingwetanddippingintothetank,perhaps with waterproof cameras to recordthe data to be analysed later. This methodobviouslyhasitsdrawbacksasitisnotpracti-calordesirable foradiver tobe in thepenfor extended periods of time, which wouldhavebeenneededifatruerepresentationofwhatwasgoingonwas tobeacquired.Thiswaswhyfishfarmsstartedtolookforremotevisualinspectionsolutionstotheirmonitoringneeds.

Pan and tilt cameras have been usedextensivelyinfishfarmsthroughouttheworldformonitoringthefish,feedingbehaviourandconditionofthefishwithinthefarmenviron-ment.Aproblemwiththis isthattheycouldonlysettheirpanandtiltcamerastoafixeddepthandlocationwithintheirfishpens.

The primary objective is to keep feedingforaslongaspossible,whilstwastingaslittlefeed as possible. Operators need to watchthe fish feeding so that theycancontrol thefeedsupply rateand insomecases the feedspecification.Atthestartofafeedingsession,the fish are frantic at the surface,but as thesession progresses, the fishmovedown andprogressively more and more of them stopfeeding. The operator wants to control thefeed supply rate by watching, not so much

thefish,butthefeedpelletstoseehowmuchis falling past the fish. Feed is expensive andthepelletsarequitesmall,theyalsocomeindifferent‘sink’rates.

Apanandtiltcameraonitsowncanonlybe moved manually however All OceansEngineeringofAberdeen,Scotlanddevelopedatwowinchsystemthatcanbemovedoverthe full width and depth of a pen or tank.Thepanandtiltcameraissuspendedonlinesfromthetwowinches.Operatingthewinchestogether or separately greatly increases thetankviewingoptions.

Other inspection requirementsThere are however many other under-

waterinspectionrequirementsonfishfarms.The above considered the ‘product’ whilethe following considers thehigh value assetrepresentedby thepens, anchorsandenvi-ronment. This is where All Oceans andtheirassociatecompanyAC-CESSareagainprovidingsupport.TheAC-ROVmicroROV(Remotely Operated Vehicle) is a revolu-tion in micro ROV design. Never beforehad a companymanufactured a robust andmanoeuvrable system that came in such asmallpackageastobeabletobedeployedandoperatedbyoneperson.Thisseemstobetheperfectsolution.

Distributors of products developed byAC-CESSanditsparentcompanyAllOceansEngineering have also had success in imple-menting the use of bespoke remote visualinspectionsolutionsforthemonitoringoffishin fish farms worldwide. In northern EuropeinNorwayandFinlandremotevisual inspec-tionisincreasinglybeingintegratedintoevery

dayuseatthefishfarms.However,themostnotableofthesedeveloperswasinoneoftheworld’sgreatestsalmonfarmingnations;Chile,withanAC-ROVdistributorcalledMariscopeleadingtheway.

Chilean salmon farmingThe southern region of the South-

American continent is normally known asPatagonia.Itispossibletodistinguishbetweentwo ‘Patagonia’s’, the Argentinean side, andtheChileanone.Due to the fact that therearetheAndesinbetween,bothregionshaveacompletelydifferentclimatology.

This new concept is based on the factthat theArgentinean part ismostly arid andthe Chilean side has a temperate-humidclimatology. Similar toNorway, this areahasan immense amount of fjords and channels.Hundreds of islands, including underwatervolcanoes make this region unique in theworldandidealforaquacultureactivities.Duetothepristinewater,thestrongcurrents,thecontinuous water mass exchange and theproximitytofreshwaterreservoirs,animpor-tant salmon farming industry has developedoverthelastthreedecades.

Itstartedasaprojectintheearly80s,withvery small wooden cages. The results weresoencouragingthatasmallindustryfollowed.Uptotheendofthe90s,thesalmonindustryin Chile was growing fast. A lot of thingschangedfromthebeginningsandtheindustrydevelopedfromaveryartisanonetoaverymodernharvestingindustry.

By2007,ChileproducedasmuchsalmonasNorway,some600,000tonnesperyear.Asaconsequence,thenetcagesbecamebigger


FEATURE


by Patrick Ruthven, Technical Sales, AC-CESS Ltd

FISH FARM

MONITORING

andthemooringshadtobestrongeraccord-ingtothestressofwind,wavesandcurrents.

Huge harvesting sitesThedifferenceinChileisthattheharvest-

ingsitesarefarbiggerthananywhereelseintheworld.Withnetsof50mindiameterandupto40–45mdeep,theamountofsalmonper cage reached 150 – 200 tonnes andmore. The biggest production sites had upto36suchcagespermoduleandsometimesthree modules in parallel. These huge siteshad tobemooredwithdeadweightsofupto20tonneseach,sometimeswithmorethan700tonnesofweightforeachsite.Thedeepfjordscombinedwithstrongcurrentsandtheactionofwavesmadecompletelynewmoor-ing designs necessary. Problems arose, sinceoftenthemorethan1kmlongmooringlinescrossedeachotherduringinstallationandsuf-fereddamageduringtheoperation.Accidentswithtotalorpartiallossofharvestingsitesandmillionsofdollars in fish lossresultedfromalackofinspectionoftheunderwaterenviron-mentandinstallations.

