July | August 2012 - International Aquafeed

Vo l u m e 1 5 I s s u e 4 2 0 1 2

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 the international magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

WHO 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

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CONTENTS

An international magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

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

Aqua News 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 8

European Commissioner: European aquaculture the best but stagnant SFP releases annual sustainability overview of fisheries used for fishmeal and fish oil Alltech’s 2012 Symposium is in the iBooks AQUCULTURE UPDATES AQUCULTURE UPDATES IFFO Backs Marine Mammal and Turtle Conservation in South America AQUCULTURE UPDATES Best Aquaculture Practices welcomes Marine Harvest Canada salmon farms

Features 28

Noise - a source of stress for farmed fish

32

Unlocking the hidden potential of plant proteins using solid state fermentation technology

36

Enzymes to improve water and soil quality in aquaculture ponds

38

Fish Farm Monitoring

Regular items 14 24 42

45 49 50 52

EXPERT TOPIC - TILAPIA PHOTOSHOOT INDUSTRY EVENTS Preview - Aqua 2012 Review - Aquaculture UK 2012 THE AQUACULTURISTS CLASSIFIED ADVERTS THE AQUAFEED INTERVIEW INDUSTRY FACES

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

www.perendale.co.uk

Editor Professor Simon Davies Email: simond@aquafeed.co.uk

Associate Editors Professor Krishen Rana Email: krishenr@aquafeed.co.uk Alice Neal Email: alicen@perendale.co.uk

Editorial Advisory Panel • Abdel-Fattah M. El-Sayed (Egypt) • Professor António Gouveia (Portugal) • Professor Charles Bai (Korea) • Colin Mair (UK) • Dr Daniel Merrifield (UK) • Dr Dominique Bureau (Canada) • Dr Elizabeth Sweetman (Greece) • Dr Kim Jauncey (UK) • Eric De Muylder (Belgium) • Dr Pedro Encarnação (Singapore)

Subscription & Circulation Tuti Tan Email: tutit@aquafeed.co.uk

Design & Page Layout

Croeso (Welcome in Welsh)

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write this editorial from the Perendale Publishers office in Cheltenham. Its always a pleasure to be in the Cotswolds of England. In this month I would like to formally welcome new staff to the Perendale group, especially Alice, our new Associate Editor. Her contribution is already showing in our new content ideas and layout.

Apart from our regular features, we now include a new focus on species, either established or under development as potential candidates for rearing.

This edition includes a report on Baramundi, by Robert Taylor of Marine Produce Australia. The attributes of this excellently flavoured and textured fish is highlighted in relation to it's unique growing environment and husbandry conditions.

We turn to Tilapia as our selected focus species, with a sequence of articles ranging from nutritional aspects such as dietary additives, to a article looking at the importance of genetic strains and hatchery technology, by my fellow Welsh man, Eric Roderick of FishGen.

Professor Simon Davies

Ingrid Lupatsch of the Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Swansea University, Wales addresses feed formulation and feeding strategies for Tilapia with a detailed examination of growth rates, protein requirement and bio-genetics.

The sustaining of Tilapia supply from a Chinese perspective is reported by Han Han - Program Manager, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

"Silence please - cut the noise and vibration if you desire stress free fish!". Recent studies from the Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling Scotland, demonstrate the importance of reducing noise and background acoustic disturbances within production systems. This could be an important issue worthy of further exploration with relevance to our concerns for fish welfare.

James Taylor Email: jamest@aquafeed.co.uk

John Sweetman, Ioannis Nengas and Serge Corneillie of Alltech provide us with an insight into the use of solid state fermentation products that can enhance the nutritional value of plant ingredients for fish. Their work is notable for research conducted on Gilt Head Sea Bream in the Mediterranean.

International Marketing Team

On the theme of regulating the environmental impact of aquaculture, we present an interesting report by Elizabeth Mayer of Biomin on the applications of both enzyme technology and micro -organisms (probiotics) administered to pond water and soil. The process of bioremediation offers great potential to improve the yields of fish and shrimp in open pond culture, by improving growth and feed efficiency.

Darren Parris Email: darrenp@aquafeed.co.uk Lee Bastin Email: leeb@aquafeed.co.uk

Latin American Office Ivàn Marquetti Email: ivanm@perendale.com

More information: International Aquafeed 7 St George's Terrace, St James' Square Cheltenham, GL50 3PT United Kingdom Tel: +44 1242 267706 Website: www.aquafeed.co.uk

Additionally as mentioned in the last issue, we summarize my visit with Dr Daniel Merrifield to the Aquaculture America 2012 event in Las Vegas in our photoshoot section.

As well as our numerous topical industry contributions, we have our news reports and updates on forthcoming events in the aquaculture sector and related areas. The latter is now presented as a defined A note from the publisher section within each edition, and the current issue highlights the Aqua 2012, European Aquaculture Society In the last issue of INTERNATIONAL (EAS) meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. We hope to AQUAFEED a error was made with see many of you there. the author name on page 24 - the For now, greetings again from the Cheltenham HQ Professor Simon Davies

name that should have appeared on the Expert Topic for Poland was 'Anna Pyc'.

In the same issue, we used the incorrect text file against the photoshoot for AquaBioTech Group. The correct items can be found on page 48 of this issue.

The International Aquafeed team would like to apologies to both parties for the errors.

Aqua News

European Commissioner: European aquaculture the best but stagnant

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n May 2012, Commissioner Maria Damanaki and Nicolaus Berlakovich, Austrian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, E n v i r o n m e n t a n d Wa t e r Management hosted a conference on the future of European Aquaculture. They discussed how the European Commission, the Member States, the European Parliament and the stakeholders can ensure the successful future of European aquaculture.

Firstly, the Commission intends to star t a consultation process to identify the problems which prevent European aquaculture form flourishing.

For example, competition for space is a major challenge to the economic development of freshwater fish farming or farming sites in coastal areas. To tackle this, the Commission will look at how to site aquaculture in water and on land, and also consider the potential co-location with other economic activities. For

example, some Member States are researching the option to codevelop aquaculture with wind farms or solar energy plants.

At present, many aquaculture farms are located in or close to Natura 2000 areas which contribute to the maintenance and preservation of aquatic biodiversity. The Commission is developing a set of guidelines to illustrate the compatibility of aquaculture activities and the Natura 2000 nature conservation objectives.

Secondly, customer s often have limited access to information about the fish they buy.

The Commission will wor k towards highlighting quality features properly. In addition, the proposed creation of an Advisory Council for Aquaculture in our CFP Reform will provide a permanent consultation forum for all interested parties and can contribute to this perspective.

The Commission realises

that EU countr ies have differing aquaculture ambitions so the European framework they suggest will be limited to the main priorities and general targets.

On a more personal level, Ms Damanaki made some interesting remarks on the matter on her blog. She believes that European aquaculture is the best in the world but is stagnant. However, she is positive about the future, stating, "to revive EU aquaculture we need coordinated action by all levels of authorities, EU, national and regional: let’s work together."

About the European Commission The European Commission oversees and implements EU policies by: 1. proposing new laws to

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 3

Parliament and the Council 2. managing the EU's budget and allocating funding 3. enforcing EU law (together with the Court of Justice) 4. representing the EU internationally, for example, by negotiating agreements between the EU and other countries.

There is one Commissioner for each of the 27 member states.

Each Commissioner takes responsibility for one policy area.

Aqua News

SFP releases annual sustainability overview of fisheries used for fishmeal and fish oil AQUACULTURE The Industry view

Aquaculture is the future food source

by Kim Pagh ANDRITZ FEED & BIOFUEL is behind the development of unique extrusion programs for the production of all kinds of fish feed, shellfish feed and petfood.

A large growth within fish farming in all regions of the world means a corresponding growth in the demand for aquatic feed. Success in breeding fish requires correctly adapted feed formulas with controlled homogeneous content and exact physical properties.

The extruder accounts for the key process in this complex production line, which consists of all processes from the receipt of raw materials to the finished product.

ANDRITZ FEED & BIOFUEL is a unique company with the ability to manufacture and supply each and every machine in the feed extrusion line. With an intricate knowledge of each key process, we can supply a compatible and homogeneous solution from raw material intake to finished feed bagging.

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ustainable Fisher ies Par tner ship (SFP) has released the annual sustainability overview of fisheries used for fishmeal and fish oil.The overview (previously known as the ‘Reduction Fisheries League Table’) covers the 28 principal reduction fisheries around the Atlantic and South America rated according to the sustainability assessment presented on FishSource (www.fishsource. com). The ratings are based on the most recent assessment period for which comparable data is available as of May 14, 2012.

In summary, the briefing concludes that for Atlantic and South American reduction fisheries: • No fishery featured in the sur vey scores more than eight across all FishSource criteria (category A – the top category).

• 62.4 percent of the catch c o m e s f r o m fi s h e r i e s that score above six in all criteria AND the score for biomass (score 4) is eight or above meaning biomass is at or above target levels (category B1). These stocks are in ver y good shape, although may merit some improvements in management regime.

• 8.3 percent of the catch comes from fisheries that score six or above across all criteria but do not score above eight for biomass (categor y B2). These fisheries are in good shape but would benefit from improvements in management regime.

• 29.3 percent of the catch comes from fisheries that score below six on at least one of the criteria. These fisheries have not been effectively managed and significant improvements are required.

• Only three fisheries, representing 6.7 percent of the catch, score below six on

biomass and thus require urgent improvements. These are: European pilchard – Iberian, anchoveta – Chilean regions v–x, and Chilean jack mackerel.

• Cumulatively, 70.7 percent of the catch from these fisheries score six or above

The results of the overview will prove invaluable to fishmeal and fish oil buyers seeking guidance on sustainable sourcing as well as manufacturers of aquaculture and farm animal feeds. Buyers of aquaculture products and organisations developing aquaculture standards will also find the

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

on all five criteria – this is broadly in line with the requirements of existing and proposed aquaculture feed sustainability standards.

• No reduction fishery is currently managed within an ecosystem-based fisheries management regime. This situation needs to improve significantly. Fisheries that have established a successful single species stock management regime should now be looking to evolve an ecosystem-based approach to ensure sustainability in the future.

