Show Review
Industry meets academia in Taiwan at APA18 The Asian-Pacific Aquaculture 2018 (APA18) conference and trade show at the Taipei International Convention Centre, Taiwan, was attended by around 2,000 participants from 48 countries. Organisers, National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) and the World Aquaculture Society - Asian Pacific Chapter (WAS-APC), attributed the success to the collaboration and joint efforts of various organisations in the APA18 steering committee. The conference and 100-booth trade show held from 23-26 April saw 445 abstracts with 295 oral presentations and 150 posters at the conference. APA18 attracted several contingents of farmers and industry stakeholders, such as those from Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The opening was by Dr Ching Fong Chang, (President of NTOU), Dr Guillaume Drillet (WAS-APC President) and several officials; Tian-Shou, Chen, Ex-Director General of Fish Agency of Taiwan; Dr I-C Liao, Academician of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan; Hong-Yen Huang, Director General of Fish Agency of Taiwan; Allen Ming-Hsun Wu, Regional Manager-Aquaculture, Nutriad; and Jeff Chuang Cheng-Jie, General Manager of Sheng Long Bio-Tech International. The conference was strengthened by industry supporting the sessions. Vietnam based sponsor, Sheng Long Bio-Tech International, Gold sponsor at APA18 supported the session on “Advanced nutrition and disease research on fish and shrimp”. The standing room only session indicated industry interest in diseases, particularly white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), affecting farms not only in Asia but elsewhere. Professor Grace Chu-Fang Lo, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan started the session with a discussion of her work on production on WSSV resistant Penaeus monodon. She detailed virus versus host relationships and anti-host defense strategies, demonstrating the difficulties in controlling WSSV. At 32-33° WSSV replication is suppressed but with transfer, replication is rapid (related article: Working towards ‘No more threats’ from WSD in black tiger shrimp farming. Aqua Culture Asia Pacific, March/April 2018).
Pitoyo Hardi, Vice President of Shrimp Club Indonesia (SCI, left) with some members. SCI organised a group of 100 shrimp farmers and family to attend the tradeshow and conference.
Dr Loc Tran, ShrimpVet Lab, Vietnam looked at holistic approaches in bacterial disease prevention focusing on EMS/ AHPND and white faeces disease (WFD), growing problems in Vietnam where shrimp are susceptible to EMS after 2-3 weeks following stocking. The laboratory worked on transmission models for WFD with a focus on bacterial etiology and several management strategies such as algal bloom control, better feed management, probiotics application, better bioremediation strategies, and functional diets to reduce WFD both in laboratory and during grow-out. On management of bacterial problems, Dr Chi Man, BASF, presented on an innovation using enhanced monoglycerides of short (C1-C5) to medium chain length (C6C12) fatty acids. Trials in Thailand and Vietnam showed that the monoglycerides could inhibit the targeted Vibrio spp. and some other bacterial species, whilst not affecting the healthy bacteria (probiotics or heterotrophs). Tank trials have shown promising results for shrimp and demonstrated up to 30% improvement in survival rates in AHPND challenge studies. Taiwan based aquafeed producer, Grobest sponsored the session on “Sustainable environment for aquaculture” and Belgium based Nutriad the session on “Functional feed for health management”. In the latter session, Dr Yu-Hung Lin, Pintung University, Taiwan presented a review on cholesterols and bile salt. (An article on this will be published in the next issue of Aqua Culture Asia Pacific.) The session also included the 3-C strategy for health management in Thailand's shrimp farming industry by Dr Prakan Chiarahkhongman, Charoen Pokphand Public Foods, Thailand. Focusing on tilapia health, MSD Animal Health’s session saw presentations on disease and health management in Singapore (Frank Tan) and Hong Kong (Aaron Leung) as well as by Dr Win Surachetpong, Kasetsart University, Thailand on controlling tilapia lake virus (TiLV) and bacterial diseases in farms. Kemin conducted a session on feed quality and safety with presentations from academia in India, Thailand and Brazil, while Dabomb Protein, Taiwan, sponsored the session on functional aquafeeds for aquaculture (see pp 58). In this session, Alex Diana from Dr. Eckels discussed the phytogenic feed additive Anta®Ox FlavoSyn and how it improved harvest volumes of red nile tilapia with higher survival rates leading to higher profitability.
Malaysians at APA18; from right, Ismail Abu Hasan, Vio Star International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and from Blue Archipelago Berhad, Wan Nadhri Wan Fauzi, Nazrul Fadhlee Mahmud (standing) and Anuar Sani Abdul Rahman.
July/August 2018 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific Magazine
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