Extreme conditionsSincethisharvestinghappensinPatagonia,

therearesomepeculiarities relatedwith thisregionattheworld’send:inthiscasethesealions.Thesepredatorsfinditmostinterestingto attack the cages filled up with salmons

in order to complete their diet. Thereforesalmonfarmersneedtoprotectthenetcageswith special sea lion nets that involve theoriginalnets.

TocompletetheimagebeforewelookattheROVs in this context, a coupleofotheraspectshavetobeexplained.Theharvestingsites are all located in relatively protectedinshorewaters,notintheopenPacificOcean.Nevertheless, these waters are all but calm.Withcurrentsofupto fiveknotsanddepthover 500 m, salmon producing companies

havetofightdayindayoutwiththeextremearea they are located in. In comparison,the maximum current velocity in Norway isaround0.5 knots in salmonproducing areas.Extreme weather conditions with very fastchanging winds (there is a lot of ocean andvery few land masses at these latitudes) arejustanotherproblemofworkinginthisarea.

Introducing ROVsInsurance companies started to ask for

better control after the sites were moored


FEATURE

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and during the operational time. Additionalproblems arose through heavy bio-fouling,increasing theweight of the nets by four tofive times their original mass. This was themomentwhereROVsappearedonthescene.Mariscopestartedwiththefirstinspectionsfortheinsurancecompaniesaround2002.

Initially just a couple of mooring lineswere inspected from the top buoy to theseabed. These inspections demonstrated a

lot of problems in the way moorings weredeployed.Bigrisksforthesalmoncompaniesand for the insurance companies appeared.More and more, complete and periodicalinspections took place, reducing the amountof accidents and the risk of losing sites andstock.

Additionally, mooring companies had thepossibilitytochecktheirworkandlearnhowtochangeprocedurestobemoreefficient.

Divers to ROVsDivershadbeenusedsincethebeginning

to inspect the sea lion nets and to repairthem. Since these nets sometimes reach asdeepas70m,divetimeisreducedalsoreduc-ing the cost effectiveness of using a diver.Through lax regulations and control diversveryoftensuffersevereinjuriesfromthelonganddeepexposureandmortalityamongtheindustrydiversstillremainsrelativelyhigh.AsaconsequenceROVsstartedtobeusedper-manently for the net inspections. The divers

that had been diving for years repairing andinspectingthenetscannowbefoundoperat-ingtheROVs.

Over the last couple of years, the fishfarmingindustryinChilesufferedfromseveraldiseases, some of them as a result of overproduction and increased stock density. Theindustry was hardest hit in 2007 after theinfectious salmon anemia outbreak, whichdepletedstocksdrastically.

Followingthis,lawsinChilewerechangedso that divers and the equipment that serv-iced the divers had to go through stringent

disinfectionprocessesbeforeandafterleavingthefishpens.FormanyfishfarmsthisassertedROVs as themost cost effective and simplesolutionformonitoring.

Some of the larger companies, such asMarine Harvest, have developed ROVs tocleanawaythedeadfishkilledbydiseasefromthebottomof thenetsusing ‘liftup’ suctiontubes attached to the ROVs. Additionally,over the years therehasbeenan accumula-tionofrubbishunderthenetcages.

Sincethisandbio-foulingcontinuestobeaproblemandalsothecopperbasedantifoulingpaintsaredecaying,ROVsareused tocleanthe nets while installed. More and more,ROVs are changing from purely inspectionsystemstolightworkclassunitsthatareabletopickupmaterials,carryinstrumentsorcarryoutcleaningtasks.

Next Generation ROVsAt Mariscope, System Integration is the

basis for new ROVs. These vehicles have acompletely different concept from standardlightworkclassROVs.Normally these typesofvehiclesareequippedwithoneoratbesttwomanipulators,atrackingdeviceandsomekind of sonar. If you then have a couple oflaserpointersandaHDTVcameraonboard,youarealreadyatthetopoftherange.InthecaseofthenewgenerationoflightworkclassROVs,thevehiclesareequippedwithawiderange of oceanographic measuring devices.You can think of them as small underwaterresearchvessels. Sensors likeCO2,H2S,Oilin Water CTDs, Turbidity and Chla just tonameafew,are installedonboardand low-ered under the cages, where other systemscan not get to. Here, under the cages, thesedimentsgrowandarecontaminatedduetotheactivitiesonthesurfaceandarethefocusfornewdiseases.Measurementswillhelptheproducers to take the correct decisions forthefutureoftheirsites.