• Changes in fishery scores from 2009 to 2010 indicate a small decline in the overall scores. There were reductions in the volumes of catch in categories A and B1 and an associated rise in volume of catch in categories B2 and C. It cannot be concluded from the data that the sustainability status of reduction fisheries is in decline, but it is unlikely to have improved.

• Changes for specific fisheries from 2009 to 2010 are summarised in table 1.

4 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

data useful in helping to shape policies.

Commenting on the launch of the Sustainability Overview, Jim Cannon, CEO of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, said: “In releasing this information, we aim to encourage the world's fishmeal and fish oil suppliers and forage fisheries to engage in improvement efforts, with a priority on improving those fisheries that currently fall short of current single-species best practices, and ensuring that all the fisheries move towards ecosystem-based management.”

More Information: Website: www.sustainablefish.org

SHARE YOU NEWS

Send your press releases to Alice Neal for inclusion in the magazine.

Email your items to: alicen@perendale.co.uk

Aqua News

The world´s top event for animal production

Alltech’s 2012 Symposium is in the iBooks

T

he Alltech 28th Annual International Symposium, held May 20 - 23, 2012, in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, was a venue for close to 3,000 delegates from around the world to discuss the future of agriculture and the challenge of feeding nine billion people by 2050, as well as to explore the wide range of possible solutions to meet that challenge. While the 2012 Symposium is already 'in the books', the experience lives on in the Alltech 28th International Symposium iBook, which is now publicly available through Apple’s iBookstore and iTunes.

The Alltech Symposium iBook offers an inside look at the annual international event through a collection of photos, videos and ar ticles. It is available as free download for the iPad through the iBookstore or through iTunes for computers.

“The Alltech Symposium is an exhilarating event filled with contagious energy and exciting

new ideas — you really have to see it to believe it,” said Catherine Keogh, Alltech’s chief marketing officer. “This iBook is a great way for the delegates who attended to relive the experiences they had this year ; and for anyone who couldn’t attend, this is an oppor tunity to get a glimpse at what this international event was all about.

The great thing about this format is that through the photos and video, the story of the event can really come alive.”

The 28th Annual Inter national Symposium was the forum for presentations by more than 170 industr y exper ts in areas including aquaculture, beef, dairy, equine, food, information technology, legal, poultry, pig, pet and regulatory.

More information: www.alltech.com

AQUCULTURE UPDATES

An exceptional algae bloom has been detected off the coast of Ireland. Seawater samples submitted to Marine Institute have shown the presence of a species of Phytoplankton that can harm marine animals. Some mortality has been reported among oysters, cockles and lugworms from the Mayo to Donegal coastal regions.

China is to build aquaculture research centre. The hub will be in the city of Sansha in the South China Sea and will focus on fish, shrimp and algae breeding.

Your Business Driven by Innovations The Marketplace for Aquaculture Top exhibitors from all areas of fish 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

Hanover / Germany 13 – 16 November 2012 Hotline: +49 69/24788-265 www.eurotier.com/aquaculture Dieses Projekt This project is wird von derco-fi Europäischen being nanced Gemeinschaft by the European kofinanziert.

Community

RZ_105x297_Anzeigen_Fisch ET_EN.indd 1

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 5

including

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high production densities, higher feeding rates and thus increased organic matter levels in the ponds, again problems of higher disease susceptibility and even the development of new diseases have to be faced. While yellow head/white spot syndrome viruses and vibriosis severely impacted production since the 90s, white feces disease is a newer pathological entity. These changes in production conditions, the related impacts of aquaculture on the water and pond bottom quality and the ban of antibiotic growth promoters in importing countries has led to the search for sustainable and environmentally-friendly alternatives.

AQUACULTURE The Industry view

A natural solution, which I have been working on the last three years, is the (preventive) application of beneficial bacteria, probiotic and biodegrading strains, in fish and shrimp feed or in their ponds. Such products improve gut/growth performance and water quality, enhance bacterial floc formation and promote the reduction of pathogenic bacteria and pond bottom sludge.

Beneficial bacteria in intensive aquaculture

by Elisabeth Mayer, Technical Manager for Probiotic Additives in Aquaculture, BIOMIN, Austria Over the last decades, technological advances have led to culture fish and shrimp at more and more intensive production conditions. In Thailand, for example, traditionally black tiger shrimp were farmed, but since 2001 there was a drastic switch to the more disease-resistant pacific white shrimp, which currently corresponds to 99 percent of Thai shrimp production.

At this time, the average stocking density for tiger shrimp was approximately 40 – 50 animals/m², but this has increased to about 120 - 200 white shrimp/m² with two to three times greater profits. However, with such

Beneficial bacteria has become well accepted and widely used in aquaculture within the last years. While I see on my visits to Asia and South America some farmers producing their own undefined bacteria mixture in the ‘backyard’, a growing number are asking for high quality products fermented under optimal and tailor-made conditions. Under these circumstances, the farmer knows which strains, at what concentration and dosage he distributes in his ponds and applies to his fish and shrimp for better performance and increased profits through higher survival even at high stocking densities.

Some producers have successfully managed white feces disease by using probiotic products containing bacteria that inhibit the growth of pathogenic Vibrio spp., which have been related with the disease.

FEATURES

Every issue of International Aquafeed is available to view online in our Archive section. Both full online editions and individual features can be viewed, and it is completely free.

www.aquafeed.co.uk/archive.php

Aqua News

AQUCULTURE UPDATES BFAR's 65th year highlights conservation, promotion of sustainable fisheries. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources' (BFAR), Philippines, 65th year highlights the protection of the country’s fisheries and aquatic resources as set by environmental degradation caused by man and that of climate change. In a press statement, BFAR Director Atty. Asis G. Perez said that planning and collaboration with stakeholders will help in this task. He noted that in Western Mindanao for instance, both marginal and commercial fishers are reporting increases in their sardine catch. He said that the success was attributed to the industry’s compliance with the three-month closed season along with the government’s strict enforcement of the ban. “Taal Lake is also another case in point.

Whereas last year, our fish farmers had lost millions of pesos; this year, there has not been a single case of a major fisk kill despite the critical fluctuations in water brought about by the habagat season,” Perez said. He also said that tuna fishers have something to look forward to as catch is expected to rise after the two-year fishing ban of tuna in the so-called pockets 1 and 2 of the high seas or those covered by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. The ongoing aquasilviculture program also continues to provide an additional source of income to fisher-families in these areas, Perez said, more so after an estimated number of six million mangrove propagules or seedlings planted in the coastal regions. Perez said that the BFAR is currently strengthening its fisheries law enforcement program through the formation of Quick Response Teams (QRT) in all its 16 regions nationwide, which was created "to strengthen sea protection efforts by curbing illegal fishing in line with the government’s goal of eradicating the abuse of the country’s marine resources." In celebration of BFAR's anniversary, there was a series of events including a food fair, time capsule and stamp series. In addition, the bureau will also launch the ‘Angry Fish’ essay writing contest for high school students, and the endangered fish drawing/painting contest for collegiate students.

Mussel growers Knight Somerville Partnership has been granted a 20-year consent to develop a 4.35 mussel farm at Tuhitarata Bay in Pelorus Sound, New Zealand. The news comes after the company was forced to halve its original plans in May 2012 after resident opposition.

Japan has tightened its rules for Vietnamese shrimp imports. The government has upped testing form five percent to 30 percent of imports following the detection of ethoxyquin.

Aqua News

IFFO Backs Marine Mammal and Turtle Conservation in South America

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FFO (the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation) is backing an initiative by one of its members, the Compañía Pesquera Camanchaca (Camanchaca), which aims to teach fishermen the art of environmental stewardship, better protecting marine animals including dolphins, sea turtles and sharks.

The initiative provides training for the senior crew who work aboard Camanchaca’s vessels that land in the northern Chilean port of Iquique. The scheme will contribute towards the gathering of vital research information that will be used to help in the conservation of protected marine species.

The first seminar took place during April 2012.

IFFO has developed a Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS) for Fishmeal and Fish Oil. Its overarching programme includes the goal to reduce any potential environmental impact arising from fishing catches made within its responsibly managed fisheries.

Camanchaca was one of the first companies in Chile to have its factories certified under the IFFO RS standard earlier this year. It has now formed a partnership with the Department of Marine Sciences of the Arturo Prat University and its Technical Training Centre, to offer specialised training seminars to the fishermen.

Large marine animals are sometimes captured in the fishing nets designed to catch small oily fish such as anchovy and sardine, ingredients used in the production of fishmeal for animal feed and fish oil for human consumption.

IFFO is keen to ensure that its members are aware of the importance of conserving marine creatures as part of the marine ecosystem.

Topics covered at the seminars include the ability to identify and correctly record data on protected marine mammals found off the coast of northern Chile, as well as learning how to safely return these creatures to the sea with the minimum risk of damage. Mr Adolfo Carvajal, Camanchaca’s Manager for the Northern Fishing Area, said, “Sustainable development requires us to take action in order to control the impact of our activities on the marine environment and without a doubt we have now undertaken actions in this respect. These training seminars for our senior crew members will allow them to demonstrate Camanchaca’s commitment to the responsible sourcing of fish”.

Andrew Jackson, Technical Director at

IFFO, said, “IFFO is delighted to see this excellent initiative from Camanchaca in Chile and indeed other recent developments in South America regarding the quantification and avoidance of the incidental catches of marine mammals and sea tur tles. In creating the IFFO RS standard we were hopeful that this type of conser vation programme would be developed by our members and we look forward to hearing more good news in the future.”

The Chile based project follows one taken last year in Peru, in which a number of fishing companies working with environmental NGOs such as the Marine Conser vation Society (MCS) and ProDelphinus distributed a series of turtle identification and resuscitation guides and held a series of training courses.

Dawn Purchase, Senior Aquaculture Officer at MCS, said, “I am delighted with the success of this project and the spin-off conservation courses being run for fishermen. The IFFO RS standard provides a real opportunity to promote change on the water, which is what MCS strives to achieve. Increasing the identification skills and conservation knowledge of these fishermen in both Peru and Chile is a great way of achieving environmental stewardship”.

More Information: Website: www.iffo.net

IFFO The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation represents the fishmeal and fish oil industry worldwide. IFFO’s members reside in more than 30 countries, account for two-thirds of world production and 80 percent of fishmeal and fish oil traded worldwide. Approximately 5 million tonnes of fishmeal are produced each year globally, together with 1 million tonnes of fish oil.

IFFO’s headquarters are located in St Albans in the United Kingdom and it also has offices in Lima, Peru, and in Beijing, China.

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TheAquaculturist A regular look inside the aquaculture industry

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ever ones to stand still, it’s been a busy few months at the Aquaculturists. We are fortunate to have an ever-growing gang of online readers hungry for news. So we have been working even harder to dig out the best aquaculture news the web has to offer. In June we started a daily digest post, which is a one-stop shop for the day’s most relevant, interesting, and (at times) quirky stories.

As huge show fans, our columnists are still dedicated to posting the latest event news as soon as we get it. Recently, we’ve also been having fun exploring the growing number of aquaculture videos online. Being sharing types, we put the cream of the crop on the Aquaculturists.

But the really exciting news is the new-look the Aquaculturists is sporting. The blog has been given a well-deserved revamp, making it easier to navigate and generally a bit prettier.

We think it looks great but would love to hear what you think. Come and say hi at:

www.theaquaculturists.blogspot.com Popular posts from the Aquaculturists: • These NASA satellite images show how shrimp farming has changed a Pacific coastal landscape over 25 years. http:// bit.ly/O2Ek2Y • The IBISWorld report into US aquaculture predicts that after the downturn following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, fish and aquaculture revenue will slowly improve over the next five years. http://bit.ly/ LkbeF7 • The advantages of raising sterile fish include better tasting meat and the prevention of escapee fish mixing genes with their wild cousins says research by Nofima in Norway. http://bit.ly/N2zLD1 • Seoul has banned seafood imports of 35 Japanese marine products, citing dangers of radiation contamination as the reason behind the embargo. http://bit.ly/KXKVti • Kofi Annan told delegates at AquaVision 2012 in Stavanger, Norway, that aquaculture has the potential to contribute to reducing world hunger. http://bit.ly/MD1A0L • Critics of farmed salmon fear that Atlantic salmon raised in open-net cages can pass on diseases to wild salmon.

However, an outbreak of the IHN virus in British Columbia in May 2012 appears to have been caused by passing wild stocks. http://bit.ly/Mp0dWx • Video: Octopus steals video camera (while it’s filming). http://bit.ly/OoIWP3

The Norwegian food research institute Nofima has entered into a strategic research alliance with Alltech, one of the world’s largest animal health and nutrition companies.The main goal of the alliance is the development of feed for the aquaculture industry. The American company Alltech has the goal of achieving an annual turnover of NOK 25 billion. Increased sales within the aquaculture sector are seen as a key factor in achieving this goal, and Alltech Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Karl Dawson points to the importance of long-term research collaboration with the world’s leading research environments. “The salmon industry faces challenges that require a progressive partnership with research institutions that are focused on finding long-term answers. This agreement provides us with the structure to work with alternative feeding solutions, which is one of the salmon industry largest challenges,” says Dawson.

Russian and Japanese governments have begun negotiations to lift temporary restrictions of Japanese fish and sea products. Imports of marine products are currently on hold due to safety concerns following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.

Representatives from both countries met in July 2012, to discuss the possibility of restarting imports from Japan.

Best Aquaculture Practices welcomes Marine Harvest Canada salmon farms

T

he Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) Best Aquaculture Pr actices (BAP) programme has fur ther expanded its coverage of salmon facilities with the cer tification of five Marine Harvest Canada salmon farm sites.

"Marine Har vest is a large and highly respected international producer, and we are very pleased to see the ongoing participation of such an industr y leader in the BAP program," GAA President Chamber lain said. "It is fitting for the company to demonstrate leadership not only in volume , but also in responsible production practices."

Marine Har vest Canada is British Columbia's largest salmon aquaculture company.

"We are extremely pleased to have achieved this cer tification milestone, which demonstrates our commitment to environmental integrity and continual improvement throughout our operations," Marine Harvest Sustainability Director Clare Backman said.

"BAP certification validates that our farming practices protect the

environment for local wildlife as well as our fish, while providing a safe and effective working environment for Marine Har vest Canada staff," Paula Galloway, certification manager, said.

In addition to the newly certified sites, third-party BAP audits will be conducted at all remaining Marine Harvest Canada salmon farms. These audits are a first step toward the company's plan to achieve ‘four-star’ BAP status, with certified salmon farms, processing plants, feed mill suppliers and freshwater hatcheries.

BAP cer tification is based on the inter national Best Aquaculture Practices standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance, the leading standards-setting organisation for aquaculture seafood. For salmon and other major farmed species, BAP requires effective management of animal health, feed inputs, water quality and food safety. In a process that includes site inspections and in-depth audits, social responsibility and traceability are additional requirements.

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

FEATURE

IF PURITY MATTERS www.pronova.com

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 9

FEATURE

Tough environment produces world’s best

Barramundi

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

W

hen, in January this year, Western Australian Environment Minister Bill Marmion signed off on an application by Marine Produce Australia (MPA) to harvest 2,000 tonnes of top quality barramundi at the Cone Bay operation in the state’s vast far north, he did more than just double the company’s existing production license.

After eight years and around AU$50 million in research and development by MPA on one of the world’s most remote aquaculture ventures, Marmion sent a signal to the world that finally the waters off the Australia’s northwest coast with their huge tides were open for business.

Cone Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago is 100km from the nearest town, Derby (population 3380), which in turn is 2400km north of the West Australian capital Perth

(population 2 million). The Kimberley as the northern part of Western Australia is known, occupies some 421,000 square kilometres with a total population of just 25,000 people.

Top-notch barra But this speck on the Australian coastline is rapidly making a name for itself among the nation’s best chefs as the hot spot for farm grown finfish. It’s all in the tides.

As top Australian food critic Rob Broadfield wrote in The West Australian newspaper recently, “Cone Bay Barra swim and swim and swim against the massive tides from inside their sea pens. They are perhaps the fittest fish on earth which is why their fat – and fat is what barramundi flavour is all about – is spread evenly throughout the body (their laid back estuarine cousins have potbellies in comparison).

“Then there’s the clean, briny flavour and a clear opaque flesh: a consequence of a life lived in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean north of Derby,” says Mr Broadfield.

Cone Bay, with tides of up to 11 metres twice a day, is fantastic for growing fish but the Kimberley, with temperatures pushing above 50°c degrees in the wet season, crocodile infested waters and huge distances between tiny settlements is tough on humans.

A happy accident It took something of an historical accident for the 10 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

area ever to be considered for fish farming in the first place.

Broome, Derby, and the Buccaneer Archipelago have been the centre of the Australian pearling industry for more than 100 years. MPA’s lease over 700 hectares of Cone Bay was initially granted by the WA Fisheries Department as a pearl farming licence to the Hutton family’s pearling company.

“The original licence was to do some research on the black lipped pearl, we trialed and seeded that species of shell but that fell by the wayside as the Tahitian and Polynesian black-lipped production increased,” says John Hutton, a former AFL footballer now heading the family’s aquaculture operations.

The licence in Cone Bay was renewable every 12 months and the pearling company continued to keep it going as staff tested other species.

Meanwhile, Mr Hutton and his fellow investors in MPA were looking for an alternative viable aquaculture species.

The Fisheries Department pointed the Huttons in the direction of the black tiger prawn and the company spent three years experimenting with the species, re-booting a rundown prawn farm in the Northern Territory.

When a group of investors dropped into Cone Bay on the back of a trip to check out the prawn operations in Darwin, a light bulb went on.

“On that trip one investor wandered off, grabbed a small handful of feed and threw it into what effectively was a big wine barrel containing barramundi fingerlings. They started attacking the top of the water where the feed was and the investor

FEATURE declared that we must have barramundi in MPA,” said Mr Hutton.

Biting the bullet In 2004, the company announced to the world it was entering into the fish farming business and kicked off with two small sea cages of 40 metre circumference growing the local Lates calcarifer, or Barramundi, found across the north of Australia.

A fact finding mission to Tassal’s salmon operation in Tasmania followed and the company was soon confronted with a choice between continuing with the black tiger prawns and ramping up the barramundi operation.

The prawn market was competitive with Chinese imports continually undercutting the local producers and consumers barely discriminating on quality, but the barramundi option was a leap into the unknown.

“Cone Bay Barramundi was purely research and development, no one had ever done finfish farming in the Kimberley and we were making educated assumptions as we went along. How to do sea cages, these big plastic pipes sitting on the water,” says Mr Hutton.

“We knew our anchoring systems with regard to long lines from our pearling operations but we had to take that knowledge and adopt it to circular sea cages with ten metre tides twice a day.”

Fingerlings from the Darwin Aquaculture hatchery where flown in eskies to Broome, driven to Derby and then flown to Cone Bay by helicopter at a cost of AU$20,000 a trip.

But those tides which meant no water pumping, and the 30°c water which meant no artificial heating, gave the company an insight into the area’s potential for farming the local barramundi, a hardy, marketable fish that had already proved its farming durability in operations on Australia’s east coast.

The company bit the bullet, sold the prawn business and poured its resources into growing barramundi at Cone Bay.

Reaching critical mass In the eight years since the previously Australian Stock Exchange listed vehicle Tiger International has morphed into the unlisted entity Marine Produce Australia.

The company’s 800 investors have

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 11

been subject to regular rounds of fund raising as the capital intensive business took two steps forward and one-step back battling to overcome conditions as diverse as sky-high wages caused by

FEATURE

WA’s mining boom, a confidence sapping global financial crisis, and bureaucratic red tape.

“To get to what we saw as being critical mass, the 2,000 tonne, has taken a very long time. Four to five years of lobbying and answering questions and doing studies and research into whether barramundi has the

“The EPA become involved when they decided the tonnages are such that they will start having in their view an impact on the environment,” said Mr Hutton.

“We were always of the view that there needn’t be a figure and that approvals should be based on an output, performance-based monitoring regime but the EPA has insisted

ability to be an aquaculture species that can expand and gain approval from the WA Government,” said Mr Hutton.

Initially the company sought and received licenses from the Department of Fisheries for small production levels up to 150 tonnes per year.