But theseunderwater labsarealsousefulinotherbrancheslikeoffshore,research,pol-lutiondetection,salvageoperationandothers.Themorerealdatayouhave,thebetteryouwill be able to take operational decisions.Modern, high efficient microprocessor basedROVelectronics, coupledwithhigh-endsen-sors and measuring devices are opening anew world of opportunities for light workclassandmicro-ROVs. ■

AC-CESS Tel: +44 1224 790100Fax: +44 1224 790111Email: [email protected]: www.ac-cess.com

Mariscope Website: www.mariscope.cl


FEATURE



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INDUSTRYEVENTSIN

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EV

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INDUSTRYEVENTS

1st-5thSeptember12Aqua2012,Prague,CzechRepublic

Contact: Mr Mario Stael, Marevent, Begijnengracht 40, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Tel: +32 9 233 49 12Fax: +32 9 233 49 12Email: [email protected]: www.marevent.com

5th-7thSeptember12AquamarInternational2012,CancúnMexico

Contact: Lic. Fernanda Tovar Galindo, Mexico, Distrito Federal

Tel: +52 998.267.82.93Email: ventas @aquamarinternacional.comWeb: www. aquamarinternacional.com

23rd-25thSeptember12VIVChina2012,Beijing,China

Contact: Anneke van Rooijen, Postbus 8800, 3503 RV, Utrecht, Holland

Tel: +31 30 295 2772Email: [email protected]: www.vivchina.nl/en/Bezoeker.aspx

10th-13thOctober12AquaSur2012,PuertoMontt

Contact: María Paz Fernández, Lado Poniente Km 1.018 Ruta 5 Sur- Puerto Montt- Chile

Tel: +56 2 7565402Email: [email protected]: www.aqua-sur.cl

17th-19thOctober12OffshoreMaricultureConference2012,HiltonHotel,Izmir,Turkey

Contact: Isobel Roberts, Mercator Media Ltd, The Old Mill, Lower Quay, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 0RA, UK

Tel: +44 1329 825 335Fax: +44 1329 825 330Email: [email protected]: www.offshoremariculture.com/

17th-19thOctober12FIGAP/VIVMexico2012,ExpoGuadalajara-HallsJaliscoA&B.Av.MarianoOteroNo.1499Col.VerdeValle-Guadalajara-Jalisco-México

Contact: Patricia Jazo, Palermo 3001 Col. Prados Providencia. Guadalajara, Jalisco. CP.44670

Tel: +52 3336 418119Fax: +52 33 36 411604Email: [email protected]: www.figap.com

24th-25thOctober12BioMarineBusinessConvention2012,Fishmonger’sHall,London,UK

Contact: Veronique Erwes

Email: [email protected]: www.biomarine.org/

25th-26thOctober12TheProteinSummit2012,Amsterdam,Netherlands

Contact: Bridge2Food, Jan van Eijcklaan 2, 3723 BC Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Tel: +31 30 225 2060Email: [email protected]: www.bridge2food.com/Protein-Summit-Bridge2Food-2012.asp

6th-8thNovember12GLOBALG.A.P.SUMMIT2012,Madrid,Spain

Contact: Nina Kretschmer, GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH, Spichernstr. 55, 50672 Koeln, Germany

Tel: +49 2215 7993693Fax: +49 2215 799389Email: [email protected]: www.summit2012.org

13th-16thNovember12EuroTier2012includingBioEnergy,Hannover,Germany

Contact: DLG Service GmbH, DLG, Eschborner Landstrasse 122, 60489 Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Tel: +49 6924788- 265Fax: +49 69 24788-113Email: [email protected]: www.DLG.org

3rd-4thDecember12AquafeedPlatformEurope-12thPracticalShortCourseTrendsandMarketsinAquacultureFeedIngredients,Nutrition,FormulationandOptimizedProductionandProductQuality,NHHotel,Ghent,Belgium

Contact: Ignace Debruyne, Smart Short Courses, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem (Belgium)

Tel: +32 51 31 12 74Fax: +32 51 31 56 75Email: [email protected]: www.smartshortcourses.com

5th-7thDecember12AlgaeTechnologyPlatformEurope,NHHotel,Ghent,Belgium

Contact: Ignace Debruyne, Smart Short Courses, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem (Belgium)

Tel: +32 51 311274Fax: +32 51 315675Email: algaeprocessing @smartshortcourses.comWeb: www.smartshortcourses.com

13th-15thDecember12IAIExpoandISRMAXExpo,IARI,Ground,PUSA,NewDelhi,India

Contact: Prachi Arora, # 923, Sector 9, U.E. Karnal, Haryana, 132001, India

Tel: +91-9991705621Fax: +91-184-2231050Email: [email protected]: www.isrmaxriceandgrainexpo.co.in

21st-25thFebruary13Aquaculture2013,NashvilleTennessee,USA

Contact: Mario Stael, Begijnengracht 40, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Tel: +32 9 2334912Email: [email protected]: www.was.org

26th-28thMarch13AGRAMiddleEast,DubaiInternationalExhibitionCentre,Dubai,UAE

Contact: Rizwan Mustafa, PO Box 28943, Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Tel: +971 4 407 2424Fax: +971 4 407 2485Email: [email protected]: www.agramiddleeast.com

30thMay13-2ndJune13Aquarama2013,Hall401-403,SuntecSingapore,InternationalConvention&ExhibitionCentre,1RafflesBoulevard,SuntecCity,Singapore039593

Contact: Ms. Jennifer Lee, 3 Pickering Street, #02-48 China Square Central, Singapore 048660

Tel: +65 6592 0891Fax: +65 6438 6090Email: [email protected]: http://aquarama.com.sg

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Interview with Guillermo Moreno

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and Publications, AQUAMAR

Organizing Company International.