But before long the EPA, which had been carved out of the break-up of the Western Australian Department of Environment by the Carpenter Labor Government decided that MPA’s venture required more than an aquaculture license.

on input restrictions and output restrictions and limited production to 1,000 tonnes.”

That equated to stocking rate of just 1.5 tonnes a hectare compared to stocking rates in other jurisdictions, world heritage Tasmania for instance, of 28 tonnes per hectare in waters with little tidal movement.

Nevertheless, the EPA, with no formal WA guidelines to work from slapped the company with the state’s highest level of scrutiny – a full public environmental review.

It took two financially tough years to complete the PER during which the company was 12 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

required to keep tonnages around the 350 mark. But in a way the disciplines imposed during this time has been the making of the company.

“It was tough financially but we started to see major results from our research and development. Moving 40 metre cage sizes to 60 metre cage sizes – yes they work. Different anchoring systems, tying off systems, feeding systems, establishing markets, operation systems and capabilities,” said Mr Hutton.

Backed up by the very favourable results of the company’s environmental monitoring and with the help of outside consultants the company knuckled down and just eight months after receiving its 1,000 tonne approval in May 2011, was granted the 2000tpa license

by Minister Marmion as an interim step towards the ultimate goal of 5000tpa which the company expects to receive in the second half of 2012.

Aquaculture zone Meanwhile on December 16, 2011, WA Fisheries Minister Norman Moore announced State Government funding to establish two aquaculture zones for finfish farming on the WA coastline, the first being Cone Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago.

The government is currently doing detailed environmental studies to create the aquaculture zone thus streamlining MPA’s application for approval for 5,000 tpa and easing the burden on the company.

MPA is convinced that the government study will prove that Cone Bay, which is 21km long and 6.2 km wide at its western opening, has a carrying capacity far in excess of the 5,000 tonnes and as the sole operator in the remote location and with a massive head start over prospective competitors Cone Bay Barramundi will be in the box seat to capitalise.

Presently harvesting over 1,100 tonnes per annum, at 2000tpa the company will turn over around AU$20 million a year in revenue. At 5000tps it will burst through the AU$50million level with seriously decreased cost through upscaling.

“We are identifying and managing our risk to a much greater degree. The risks are similar in fish farming around the world and we are employing worldwide best practice”.

One way MPA has managed to de-risk is by seeking out the best people in their field like evolutionary geneticist Dr Desiree Allen recently appointed as research and development manager and Daryn Payne who prior to joining MPA as farm operations manager was Tassel’s regional manager for five years.

Mark Asman for five years the Chief Operating Officer for Tassal with a lifetime of experience has come on board as aqua-

FEATURE

culture consultant through his company SmartAqua.

“After viewing the MPA operation, I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the product, the vast and spectacular farming area, and the potential for another successful aquaculture project in Australia,” says Mr Asman.

MPA has screwed down on costs through more automated and targeted feeding regimes and slick transfer to market.

The MPA process Three years ago MPA struck a deal with Fremantle based Challenger Institute of Technology’s Australian Centre of Applied Aquaculture Research (ACAAR) in Perth to supply all required fingerlings to the Cone

Bay farm, an arrangement that sees 250,000 healthy fingerlings periodically transferred to the farm without loss.

MPA now operates 80 metre-circumference sea cages, delivers feed direct into Cone Bay and takes fish out at around the 3-4kg mark on a purpose-fitted harvest boat.

The fish are stun-killed as they come from the cages onto the boat and chilled in 80kg bins on deck before being shipped to Derby for transferral to refrigerated trucks where they are dispatched to high-end restaurants and wholesalers around the country without ever being frozen.

With Government licenses in place MPA’s next step is to re-list on the Australian Securities Exchange.

And the WA Government has also finally brought out a Fisheries Policy Statement, which will be followed by legislation which will underpin the processes to secure longterm sustainability in aquaculture.

“We’ve learnt lot. We now believe we’ve got the right processes, the right location and the right product, Cone Bay Ocean Barramundi, to make a major impact on both the domestic and world markets,” says John Hutton.

■

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 13

EXPERT T●PIC

TILAPIA EXPERT 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.

14 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

EXPERT T●PIC

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4

5 3

2 1

Effects of dietary potassium diformate on juvenile tilapia

– a performance analysis

by Christian Lückstädt, Animal Nutritionist, ADDCON, Germany

G

lobal production of farmed tilapia in at least 85 countries exceeded 3 million t in 2009 and requires high-quality fish feeds. In such intensive aquaculture production, bacterial diseases have been identified as a major cause of economic loss to producers. Feeding antibiotic-medicated feeds is a common practice to treat bacterial infections. Prophylactic use of antibiotics as growth promoters in aquaculture production has also occurred widely.

However, growing awareness from consumers and producers of aquaculture species has resulted in a demand for responsible and sustainable aquaculture. Regulatory authorities in most exporting countries now focus on the misuse of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in aquaculture, while public attention has shifted towards sustainable production methods.

Thus, alternative additives to replace AGPs, which have been banned in EU animal feeds since 2006, have had to be tested.

Dietary organic acids, and especially potassium diformate – the most widely tested organic acid salt in aquaculture, are among the vari-

ous alternatives spearheading environmental friendly and nutritive-sustainable aquaculture approaches.

Dietary potassium diformate (KDF) has been tested in tilapia aquaculture since 2005 and since then numerous publications and conference contributions on the use of KDF in juvenile tilapia have been published from Europe, America and Asia. This study analysed the average impact of the additive from all published studies on its effect on performance parameters such as weight gain, feed efficiency and mortality.

The final data-set contained the results of eight published studies, comprising 18 trials with KDF-inclusion, which ranged from 0.2% to 0.75% and covered 3,040 fish. Data were subjected to statistical analysis and a significance level of 0.05 was used in all tests.

Results are expressed as percentage difference from the negatively controlled fish.

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

-4.46

P.level

0.162

0.009

0.012

The average level of dietary potassium diformate from the data-set in all treated fish was 0.41percent. Only a numerical increase of feed intake (2.1%) could be monitored (P=0.16) compared to fish without the additive. However, the performance of tilapia, based on final weight was significantly increased by 5.6 percent (P=0.009). Furthermore, the feed July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 15

conversion ratio of fish fed KDF was also significantly improved (P=0.012): this time the improvement was 4.5 percent.

Data on mortality were inconclusive, since some of the trials were carried out under clean laboratory conditions, while others employed a challenge with potentially pathogenic bacteria, such as Vibrio anguillarum, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus iniae and Aeromonas hydrophila. In these cases, dietary KDF, ranging from 0.2 percent till 0.5 percent reduced mortality (P<0.05) when employed against V. anguillarum; it tended to reduce (dosages between 0.20.6%) mortality caused by S. agalactiae and A. hydrophila, while it had no effect (KDF ranging from 0.25-0.75%) on mortality caused by S. iniae.

In general, results show significantly improved growth and FCR in tilapia fed with dietary potassium diformate, while its beneficial impact against pathogenic bacteria seem to be bacterial-challenge dependent. If calculated as fish productivity index, which is a function of weight gain, survival and FCR (Lückstädt & Kühlmann, 2011), the improvement extended to almost 17 percent (P=0.020). The use of KDF in tilapia feeding is therefore supported as a promising alternative in the contemporary aqua-feed industry in order to contribute to an ecologically sustainable tilapia production.

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

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EXPERT T●PIC

Tilapia cage farm management in Brazil

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

M

uch of Brazil’s expanding tilapia aquaculture takes place in floating cages with sturdy frames and nets made from plastic-coated steel or polypropylene.

Although larger cages are also used, most cages have small volumes up to 20 m3 that support high stocking densities and intermittent harvesting without overstressing the fish. Earthen ponds may be used for the nursery of fry, but compartments in cages are more common. Size grading is a major management component.

Tilapia were first brought to Brazil in 1953, but only over the past decade has tilapia farming grown to commercial scale. Since 1999, the industry has expanded at an average annual growth rate of 18 percent. In 2009, the Brazilian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture reported the tilapia harvest was 133,000 metric tonnes.

Over the years, Brazilian farmers have used a number of tilapia strains, starting with the Florida red and more recently the genetically male tilapia. Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, Chitralada strain, brought from Thailand in 1995, has established itself as the main strain farmed in the country. Much of the tilapia aquaculture takes place in floating cages near many of Brazil’s coastal areas.

Cage characteristics Brazil holds about 10 million ha of freshwater in dams, rivers, lakes and man-made reservoirs. Floating cages have become the most popular system for rearing tilapia in Brazil in areas with suitable water quality, flushing rates and water depth.

Tilapia cages are simple to build, inexpensive (US $400 for a 6-m3 cage) and easy to manage. Cages are usually constructed with rigid or flexible nets made from plastic-coated galvanized steel, stainless steel or synthetic fibers such as polypropylene.

Steel nets are more widespread, as they better resist predatory fish such as the piranhas found in some inland areas in the country. Cage frames are made from stainless steel or galvanized steel. Strong, longlife, high-density polyethylene frames are less widely available and more costly, but have become the choice of farms that operate with medium-volume cages.

In sites close to shore, stationary cages are spaced two to four metres apart in groups and docked with anchoring poles fixed inshore. Otherwise, submerged chains and ropes attached to concrete bottom weights are used as mooring systems. To facilitate daily management, many farms now adopt walkways made from wood attached to empty barrels or plastic containers.

Most cages used for tilapia rearing have small volumes of four to 20 m3. These can be round or square in shape with heights not greater than two metres. The cages can

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

Since much of Brazil’s tilapia sales are domestic and retail, small-volume cages allow the harvest of fewer quantities of fish without imposing stress on the greater stocked population. As cages move beyond 10 m3 in volume with monthly harvests exceeding 10 metric tonnes, farms require a moderate level 16 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

of capital investment and cash flow, and scale harvests for consistent sales and production flow.

Tilapia farms that operate with cages beyond 300 m3 in volume are sometimes vertically integrated from fingerling production to fish distribution. They operate with processing plants and sales contracts that require the harvest of large volumes of tilapia at a time. In larger-volume cages, final stocking densities are reduced to 60 kg of fish/m3.

They have the disadvantage of poor flexibility and maneuverability, but on the other hand, can represent significant savings in labor force.

Nursery Sex-reversed tilapia are usually sold to grow out farms as fry with wet body weights between 0.2 and 0.5 g. A thousand tilapia fry cost US $30 to $45, depending on quality, location and availability. When available at short distances, some farmers prefer acquiring juvenile fish of 10- to 30g weight, although their prices may exceed $80/1,000 fish. At this stage, fish mortality can be significantly reduced and the growout cycle shortened.

Earthen ponds may be used for the nursery of Chitralada fry prior to stocking in cages. However, cages equipped internally with flexible 5mm mesh nets are usually more common, as

they facilitate fish handling and transfer to grow out cages. In cages, it takes five to eight weeks to grow 0.5g fry to 30g juveniles, depending on stocking density, feed and water quality.

Size Grading Tilapia growth can vary widely within the same stock, especially when the fish are subjected to high density. This is in part due to genetic differences, but also because of competitive interactions among fish. Some fish outcompete others for feed and consequently grow faster. As

EXPERT T●PIC a result, size grading becomes a major management component of tilapia cage farming.

When tilapia are transferred to different cages, it also allows moving the stock to clean units with larger mesh sizes, which promotes greater water exchange within the rearing unit.

From 5mm mesh sizes, 10g fish are usually moved to cages with mesh sizes of up to 15 mm. Then 30 to 200g tilapia are held within nets of 15 to 25mm mesh. The mesh on nets for fish larger than 200g is 25mm or wider.

Grading frequency depends on a number of variables, including the targeted fish size at harvest, number of cages available on site, stock size variation, degree of prevalent stress and health status of the stocked population.

Many farmers target tilapia above 900g in weight to achieve premium prices. For this fish weight, grading can be carried out two to three times in a production cycle (Figure 1).

During the rainy season, when fish become more susceptible to disease outbreaks, there is a reduction in tilapia stocking density as well as grading frequency. When size grading is adopted, final tilapia body weight variation can be reduced from 40 percent at initial stages to about 15 percent at harvest time. Tilapia are often sorted into four size categories, with the smallest, most challenged fish removed as early as possible since their delay in growth cannot be recovered during the production cycle. Fish

are usually sorted manually by eye, but in large operations, this procedure can be mechanised.

Feeds, feeding Cage-farmed tilapia in Brazil received only extruded diets. Feed protein content, pellet size and suggested feeding rates may vary according to the feed manufacturer.

Fish feeds tend to be high in protein content at initial stages and drop as fish attain larger sizes (Table 1). Growout and finishing feeds are usually 32 percent in protein content and may represent up to 80 percent of all feeding costs at a cage farm. Feed costs to produce a one kilo tilapia can range US $1.10-1.30/kg of fish harvested. As such, feed management is critical to the economics of a cage operation.

To determine maximum ration sizes, farmers usually follow suggested rates from commercial feeding tables. However, rations are adjusted on a daily basis depending on fish appetite. In small-volume cages, rations are never delivered in full amounts. Initially, fish can be fed only half of the calculated ration.

The remainder is offered if the first ration is fully consumed within 30 minutes after distribution. After this period, uneaten feed can be oversaturated with water, and the heavier pellets exit the confined feed area, leading to feed loss.

Cage operations equipped with walkways allow more detailed inspections of feed consumption. They facilitate feed handling and storage, and promote feed delivery to as often as eight times a day during grow out compared to three times when distributed from feed boats. Walkways also allow the collection of fish debris and more frequent clean up of feeding rings or net curtains.

Perspectives Tilapia cage farming will continue to grow quickly in the years to come in Brazil to reduce the increasing domestic deficit of fisheries products in the country. Tilapia are mostly marketed fresh and degutted at weights of 700 to 900g. Farm gate prices range US $2.00-2.80/kg.

Today a great proportion of Brazil’s tilapia production is consumed in the countryside, but the fish are also now found in large supermarket chains, restaurants and fish markets all over the country. As capture fisheries continue to decline in Brazil and more city residents learn to appreciate tilapia, increasing demand will further drive new entrepreneurs into tilapia aquaculture. In this new scenario, medium-size cages and more mechanised practices will emerge to keep pace with largescale production and more-efficient operations.

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 17

EXPERT T●PIC

Tilapia genetic strains and hatchery technology

by Eric Roderick

T

ilapia is a diverse group of over 100 species, but surprisingly only a handful of species are cultured commercially and only one species, the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus accounts for 95 percent of global production.

Culture systems range from small backyard operations producing a few fish to sustain a small family, to huge agro-industrial units producing

inconsistent, and wasteful. It was then found that certain hybrids between different tilapia species (O.niloticus and O.aureus) gave very high percent male progeny. The downside with this technique was that it required hatcheries to hold two separate stocks of tilapia species, and as the purity of tilapia stocks deteriorated, the technique became unviable.

Researchers then discovered that tilapia fry, when fed male sex hormones for the first month after hatching, were able to change sex, from 50- 50 male to female ratio, to ratios of almost 100 percent male fry. This is a highly variable technique due to hormone purity and operator experience.

One of the major challenges facing the industry is that use of Methyl Testosterone will be phased out. This is overcome by the latest technology to effectively provide all male fry the YY Male Technology developed by Fishgen.

After many years of research in the UK and in the Philippines, Fishgen produced supermale tilapia which had two Y chromosomes instead of the usual Y and X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes. These supermales produce only male fry addressing the problems of a future ban on hormonal sex reversal.

Which strain

3

over 20,000 metric tonnes annually. With the rapid growth of the global tilapia industry over the past 25 years, genetic improvement programmes enable a more profitable industry to benefit from the increased popularity of tilapia as a global food commodity.

From humble beginnings being farmed for the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt 4,000 years ago, the Aquatic chicken is now a very important globally traded commodity with production worldwide of 3.23 million metric tonnes in 2011 and still growing.

Supermales Most commercial farms only grow male tilapia, which grow much larger and faster than females. This was initially achieved through manual hand-sexing of the fingerlings, and discarding the females, which was labour intensive,

Deciding on which commercial strain of tilapia to use in a new tilapia project can be daunting, and there are many commercial stocks available globally. The farm’s location can have a deciding influence as there are restrictions on importation of some strains from some countries, to minimise disease and biodiversity issues particularly in Africa where there are many unique endemic strains of tilapia, requiring protection from contamination by the careless introduction of new genetic lines, where escapees could interbreed or outcompete with the pure endemic species.

The big four There are currently four main genetically improved commercial lines that are globally distributed and proven to be fast growing. The biggest genetic improvement programme was the GIFT project (Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) and the current stock was originally produced from eight strains of the Nile Tilapia collected from Africa in the 1980s.

After extensive selective breeding programmes carried out in the Philippines between 1988 and 1997 by ICLARM (Now WorldFish Center) in collaboration with AKVAFORSK (The Institute of Aquaculture Research in Norway) a new strain was produced and distributed globally. World Fish Center has moved to Penang, Malaysia now and the breeding programme is still carried on scientifically and commercially in both Malaysia and the Philippines.

The commercial rights to a recent GIFT genetic line was sold to Genomar (a Norweigian Venture Capital Genetic Improvement com18 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

pany) a few years ago and is now marketed globally as Genomar Supreme tilapia (GST) and the processed fish as TRAPIA (traceable tilapia) ensuring full genetic traceability of their products to the food industry. Trapia is produced in Genomar’s cage farms in lakes in Malaysia and mainly exported to the USA. Since the sale of the GIFT latest genetic lines to Genomar, the Philippines have carried on with their own Genetic Improvements of the GIFT line and market the GIFT Excel line now.

These lines are all based on the original genetic stocks collected in Africa in the 1980s.

Another well-known stock is the Chitrilada strain which is farmed extensively in Thailand. It originated as a gift to the King of Thailand by the Emperor of Japan in 1965, and was maintained as a pure line in the Royal Jitralada Palace in Bangkok for many years before being distributed throughout Thailand by the Thai Department of Fisheries in 1967. Since then it has been improved by selective breeding programmes and is now widely farmed in South and Central America, particularly Mexico and Brazil. This stock also originated from Egypt.

The only other tilapia genetic line commercially used extensively around the world is the YY Supermale strain, developed by Fishgen in the UK. This stock is also based on the Nile Tilapia from Egypt, but the main difference between this line and all the others available, is that no hormones are required to sex reverse the fry for growout, as the YY supermale has been specifically bred to sire only male offspring.

Hatchery systems Tilapia hatchery systems are diverse with cost of construction and production of tilapia fry varying enormously, from basic pond hatcheries in tropical countries costing almost nothing, to expensive high-tech bio-secure indoor recirculation systems. The low-cost breeding systems utilise simple earth broodstock ponds, with a shallow area around the edge where the fry once released from the female’s mouth, tend to congregate in tight shoals and are collected with large dip nets or small seine nets, on a daily basis. Larger hatcheries use lined ponds in poly-tunnels which give better temperature control, biosecurity and predator protection. The fry are incubated by the female which is less efficient than removing the fertilised eggs from the female’s mouth and using artificial incubators to hatch the fry.

Many of the world’s largest tilapia hatcheries are in Asia, where 75 percent of global tilapia production takes place. They utilise Hapa-based production systems, where the broodstock are bred in long hapas (net pens) and the eggs are harvested from the female’s mouth every five days. This is done by opening the buccal cavity of the female and gently rinsing the eggs out of the mouth into a bucket.

Global perspective With global tilapia production still grow-

EXPERT T●PIC ing steadily, hatcheries are also expanding to provide fry for the grow-out farms and some of the biggest hatcheries now have the capability to produce one million fry per day.

At present the main tilapia producing countries are China, Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Honduras. There are large hatcheries in all these countries but the biggest farms are vertically integrated units which produce their own fry to minimise biosecurity issues and ensure supply of fry.

Regal Springs is one of the world’s largest tilapia businesses, producing over 70,000 metric tonnes in 2010 in several countries around the world.

ACI in Costa Rica is one of the largest individual farms. Both companies export all their production as fresh fillets to the USA. Biomar is just completing its brand new high tech feedmill very close to the ACI farm to meet the growing demand for tilapia feed in Central America.