Whichsectorsoftheindustryistheeventaimed?Anyonewhoisinterestedingrowth,knowledge,ideas,andbusinesstrainingfortheaquacultureandfish-eries.

Whatcanparticipantsexpecttosee?Theexchangeofknowledge,futurebusinessandseminarsisimpor-tantbutthethingthatmakes2012Aquamardifferentfromothershowsistheinteractionbetweendifferentpartsoftheindustry.Participantswilllearnaboutnewtechnicaltechnol-ogiestomarktrendsinthemarket.Therewillalsobetaughtseminarsandworkshops.

WhyshouldpeopleparticipateinInternationalAquamar2012?Thevarietyofexhibitors,workshops,discussionsanddifferentviewpointsatAquamarareseldomseeninotherexpos.Wewillhaveawiderangeoftechnologyofferingsandmeetingsdealingwithallpartsoftheindustry.Theseminarsandworkshopswillbevaluableinformationthatisimportantforformationandtraining.

Whatareyourexpectationsfor2012AquamarInternational?Iwanttogathertogetherasmanyvisitorsaspossible(over3,000)andcreatesuccessfulbusinesses.Iamalsointerestedintheviewsandexperi-enceofaquaculturestudentsbecauseinafewyears,theywillplayafun-damentalpartintheindustry.Ialsowanttogetsomefeedbackfromthepeoplewhoattend.

HowhasAquamarInternationaldevelopedovertheyears?Icantellyouthatwehavegrowninnumberofexhibitors,numberofvisits,seminarsandworkshopsaswellasaconsolidationwithintheindustry.Theconfidencethatpeopleintheindustryhaveinus.Forexample,wenearlyfilledthehallsoftheexpo,whichisamajorachievement.


INDUSTRYEVENTS

TheAQUA events are co-organised by EAS andWASevery6years.AQUA

2012succeeds the2006event inFlorence,Italyandthe2000eventheld in Nice, France.The eventcomprises an international sci-entific conference, an interna-tional trade exhibition, work-shops for aquaculture producers,forumsorganisedbystudentsandby the European CommissionDirectorateGeneral forresearchand many other workshops andmeetings.

Theoverall theme for thisyear’smeeting is ‘Global Aquaculture:Securingourfuture’.

Presentat ions by the twoplenary speakers,PetterArnesenand Geoff Allan, will provideindustryandscienceperspectiveson the different aspects of thetheme, which has obvious impli-cations for global and regionalfood security and aquaculturetrade. It also refers to economicand environmental sustainabilityand the image of aquacultureactivities.

Alistair Lane, Executive Director, European Aquaculture Society, explains the history of AQUA events and what’s going on at AQUA 2012

Tell us about AQUA 2012The European Aquaculture

Society (EAS) is one of the twoco-organisers ofAQUA 2012. ItincorporatestheEAS“AquacultureEurope” and the WAS “WorldAquaculture” events. In addition,theUniversityofSouthBohemiaisourlocalorganisingpartner.AQUA2012isthethirdAQUAevent,suc-ceeding meetings in Florence in2006andNicein2000.

InPrague,wehopetobuildonthesuccesses of previous events,withhigh participation, good science, awell-attendedtradeeventandgen-erally favourable perception fromattendees.

Who is the event aimed at?AQUA 2012 is a global aquac-

ulture event so it is aimed at theglobalaquaculturecommunity.Thisincludes scientists, producers, sup-pliersandpolicymakersandlegis-latorswhowantthelatestscientificdataandtotakepartinallofthediscussions and networking thatarethe‘core’oftheseevents.Weexpectaround2,000participantsfrom60countriestobewithusinPragueinSeptember.

What are the themes of AQUA 2012?

There are different ways ofinterpreting the theme,‘GlobalAquaculture: Secur ing ourfuture’.

One way is food security.Thisis an issue for developing coun-tries but also for the USA andEuropebecausetheyrelyheavilyonimports.

Theeventwillalso lookattheimage and perception of aquac-ulture.Itisgenerallypositive,buttheactualproductionactivitiesofthesectorarenotgenerallywell-understoodbyconsumers.

AQUA 2012 will also addressthe management of resources -notably water and feeds – butalsohumanandmarketresourceswith an emphasis on educationand managing knowledge. Thisbringsustotheplenaryspeakers:PetterArnesenofMarineHarvestwill give an industry perspective

of theAQUA 2012 theme, whileGeoffAllan, of the Depar tmentof Primary Industries inAustraliaandwhoisapastpresidentoftheWorldAquaculture Society, willfocusonthescientificperspectivesofthetheme.

What can participants expect to see and do?

This is thebiggest general aqua-culture event so participants canexpect to see a lot.Therewill bealmost600oralpresentationsand400 posters on display as well as90 trade booths and numerousworkshops.TherewillalsobetheopportunitytogoonfarmtoursintheCzechRepublic.

I’vebeen toPrague a few timesinthecourseoforganisingAQUA2012andbefore.Itreallyisabeau-tiful city, with many things to doandsee.Hotelsandrestaurantsareplentifulandnotexpensive..

With so many industry shows, why should people attend AQUA 2012?

There’s increasing competitionbetween industry showsand scien-tific conferences butAQUA 2012hasdevelopedsomethingdifferent. Itbringstogetherbothoftheseelementsandshowshowaquaculture isdevel-opingacrossdisciplines,sothatpeopleworkinginoneresearchareaorsectorcan listen to sessionsonotherdisci-plinesandactivities.Inshort,itgivesa

AQUA 2012

INDUSTRYEVENTS:PREVIEW


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What are you most excited about for AQUA 2012?

We have an excellent manage-ment team with John and MaryCookseyandwithMarioStael, andIworkwiththemtomakesurethat

everythingrunssmoothly.Iwilltrytosit inonafewsessionsbut, I’mnotsurethatIwillhavethetime.

One of things that interests meis the potential to use of macroalgae (seaweeds) as protein andlipid sources in feeds. Developingalgae as feed ingredients ratherthan using terrestrial plants could

reallyhelp solve theproblems of water,spaceandGMasso-ciated with usingterrestr ial plants. .Consumer s mayalsohaveissueswithfarmed fish eatingf e ed s p r edom i -nantly made fromter restr ia l p lantsthat could them-selves be used fordirect consumption.It would be morenatural for farmedaquatic animals toeat(farmed)aquaticplants…AtAQUA2012 there will beseveral sessions onnutrition, looking at

novel raw materials and ingredi-entsinfishfeeds.

How has the event changed and developed?

Wehavelotsofsuccessfulpressandmedia partners butwewould alsolike to develop contactswith non-

tradepressthatcouldbringsomeoforgoodnews to thegeneralpublic.Aquacultureresearch findingsdonotgenerally get well communicatedoutsideofoursphere,soweneedtodothatbetter.PoliticalwilltodevelopaquacultureinEuropeseemstobeatanall-timehigh,soweshouldusethisopportunitytospreadtheknowledgewearegenerating to supportpolicyanddevelop abalanced (legislative)frameworkforthesector.

Plenary speaker Petter Arnesen, Breeding Director, Marine Harvest

I have been working in aquacul-tureforalmost25years.Thesalmonindustrybeganaround40years agoandhasdevelopedgreatlyoverthelast20years.Nowitisrelativelysuccessful

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inScotlandandNorwaybuttherearesalmon industries inChile, the FaroIslandsandBritishColumbiaamongstothers.Itisstillalearningcurvebutwehavecomealongway.

AstheBreedingDirectoratMarineHarvest I use traditional breedingmethods rather than GM. Thesalmon industry isoneof the last inEuropenot touseGMproducts inthefishorthefeed.Atthemoment,thereisafairbitofoppositiontoGMfood fromconsumers and retailerseven though there is no scientificevidence that salmon is affectedbyGM. Yet for the feed industry, it isgettingharderandmoreexpensivetosourceGM-freerawmaterials.

The main issues in aquaculturetodayare feedresources includingrawmaterialsthatgointofeedandthemanagementoffarms.

There is a fair bit of aquacultureregulationtheEUbutthemainchal-lenge in the EU is to have moresitesofproduction.Atthemoment,the EU imports 65 percent of itsseafood.Goingforward,theEUwillhavetoincreaseitsproduction.

However, tradition fisheries areon the decline so there is a gapbetweentherequirementandwhattraditionalfisheriescanproduce.

This gap has to be covered byaquaculture and as a result, goodproductionsitesareneeded.Thisiseasiersaidthandone.Forexample,in Norway, the authorities are inchargeofgivingoutsitesbutthereareveryfewgrantedeachyear.

AtAqua2012,Iwillbespeakingabout the challenges associatedwith aquaculture in general andalsopointoutsomeofthemajorachievements inaquaculturesuchasfeed,geneticsandtheenviron-ment.

In the future, I will be workingon solving the challenges facedby aquaculture. There is greatpromiseinbreedingandgenetics.Therearenewtollscomingalongsuch as a genomics. The salmongenome is nowbeing sequencedand will hopefully be completedinthenextyear.Thiswillgiveusanew tool to use in our breedingwork.


Havingenjoyedthesupportof MSDAnimal Healthas its only Premium

sponsor for some years, theEuropean Aquaculture Society(EAS)hasannouncedthatSINTEFAquaculture and Fisheries is itssecondPremiumSponsor.

While EAS actively targetssponsorsforitsannualAquacultureEurope event, the PremiumSponsors show their support ofthesociety‘asawhole’–andspe-cifically of its objectives –with afinancial contribution that allowsEAS to offer reduced member-ship fees for young persons andforthoseworkinginrelativelylowincomecountries.

The President of SINTEFFisheries andAquaculture, KarlAlmås,ispleasedtoshowSINTEF’ssupport for EAS.“CollaborationandparticipationinEASis impor-tant to us in SINTEF as it is anindustrial organization with astrongresearchfocuswhichisvitaltousandourresearchpartnersin

EU.This sponsorshipmakes clearour commitment and we lookforwardtostrengtheningourworkin EAS through this agreement”,saysAlmås.