Future markets With the tilapia market firmly established and growing in the USA and globally, future challenges for

tilapia producers will be to find new markets and to overcome stiff competition from Pangasius species (Basa and Tra) imported from Vietnam. This is especially true in European markets which is still seen as a new high value market for tilapia producers around the world. Spain imports 20 percent of the EU total and Poland 33 percent but these are mainly frozen tilapia from China with demand fuelled by the low prices reflecting the current economic downturn throughout the EU. Rapidly expanding importers of tilapia are Russia and the Middle East, but as China becomes far wealthier, consuming more of its own tilapia domestically, price increases and possible shortages of tilapia as an export commodity are possible.

Many countries are ramping up production to fill this perceived new demand. These are Vietnam, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt and Malaysia, where government support is helping to drive this new wave of expansions. The main growth areas are in value added products particularly in the producing countries so increasing profitability, and filling new and growing markets. Tilapia’s future is rosy.

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 19

EXPERT T●PIC

4

Feed formulation and feeding strategies for tilapia

by Ingrid Lupatsch, Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Swansea University, UK

T

ilapia are now the world’s second most popular group of farmed fish after carp. Worldwide production exceeded 2.5 million tons in 2007 according to FAO and demand continues at a steady pace.

Tilapia are farmed worldwide in inland aquaculture in various kinds of facilities and production strategies. The majority is still grown extensively in polyculture but more and more intensive monoculture systems are being used where the manufactured feed is the only source of energy and protein.

Tilapia are often called the ‘aquatic chicken’. Their success is attributed to a tolerance to wide ranges of temperature and salinity, resistance to disease, their ability to reproduce in captivity, and their capacity to grow well at high stocking densities, which make them feasible for farming under various culture systems.

Tilapia as herbivores are perceived to be more sustainable and whilst feeding on a low trophic level, are able to convert low cost feed into high quality protein. There is continued criticism that carnivorous fish are thought to require high levels of protein in their feeds (that are mostly supplied by fishmeal) while

most herbivores such as tilapia are fed feeds containing only 25 to 30 percent protein. This gives the impression that herbivores are more efficient converters of protein into growth.

However, expressing protein requirement based solely on dietary inclusion levels is incomplete if feed intake is not considered. Protein intake is the product of the protein content of the feed and the total amount of feed consumed. As such the protein demand per kilo of fish produced will give a clearer picture of the overall efficiency of the species in question.

Generally speaking, in order to formulate feeds for fish two main issues have to be addressed: a) what are the requirements and b) how can we cost-effectively meet those requirements.

First, tilapia - like all animals - need energy and protein. This seems trivial, but the challenge is to determine how much energy and protein has to be supplied to guarantee optimal growth and most efficient feed utilisation.

Second, what are the sources of energy and protein? Various potential feed ingredients have to be evaluated for their nutritional value, chemical composition and their availability to the fish.

Calculating requirements Nutrient requirements are generally defined for animals of a given age and for a specific physiological function, such as maintenance, growth or reproduction. In fish farming growth is one of the major goals. Growth means deposition of new body components, which in fish consist mainly of protein and lipid besides water.

The feed has to supply the material for building new tissue, but also the energy needed to deposit the new growth. In addition to these, energy and protein for maintenance have to be supplied as well. Therefore, this basic calculation dictates that the energy and protein requirement of a growing fish is the sum of its needs for maintenance plus growth.

The energy and protein requirement for maintenance at a constant temperature is primarily dependent on body size. It is proportional to the metabolic body weight in the form of the equation, a x BW (kg)b, where a is a constant, characteristic of a certain fish species at a set temperature and b is the exponent of the metabolic weight which in fish has been determined as b = 0.80 (Lupatsch et al. 2003).

The requirement for growth is dependent on the amount and the composition of the weight gain including the metabolic costs to deposit new growth.

Daily energy requirements per fish in units of digestible energy can therefore be expressed as: 20 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

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)

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.

The same approach is used for the quantification of protein, except for the use of a different exponent of b = 0.70 for body weight as determined for several fish species (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 protein requirements are quantified as absolute requirements per fish body mass and anticipated daily weight gain and only then expressed as an inclusion level in the feed.

The necessary parameters to obtain are thus the following:

Growth data and feed intake A prerequisite for estimating feed requirements of tilapia is to define its maximal potential for growth. This modelling requires growth data from trials, where feed supply in terms of energy and nutrients is not limiting and optimal growing conditions are met. It is though necessary to define these parameters for different stocks or strains as different selection programs result in faster growing strains of all male Oreochromis niloticus such as for example the GIFT strain.

EXPERT T●PIC

Table 1: Protein and energy requirements of tilapia grown at 27°C Body weight, per fish Weight gain1, g / day

25g

150g

300g

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

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 DP/DE ratio g/MJ8

0.286

0.803

1.202

27.7

23.6

22.1

Protein requirement

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TOP of the aquafOOd chain.

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)

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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)

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7DP required for maintenance and growth 8Dietary DP/DE ratio for optimal protein utilisation

The following equations are all based on trials carried out in Israel using male hybrid of O. niloticus x O. aureus at a water temperature of 27°C. The equation defining the relationship between daily weight gain and fish size appears below: Weight gain (g / fish / day) = 0.12 × Body weight (g) 0.547 Another prerequisite is an assessment of the maximum voluntary feed intake, the amount or bulk that the fish is physically able to consume, this is needed to adjust the energy density and nutrient density of a potential feed. The following relationship between voluntary feed intake and fish size was found: 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 as growth, the composition of the gain is a main factor determining the subsequent energy and protein requirement. When measuring whole body composition of fish at increasing sizes,

each gram weight gain is assumed to equal the body composition at a certain size.

There is an increase in energy content with fish size, whereas the protein content remains quite constant at 160 mg/g fish Energy (kJ / g fish ) = 5.53 × BW (g) 0.055

Protein (mg / g fish = 160.2) The fact that protein content remains quite stable and energy content is increasing with increasing fish size is typical for most fish (Lupatsch 2009).

However, compared to species such as salmon or gilthead sea

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 21 ET-221A.indd 1

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1/20/12 1:57 PM

EXPERT T●PIC bream, tilapia can be categorised as a lean fish, a fact which in the end will affect the dietary protein to energy ratio.

Table 2: Nutrient composition of selected ingredients used in practical feed formulations (per kg as fed) Crude protein, g

Digestible protein, g

Gross energy, 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

Sunflower meal

378

336

17.87

Wheat meal

118

94

17.69

Corn

79

59

17.52

To determine the maintenance requirement as well 11.70 as the relationship between 12.72 weight gain and feed intake, groups of tilapia are fed 10.76 increasing levels of feeds with a known digestible energy (DE) and digestible protein (DP) content. Feeding levels included a zero group (no feed) up to maximum voluntary intake at a point when the fish refused to eat more.

Figure 1 demonstrates that the relationship between daily DE consumed (x) and energy retained (y) is linear and can be described by the following equation: 11.17

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’).

Low protein

High protein

Fish meal

100

200

Feed Ingredients (g kg-1) 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

y = - 34.4 + 0.62 x The DE (kJ) requirement for maintenance (no energy gain or loss) can be found where the y-axis is zero. According to the equation above, the maintenance requirement per day would amount to 34.4/0.62 = DEmaint = 55.5 kJ × (kg)0.80.

The slope of the line in Fig. 1 is a measure for the efficiency of energy utilization for growth. For tilapia this amounts to 0.62, or in other words, 62 percent efficiency. The reciprocal value 1/0.62 = 1.61 is a measure for the ‘cost of production’ in units of DE (kJ) to deposit one unit of energy (kJ) as growth.

Requirement for protein can be obtained in a similar manner (Fig 2). The relationship between protein intake (x) and protein gain (y) referring to a metabolic body weight of kg0.70 is as follows:

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

Maintenance requirements and efficiency

y = - 0.30 + 0.47x

Maintenance requirement DPmaint (g) = 0.64 DP / DE ratio, g / MJ 22.1 23.7 × BW (kg)0.70 and additionally 2.13 units of DP (g) are needed to deposit one unit Table 4: Proposed feeding table for tilapia and expected FCR whilst feeding a of protein (g) as high or low protein feed. growth .

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

Practical application

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

Hence, with the parameters obtained energy and protein requirements for tilapia can be calculated and adapted to changing conditions for the duration of a growth period (Table 1).

22 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

Ingredient evaluation and feed formulation As mentioned before, once the requirements are known, various potential feed ingredients have to be evaluated for their nutritional value, chemical composition and their availability to the fish. Table 2 provides nutrient composition including digestibility data of several ingredients that are commonly used in aqua-feeds (Sklan et al. 2004).

Table 3 describes two potential feeds that could be formulated from commercially available ingredients. The feeds describe a 30 percent protein feed, commonly used in tilapia farming and a 40 percent protein feed.

The full amount of protein consumed by tilapia is a function of the quantity of feed and the protein content of that feed. As the daily requirements for protein do not change, the feed amount fed has to be higher when offering the low protein feed (Table 4), which will result in an increased FCR. In this case one has to consider the cost of growing one kg of fish and not just the cost per 1 kg of feed.

The results presented here indicate, that herbivores such as tilapia do not utilise protein more efficiently than other fish species (Lupatsch, 2009), but their advantage might be, that they could be fed lower protein diets as they are able to consume higher amounts of feed compared to carnivores. This fact has been highlighted by Lupatsch and Kissil, 2005 whilst comparing white grouper to gilthead seabream. However, it is important to recognize that even tilapia might reach their physical limits to consume all the feed to acquire the protein needed for maximum growth especially at the juvenile stages (Table 4).

Using this approach to quantifying energy and protein demands in tilapia, it is possible to estimate the biological and economical efficiency of different feeds and culture systems.

References Lupatsch, I., Kissil, G. Wm. and Sklan, D. (2003).

Defining energy and protein requirements of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) to optimize feeds and feeding regimes. The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture - Bamidgeh, 55 (4), 243-257.

Sklan, D., Prag, T. and Lupatsch, I. (2004). Apparent digestibility coefficients of feed ingredients and their prediction in diets for tilapia Oreochromis niloticus × Oreochromis aureus (Teleostei, Cichlidae).

Aquaculture Research, 35, 358-364 Lupatsch, I. and Kissil, G. Wm. (2005). Feed formulations based on energy and protein demands in white grouper (Epinephelus aeneus).