The EAS President Elect(becomingPresidentinSeptember),KjellMaroni isalsopleasedtohavea secondPremiumSponsor,espe-ciallyone fromNorway.“It is verygoodtohaveatechnologyorientedresearch institute asSINTEF fromNorwayonboard as aPremiumsponsor. EAS need the contribu-tionfromPremiumsponsorsasanimportantbasis for theeconomyin addition tonormalmembers”,he says.“Premium sponsors arealso importanttomakeEASmoreknown in theaquaculture industryinEurope.”

AsPremiumsponsors,SINTEFwill be promoted through theEAS web site and its publica-tions, but also at the AQUA2012(September1-5inPrague)and AE2013 (August 9-12 inTrondheim).

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Aquaculture UK 2012,held at the MacdonaldConference Centre at

Aviemore on May 23 -24, 2012,was a great success according toexhibitors.

Attendance was up on 2010, asrecord numbers of visitors cametotakeadvantageofunrivallednet-working opportunities. More than100exhibitorsmadetheirwayupScotland to showcase their latestproducts, services and innovationsfor the fish and shellfish farmingindustry.

The weather helped as temper-atures inthehigh20sallowedthecatererstorunabarbequeoutsideHall2toreplacetheusualteabar,whilst visitors basked in the heat.DefinitelynotyourtypicalScottishspringweather!

Severalnewexhibitorstoldeventorganiser David Mack, they weresurprised at how much businesstheyhaddone.

Jørgin Gunnarsson, owner ofLift-upAkva, told organisers that,despite his stand material failingto arrive after being held up bycustoms atAberdeenAirport,“itwas the best trade show I haveeverattended”.

Three students from BogorAgriculturalUniversityinIndonesiamade the trip especially to learnabout the Scottish aquacultureindustry and to see how tech-niques and equipment used here,differfromtheFarEast.

The location lent itself to easyand relaxed networking as all thehotels,theexhibitionhallsandcon-ference rooms are close togetherin a campus like setting and thismeans that if visitors fail to makecontactduringthedayitispossible,

withhardlyanyeffort, todoso intheevening.

Oneoftheundoubtedhighlightsof the event was the competi-tionfortheNovartisBestStudentPresentation award.This was wonby Rogelio Flores, a PhD studentfromStirlingUniversity,undertakingresearch at the Ardtoe MarineLaboratoryintotheeffectsofnoiseon cod. He beat seven other UKbasedresearchstudentstowinthecovetedprize,whichisanexpensespaid visit to the NovartisAnimalHealth’s R&D facilities in PrinceEdwardIsland,Canadain July.Thepresentations were made by UKbased research students and it isareflectionoftheUK’sreputationas a major centre of aquacultureresearchthatthepresenterscamefromsixdifferentcountries.

Rogelio, from Mexico, was pre-sentedwithhisawardat theGalaDinner,“Iamthrilledthatmypres-entationwasthewinnerandreallyexcitedaboutvisitingNovartissci-entistsinCanada,”hesaid.

So pleased were Novartis withthesuccessoftheday’seventsthattheyintendtooffertheprizeagainin2014.

Conference organiser DavidMack said there seemed to belotsofsatisfiedcustomersandwasrewarding to see somanyvisitorsfrom the international aquacul-turecommunityinAviemore.Theevent has grown every year sincethe first one in 2008 and plansarebeingmadeforanevenlargershowin2014.

Read more about Rogel ioFlores’ research on the effects ofnoise for farmed Cod, on page28 of this edition of InternationalAquafeed.

Aquaculture UK 2012

INDUSTRYEVENTS:REVIEW

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Why is the aqua market so important in the Novus Strategy?

LastyearIhadtheprivilegetoaddresstheplenaryoftheworldaquaculturesocietyinNatal,Brazil.ThereIexpressedmyviewthattheaquacultureforecastsareanunderestimate.Currently,aquacultureispredictedtoincreaseto220mmtofproductionby2050,fromourcurrent60somethingleveltoday.

Theseestimatesfailtoincorporatetechnologydevelopment.Actuallytheyassumethatthegainsinefficiencyinaquaculturewillcontinuetooccurataslowerratethaninmoresophisticatedindustriessuchaspoultry.Thisisamistake,becauseaquaculture’sefficiencyisincreasingeveryday.

Moreover,itisinaccuratetoassumethataquacultureiscomparabletopoultry;aquacultureisanewplatformforhumandevelopment.Itsapplicationsgowaybeyondmeatproductionperse.Algaeisagoodexample.Algaecultureisinmanywaysaspinoffofhighlytechaquaculturesectors.Ifagricultureistheplatformofland,aquacultureistheplatformofwateranditisessentialformankindtosteerthisnewplatformtofundamentalsustainability,socially,environmentallyandeconomically.

AquaisimportantforNovussimplybecausewerecognisehowimportantitwillbetofeedtheworld.

What are the two majors issues Aquaculture is facing on the horizon for 2050?

Sustainablenutritionwillbeakeyissueaffectingthedevelopmentoftheindustryasawhole.Toproduceallthisbiomassweneedtodeviseasustainablesourcingfortherawmaterialsthatwillbeusedforfeed.

Thefishmealanoildependencyisperhapsthemostsignificantissue,butsurelynottheonlyone.Wemustnotbedeaftothecriticisminvokedabouttransferringmillionsofmtofsoyproducedonlandontothewater.Soyiscertainlyasolutionbutwillitbetheonlysolutioninthelongterm.

Alternativeproteinsmustbeinvestigatedandalgae,singlecellproteinorinsectproteinarenolongerthesciencefictioncasestheywere10yearsago.Notonly,thatbutitseemsmoreandmorelikelythatfeedswillbethepreponderantvehicletopreventdiseaseinaquaculture.

Withoutproperhealthmanagement,therewillbenoindustry.Theimportanceoffeedalsorelatestospeciesandculturesystems.Weneedtolearnmoreaboutthenutritionalrequirementsofouranimalssothatwecandesignfeedsthataremoreefficient,sothattheyarebetterabsorbed.Conversionoffeedissomethingsoparamounttotheindustrythatitaffectseverythingfromoffshorelicensing,todesignofrecirculatedsystems,tofinancialprofitabilityandsoon.

Offshorefarmingisperhapstheotherbigtopic.Thepotentialoftheoceanstoprovideuswithfoodisenormous.I’mconvincedthatthesustainabilityofthehumanspeciesdependsonfarmingtheoceans.Buttheoceansareanextremelysensitiveecologicalcompartmentoftheplanet.Wenowknowthatinspiteofthegiganticsizeoftheoceans,wehaveactuallybeenabletochangetheirchemicalpropertiesaswhole!Thisisbyallmeasuresanincrediblefact.

Sonowweknowhowdestructivewecanreallygetifwedonotpayattention.Shouldthatpreventusfrommovingforward?Ibelieveitshouldnot.Theonlyrealalternativewehaveisnotwhetherweshouldfarmtheoceansbuthowdowefarmtheoceans.

Andthereagain,feedsandsustainablenutritionwillhaveamajorrole.Salmonfarmingisthelargestmarinecageindustryintheworld.Thetwomainenvironmentalcriticismsareonerelatedwithfeedwasteaccumulatinginthebottomoftheoceansandtheotherrelatedwithbiosecurity.Aquafeedsaredefinitelythesolutionforthefirstandamajorsupportingpillarforthesecond.

Sometimestheindustrystillfallsonthetrapofdefendingitssustainabilitybyengagingintheargument“whatwe’redoingisthebestalternativeavailableso…?”.Actually,theworlddoesnotwanttohearthat,weareexpectedtogivenotthebestavailablebutthesustainableone.Andifnoneofwhatweareusingisthesustainablestrategy,thenwemustrecognisethatsomewhereintheworldtherewillbegrowingvoicesofdissatisfaction.

What role does Novus intend to play in the aquaculture strategy horizon 2050?

Ourgoalistobethereferentialproviderofhealthandnutritiontechnologiesintheindustry.Size,revenueandprofitallmatterofcourseandwedohaveambitiousgoalswellbefore2050.ButIbelieveourlegacywillbecompleteifin2050,wecouldberecognisedasoneofthesilentpartnersofatrulysustainableindustrythatinthespaceofacenturywentfromvirtuallynothing,tothelargestproviderofanimalproteinintheworld.

Can you elaborate on the role of Novus in aquaculture as a water platform?

Ourrolecoverstheentirevaluechainofaquacultureproductionfromrawmaterialstoharvest.Withinthatvaluechain,wefocusonfivekeyplatforms:FeedCostReduction,FunctionalFeeds,HealththroughNutrition,OptimisedRawMaterialsandSustainablePractices.Wedonotprovidethefeed,thesamewaywedonotproviderawmaterialsortheculturesystems.Whatwedoistooptimisesuchrawmaterialsorprocesses.Thisroleallowsustobeatthecornerstoneofthedevelopmentoftheindustry

This year Novus is actively participating to the 2012 BioMarine summit in London. What do you expect or what do you see as a practical outcome for your aquaculture Think-tank?

Iwouldlikeustocomeoutofthatsessionwithastructureddocument.Onethatcouldbepublishedasathreetofiveyearroadmapandcouldbeconsideredasanagendaforamoreindepthdebateanddiscussiononhowtodrivemarineaquaculturetowardssustainability.

Francisco Saraiva Gomes leads Aquaculture Business Unit at Novus International. After graduating in Marine Biology in Lisbon, he obtained his doctoral degree at Auburn University, USA and has worked in several positions related

to aquaculture and marine biotechnology.

Novus specialises in health and nutrition micro ingredients and functional technologies including antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics and mycotoxin binders. The company focuses in four main platforms: Performance Nutrition; Therapeutic Nutrition; Feed Quality and; Consumer Values.

The aquafeed interviewFran

cisco Saraiva G

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es, Aq

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Novus, USA is supporting the up-coming BioMarine Business Convention 2012 in London, UK, form October 24-25, 2012.

Read an extended version of this interview by visiting www.biomarine.org


"Sustainable nutrition will be a key

issue affecting the development of the

industry as a whole. To produce all this

biomass we need to devise a sustainable sourcing for the raw

materials that will be used for feed"

Francisco Saraiva Gomes and the Novus Team

OlavFjellnewNofimachairperson

TheoutgoingCEOofHurtigruten,OlavFjell,hasbeenelectedasthenewchairpersonoftheBoardofDirectorsofthefoodresearchinstituteNofima.