Aquaculture, 248, 83-95.

Lupatsch, I. (2009) Quantifying nutritional requirements in aquaculture – the factorial approach. In: New technologies in aquaculture: improving production efficiency, quality and environmental management. Burnell G. and Allan G. (Eds). Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, p 417-439.

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 23

PHOTOSHOOT

Professor Simon Davies attends the Aquaculture America 2012 national conference and exposition in Las Vegas

This prestigious event attracted hundreds of visitors from all sectors of the aquaculture industry mainly for the United States but with many from Latin America, Canada and beyond. I had the pleasure of attending with Dr Daniel Merrifield and my PhD students Mark Rawling and Holger Kuhlwein. This event is held annually and it was the turn of Las Vegas to host Aquaculture America 2012 form February 29th to March 2nd at the famous Paris Hotel and Casino along the iconic strip.

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

Daniel Merrifield sampling a new generation of pro-biotics

This year’s theme entitled ‘ all the players to the table’ was meant to bring attention to the connections and networking opportunities presented by all the stake-holders involved to open doors to successful enterprise, innovation and partnerships in the multi-scientific disciples and educational as well as technical aspects. The exhibition covered many key areas from engineering reflecting new developments in fish rearing technologies to advances in feed ingredients and feed production. The conference appealed to those serving the entire aquaculture value chain, including researchers, hatcheries, feed producers, equipment manufacturers and academia as well as business managers and fish farmers. Various suppliers grow out operations, harvesters, processors, packaging/distributors and marketers, health professionals and fish nutritionists’ were in abundance.

As such there were numerous parallel sessions related to diet and nutrition (particularly a forum concerning the role of lipids and essential fatty acids in nutrition, metabolism and physiology). Feeds and nutrition, alternative feed ingredients, definition and measurement of performance traits related to diet and nutrition were a strong theme applicable to different fish species and production systems, innovative approaches to nutrient requirement assessments) which were indicative of the increasing focus on the cost and efficiency of production, the importance of diet in performance, and the need to reduce reliance on marine fishery sourced protein and oil. Another area concerned feed management and the importance of environmental impact. Of course the topic of feed additives and dietary supplements were most prominent and several speakers gave results of experiments on novel prebiotics and probiotics for use in aqua-feeds. As well as trout, tilapia, Channel catfish and striped bass (the mainstream of US fish production) there were some very interesting presentations on emerging species such as flounders, cobia and exotic species that are destined to make their contribution to aquaculture in the coming decades.

24 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

Simon Davies with previous International Aquafeed Editor Albert Tacon

Zebra fish were also a focal point with sessions on their husbandry. This species is now firmly established on the aquaculture circuit due to the need for effective rearing and breeding technologies to provide an important resource for biomedical research throughout the world. Advances in the designs of life support systems, feeds and management allow for better consistency and reliability of results in the areas of nutri-genomics and understanding their developmental biology.

It was really good to see a number of US students from colleges and universities from across America as the next generation of aquaculturists’. My group became close friends with graduates from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington who have an excellent marine sciences and aquaculture programme at their coastal location.

Our own previous Editor Albert Tacon also made his appearance and as his former PhD student some 30 years ago we had much to discuss throughout the week. I felt like a student again!

The main plenary speaker, Patrick Dempster, general manager of AquaGen Chile, presented delegates his invaluable experience from the research side of aquaculture to operations, farm management and business development (farm- to- market). He described the re-emergence of salmon production in Chile after recent problems and issues and reminded us of the many elements and complexity of the food chain with examples of the challenges the Chilean industry faced and the way it has re-emerged (from worst year ever performance in 2008 to best year ever performance in 2010) may hold some valuable lessons. The special session on “Four Ps of a Safe and Sustainable Aquaculture Industry” also highlighted the links in the value and supply chain and the importance of traceability and consumer acceptance of aquaculture produce.

It was not all work however and Las Vegas lived up to its reputation for play and although tempted, I did not engage in gambling any of my research grants on the casino floor. My group did see some shows and we made a trip to the Grand Canyon and Hoover dam which was bitterly cold and not the usual picture post card scene of sweltering heat..

Aquaculture America will next be in Las Vegas in 2016. I am sure that the global economic position will be different by then and that may new policies will have been implemented in respect of sustainable development. For sure, the ever expanding research efforts in fish nutrition and feed technology will guarantee many new scientific advances and developments. I look forward to future meetings and reporting.

5

EXPERT T●PIC

Sustaining the supply of Chinese tilapia

by Han Han, Program Manager, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

T

ilapia, the third most internationally traded aquaculture product after salmon and shrimp, has been widely farmed in China since the 1950s. With strong governmental support for the research and development of hybrids and culture technology, Chinese tilapia aquaculture has grown rapidly from the initial stages in the 1960s, to expansion in the early 1980s, and then to large-scale farming and processing in the 2000s. Recent years have witnessed a stable annual production of 1.1 or 1.2 million mt, about half of the world total.

Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Fujian provinces in South China have become the world hub of farmed tilapia that has been mainly supplied to North American and European markets for the past decade.

Tilapia was ranked American’s fourth favorite seafood in 2011. The so-called ‘aquatic chicken’ is popular in different forms, including live, fresh, frozen as whole, frozen fillets, gutted, gutted and scaled, fillets, skin-less, and boneless. In 2010, US imports of tilapia from China totaled 139,863 mt at a value of $555 million, and increased 22 percent in volume and 36 percent in value over the previous year. According to the FAO, EU imports of frozen tilapia fillet during the first quarter of 2011 posted a marginal growth of 3.2% from the same period in 2010 with China supplying nearly 90 percent of the share to market. Meanwhile, China has seen its export of tilapia making new path into countries like Cameroon, Ghana, Congo and United Arab Emirates.

Problematic growth Such phenomenal growth in both supply and demand across the world inevitably faces sustainability challenges. Over the past 20 years, a general trend towards intensification in tilapia farming has led to an increasing dependence on formulated feeds and freshwater supply. Poor management

and unsustainable use of water and feeds invariably lead to contamination in receiving water bodies, disease outbreaks, crop failure, and excessive use of antibiotics. Reflecting the issues surrounding the growth of the tilapia industry worldwide, China stands on the frontline facing the challenge of maintaining a steady yield while minimising environmental and social impacts of aquaculture.

The risks of environmental degradation and disease associated with the rapid intensification of aquaculture have resulted in unfavorable assessments of Chinese tilapia in a number of seafood guides published by NGOs. Chinese tilapia farming has been challenged mainly on the following issues: • The impact on public health from the use of artificial hormones and antibiotics • Farm effluents and wastes discharged without proper treatment • The impact on biodiversity from escaped tilapia given that tilapia is not an indigenous species to China • The use of fishmeal in compound feeds and its traceability • Potential conflicts with other land and water users More complicated and problematic scenarios might appear, as global warming will probably expand the geographic range for some farmed tilapia and enhance the survival of escapees, as well as increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events (i.e. floods and droughts). The current challenges in accessing sufficient amounts of clean water will be aggravated as China’s industrial development continues its rapid growth.

The problems facing tilapia aquaculture in China are attributed to a lack of scientific zoning and regional planning, poor farm-level management, farmers’ insufficient knowledge of sustainable practices, and inefficient regulatory enforcement.

The Chinese government has established regional and national technology support teams with a series of standards to regulate antibiotics usage and effluent discharge, as well as investing in research and development regarding tilapia breeding, feeding, and processing in recent years. However, the improvements have been limited.

Exploring solutions To identify solutions, we first need to both quantitatively and qualitatively identify the problems. Unfortunately, when assessing Chinese tilapia’s environmental impact, very limited data is available to the public. Neither short-term farmlevel data, nor long-term regional-scale information is easily accessible and the environmental impact of tilapia farming has never been systematically assessed in China.

Although farm-level certification guarantees compliance with specific standards at an individual farm this does not provide information about environmental impacts and risks at a regional level.

Given the large number of farms concentrated in areas where both agricultural and industrial sectors share water resources it is clear that regional assessments are highly desirable. Such studies 26 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

would examine direct pollution and disease risk as well as the biodiversity impact of tilapia on indigenous species (a particular concern in warm areas like Hainan Island, the only tropical province in China, where wild tilapia can easily survive through winter).

Some of the existing Chinese tilapia farming regulations and practices do not match international standards, which is critical in meeting the growing demand for eco-label certification in export markets. This could be improved through building a multi-stakeholder dialogue with effective knowledge-sharing and information-exchange.

Buyers and retailers need to be informed about progress on sustainability issues through both written information and face-to-face communication with producers and suppliers. Guided trips to farms and plants will not only bring more attention and acknowledgement to the issues, but also help buyers understand the specific support needs of individual aquaculture operations. Their face-toface communication with the policy-makers who regulate Chinese tilapia aquaculture on the ground will also enhance awareness of sustainability issues, thus facilitating the adoption of improved policies.

Buyers can also encourage the sustainable sourcing of feeds by asking their suppliers to find out the ingredients of feed and where it is coming from (i.e. the traceability and transparency of raw materials such as fishmeal).

Given the large number of buyers and suppliers it is also essential that stakeholders participate in policy roundtables both within and across regions to effectively build consensus around policies and practices and to develop consistency in procurement standards.

Where SFP’s Aquaculture Improvement Projects can help Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is an independent NGO that promotes sustainable fisheries and aquaculture by engaging stakeholders in effective dialogues to mobilise the supply chain towards sustainability. The organisation provides strategic and technical guidance to seafood suppliers and producers, helps convene them with other like-minded companies in fishery improvement projects (FIPs) and aquaculture improvement projects (AIPs), and builds consensus around specific improvements in policies, marine conservation measures, and fishing and fish-farming practices.

SFP involvement in China started in 2007, when the organisation began to advise key corporate partners on their tilapia procurement policies and sourcing, evaluating sources in Hainan and Guangxi provinces. From 2008 to 2010, SFP conducted audits on 10 tilapia farms in six countries, comparing the three main international standards: GLOBALG.A.P, Global Agriculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (GAA/BAP), and the International Standard for Responsible Tilapia Aquaculture developed by the World Wildlife Fund (ASC/ISRTA). The objective of these audits was to identify similarities in criteria and areas where the standards differed. The benchmarking

EXPERT T●PIC project included four tilapia farms in China. These farms represented both small- and commercialscale production facilities utilising two different production systems (pond and cages). Aside from identifying similarities and differences among criteria and requirements used by the three standards, this project also identified outstanding issues in the farms, which most producers were able to address as a result of the trial audit. To date, all four farms are now certified under one or more of the commercial aquaculture standards.