Fjell,whoholdsaMaster’sdegreeinBusinessAdministration,haspreviouslyservedasCEOofStatoil,KongsbergVåpenfabrikkandPostbanken.HealsohasanumberofboardpositionsinNorwegianindustry.

“NofimaisalargeandimportantinstitutioninbothaNorwegianandinternationalcontext.Theinstitute’sroleasaresearchpartnerforthefishery,aquacultureandfoodindustriesisextremelyimportantandhasalargegrowthpotential,”saysOlavFjell.

“Norwayisoneoftheworld’sleadingseafoodproducingnations.Itwillbeexcitingtoworkwithdevel-opingthispositionandalsoworktostrengthenourdomesticfoodindustry.”

NofimaisEurope’slargestindustry-orientedresearchinstitutewhichengagesinresearchanddevelop-mentforthefishery,aquacultureandfoodindustries.Theinstitutehasaround420employeesandhasanannualturnoverofaboutNOK500million.

NewtechnicalservicesprojectmanagerforMSDAnimalHealth,aquacultureinAsia

NormanLimistobecometechnicalservicesprojectmanagerforMSDAnimalHealth.Inhisnewposition,MrLimwillberesponsibleforimplementingmarketsupporttrialsandproducingtechnicalmaterialsandresourcestosupportMSDAnimalHealth’srapidlyexpandinglineof

vaccinesandtherapeuticsforaquaculture.MrLimreportstoNeilWendover,technicalservicesandmarketsupportmanagerforaquaculture,andisbasedatthecompany’sofficeandaquaticresearchfacilityinSingapore.PriortojoiningMSDAnimalHealth,MrLimwasnurserymanagerforBarramundiAsia,Singapore,aleadingproducerofbarramundiinSoutheastAsia.Earlierinhiscareer,LimservedasoperationsdirectorforGenoMarSupremeHatchery,oneoftheworld’slargesttilapiahatcheries,locatedontheislandofHainaninsouthernChina.MrLimisagraduateofTamasekPolytechnic,Singapore,wherehereceivedhisdiplomainbiotechnology.HealsohasabiologicalsciencesdegreefromFlindersUniversity,Adelaide,Australia

NutrecoCEOWoutDekkerhandsovertoKnutNesseon1August2012

Nutreco’sWoutDekkerwillhandoverhisresponsibilitiesasCEOonAugust1,2012toKnutNesse.Inaddition,thecurrentManagingDirectorofSkrettingNorthernEuropeandAustralia,ViggoHalseth,willbenominatedforappointmenttotheExecutiveBoardofNutrecoandChiefOperatingOfficerAquacultureattheupcomingExtraordinaryGeneralMeetingofShareholderson

23July2012.InbothcapacitiesViggoHalsethwillsucceedKnutNesse.WoutDekkersays,"on9FebruaryofthisyearwehaveannouncedthatKnutNessewillsucceedmebytheendof2012asCEOofNutreco.SincethenwehavewitnessedthecontinuingstrongmomentumofNutreco'sbusinessaswehavebeenabletoreconfirminourfirstquarterresults.Theconfidenceinourstrategyandtheexecutionofourplansisstronglysupportedbyourshareholdersandotherstakeholders.KnutisreadytotakeoverandstartinhisnewroleasCEO.Nowthatwehaveourtopstructureinplace,Iammorethancomfortabletomakeroomsomewhatearlierthananticipated".Jan-MaartendeJong,ChairmanoftheSupervisoryBoard,says,"sinceFebruarywehaveconcentratedonatransferofresponsibilitiesandconsideredthefuturecompositionoftheExecutiveBoard.WearehappythatwithViggoHalsethwecannominateaninternalcandidateasthesuccessorofKnutNesse.BeingwithNutrecosince1984andhavingservedthecompanyinabroadrangeofmanagerialroles,ViggoHalsethhasfulfilledanimportantroleinthesuccessofourAquaculturedivision.ViggoisbestpositionedtosucceedKnutasExecutiveBoardmemberandCOOAquaculture."

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ChangeofCFOinMarineHarvest

JørgenKristianAndersenstepsdownfromhispositionasCFOinMarineHarvestASAasfromendofJuly2012.IvanVindheimhasbeenappointedasnewCFOinMarineHarvestASAandwilltakeupthepositionfromAuguest1,2012

ThechangeofCFOisaresultoftheneedtohavetheCFOfunctionlocatedtogetherwiththerestoftheGroupManagementattheheadquarterinBergen.MarineHarvestwillmaintaintheofficeinOslowheregroupfinanceandsomeothergroupfunctionswillremain.

IvanVindheim,41,comesfromthepositionasCFOinLerøySeafoodGroupASA.Mr.VindheimholdsanMScinEconomicsandBusinessAdministrationfromNHH,andanMBAfromthesameschool.HeisaStateAuthorizedPublicAccountantandaCertifiedFinancialAnalyst.PrevioustohisjobatLerøySeafoodGroupMrVindheimheldapositionasVicePresidentFinanceatRolls-RoyceMarineAS.From1996-2004heworkedforDeloitte.


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july | august 2012 - international aquafeed

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