SFP is widely acknowledged for its expertise by stakeholders in Chinese tilapia, including key US and European buyers and retailers, as well as producers and processors in China, aquaculture institutes, industry associations, and local Chinese governments. Given the high level of trust that SFP enjoys with the tilapia supply chain it was appropriate that a tilapia Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) was officially launched in 2011.

SFP has now initiated two research projects to assess the impact of tilapia farming on the external environment. The first project, started in April 2011, involves monitoring water quality on selected farms in Hainan province, and was undertaken by the Hainan Institute of Aquaculture. Dozens of water quality parameters such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen and phosphorus content, and heavy metals were analysed for five farms over two croppings (10 months). The study helped

identify the key problems and causes related to water management.

The second project is an assessment of the regional environmental impacts of fish farm clusters, which will be jointly conducted by SFP and Hainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the leading environmental research institute in Hainan.

The study will examine the potential for regional scale improvement by looking at carrying capacity and the potential for zoning in a specific area.

As more first-hand data becomes available (along with a more in-depth understanding of existing policies and management measures), the AIP will establish a working group that convenes the key buyers, suppliers and producers along the Chinese tilapia supply-chain to share the scientific findings. The AIP will then form a multi-stakeholder policy roundtable to further discuss the problems and solutions. The AIP participants will eventually agree on the actions and timetables necessary to achieve the sustainability objectives defined by the group. SFP will play a leading role in engaging stakeholders, providing scientific advice and facilitating communication.

Up-to-date progress SFP has worked closely with local tilapia associations to assess different tilapia standards that are available in the market. A workshop introducing three international standards for tilapia farming, i.e.

BAP, GlobalGAP, and ASC, was held in Haikou

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 27

in April, 2011. Over 40 farmers, processors, technicians and government officers attended the workshop. Participants found the workshop very informative and helpful. This enhanced the producers’ awareness of increasing demands for certified sustainable seafood from overseas markets, thus further facilitating the engagement of Chinese stakeholders into a supply-chain dialogue around sustainability.

SFP is currently working with local institutes of aquaculture and environmental sciences to identify and evaluate both qualitatively and quantitatively the environmental impacts of tilapia farming in Hainan. This includes an ecological study as well as socio-political analysis to advise local governments and industrial associations about how to efficiently address the environmental issues associated with tilapia farming in Hainan. The preliminary results will be shared with key stakeholders at the Aquaculture Policy Roundtable this fall in China.

SFP is also developing partnerships with Chinese universities and large feed manufacturers to improve feed sourcing for tilapia farming in China. This work is to be undertaken through research projects on improving feeding efficiency and developing alternative feeds with fewer impacts on wild fisheries.

More Information: Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Website: www.sustainablefish.org

FEATURE

Noise

a source of stress for farmed fish

By Rogelio Sierra Flores1 2, Andrew Davie1, Tim Atack2 and Herve Migaud1, Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, UK and Ardtoe Marine Laboratory, UK

I

t is widely recognised that fish welfare and stress are inextricably linked. When welfare is compromised and fish are under stressful conditions there are a wide range of negative effects that have been reported. These include a reduction in feed intake, growth, food conversion efficiency and flesh quality; an increase in disease susceptibility and aggression; disruption of the reproductive axis and ultimately, in extreme cases mortality.

Research has focused on numerous different potential stressors including environmental factors such as light, temperature and water quality as well as physical stressors like crowding, handling and transportation. However, the potential for sound to act as a stressor has been largely overlooked in aquaculture.

involves a series of complex terms but essentially sound is energy traveling as a mechanical wave caused by changes in the medium pressure. Detection of those variations is known as the audible sound and its loudness depends on the specific sensitivity to the frequencies.

The colloquial term ‘sound volume’ often confounds the definitions of sound pressure and sound intensity: sound intensity is the rate of flow of energy through an area (W/m²), while sound pressure is the ‘strength’ of the sound wave (Pa). Sound pressure levels (SPL) are the logarithmic expression in the relative scale decibel (dB) of the root mean square (RMS) compared to a reference value. Thus, to quantify anthropogenic sounds in the culture environment, we use the SPL of a given noise over the background reference.

Sound perception

or tissues and specialised cells distributed throughout the animal body, giving the fish the ability to sense and discriminate sounds based on their direction, distance and source.

Fish auditory thresholds are believed to be primarily in the range of 20 to 3,000 Hz. However sensitivity does clearly vary with species (Figure 1) and stage of development.

Reports have indicated that some fish species could even detect very low frequencies in the infrasound range (<20 Hz) as well as possibly in the ultrasound range (>20 kHz) although this may depend on sound levels fish are exposed to. Whether fish perception of these sound frequencies is functional hearing or an artefact of past auditory requirements needs further clarification.

‘Grunts’ and ‘clicks’

Fish do not only passively perceive sounds generated in their environment, they can also be vocally active as shown in many Sound plays an important role in the life species. The swim bladder has an audiof terrestrial and aquatic animals as a means tory accessory function reflecting sound and of communication as well as its role in echoamplifying their communications. Some fish location, predator avoidance, or even just the also use this ‘sound box’ to generate vocaliperception of changes in the environment. sations for a variety of potential reasons As such it deserves greater attention than including maintenance of contact, warning it has received so far as a parameter to be of predators, aggression or mate choice. monitored/managed in culture settings.

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a particularly It must be acknowledged that air and water vocal species which produces sounds during are two completely different acoustic environaggression, chasing, escaping ments. With water being a but mainly during courtship. thousand times denser than Cod vocalisations are air, a greater energy input named ‘grunts’ and ‘clicks’ is required to initiate sound based on the human perceppropagation which results tion of the sound. The ‘grunts’ in sound underwater havare produced by repeatedly ing a greater velocity with contracting the drum muscle less attenuation. In practical sending vibrations to the swim terms this means that greatbladder. One grunt is a repetier energy is required to cast tion of single pulses of 60 to a noise underwater although 200 ms in frequencies ranging water is less restrictive to a from 30 to 250 Hz (Figure 2). spreading sound wave, and Figure 1: Hearing thresholds comparison of humans, dogs, bats It is believed that during thus aquatic fields can be and fish. Hearing thresholds for five selected fish species (Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, Common carp, Tunids, and goldfish) courtship females will assess very noisy environments.

Adapted from Popper et al., 2008 the fitness of the males based The concept of sound

The importance of sound

Aquatic animals are provided with a wide range of sensory organs and systems to perceive and filter relevant environmental signals. The capability of fish to cast and recognise sound is well documented for some species, showing significant variability among them.

In general, sound perception in fish is localised to three interconnected systems: the auditory, the equilibrium and the lateral line. They involve a series of complex organs

28 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

FEATURE In captivity sound sources are more spe- tank walls all create obvious perceptible cific, being related to the general operation noise (Figure 3). Some basic activities of an aquaculture facility including equipment like hand feeding showed a low sound and general husbandry activities. Literature level increase of 8-11 dB re µPa above suggests that general activity and farm noise background noise.

However, the analysis showed that other will generate low frequency vibrations i.e. <1kHz which is within the auditory sensi- daily activities can reach worrying levels. tivity of fish. Thus, prior to quantifying how sound could act as a stressor, it was felt important to more precisely catalogue the sound-scape in a typical land-based aquaculture facility.

A sound mapping exercise was performed Negative effects of sound Figure 2. Waveform and spectrogram of four different The negative effects of anthropogenic in the facilities of cod grunts recorded in the facilities of Ardtoe Marine Marine sound are well documented in the natural Ardtoe Laboratory, Scotland during Spring 2010. in environment where a wide range of species Laboratory have been shown to alter their natural com- Scotland which munication and behaviour with there even revealed a surprisingly quiet background Accidental and/or intentional knocks against a being evidence of panic and confusion in sound level in the rearing tanks as com- tank wall, which can cause strong behavioural response to different anthropogenic sound pared to what would be expected in reactions in the fish stocks, generates low stimuli. In the natural marine environment shallow coastal waters. That said, sound frequency sounds with volumes ranging from these sound sources are diverse and include disturbances were evident. Common hus- 21-39 dB depending on the vigour/cause of offshore engineering, pile driving, seismic sur- bandry activities like hand feeding, walk- the perturbation. Such SPL are clearly perveying, busy shipping areas as well as naval ing, hand netting, talking, water inflow, ceived by the fish and could possibly trigger a _OffshoreMaric_Quarter_SplitAd_OMC_Quarter 20/02/2012 07:53 Page aeration bubbles, and1 knocks against the stress reaction. activity. on their grunting. As such, male grunting vigour has been related to the volume of the drum muscle mass as well as the individual’s specific immune condition. During mating the female will settle on the ground, while males ‘perform’ a courtship characterised by both vocalisations and a swimming pattern around the female.

In enclosed aquaculture systems it is very likely that mating performance/mate choice could be impaired if the males ‘singing and dancing’ performance is somehow restrained by the physical conditions. While every effort has been directed to optimising broodstock holding tanks to ensure enough space and low turbulences to allow paired mating, little thought has been put into the acoustic conditions experienced by fish in culture.

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FEATURE

Fish reaction Stress reactions in fish in response to sound perturbations can be behavioural, acoustic and/or physiological. Behavioural responses are the apparent avoidance or freezing reaction. Acoustic responses are more difficult to

ly correlated to peak cortisol concentrations.

Tested sound levels were comparable to those encountered during the site sound mapping, which suggests that a perturbation as simple as knocking a tank wall can be strong enough to trigger a significant increase of cortisol.

of elevated cortisol to the oocytes reducing their viability. Another possibility is that the courtship ritual could have been disrupted by the randomised sound exposure masking the grunts and interrupting the mating behaviour explaining the reduction in fertilisation rate.

Regardless of the causative mechanism, the fact that fertilisation success and egg quality were so clearly affected in sound stressed broodstock should be taken as a clear indication the acoustic conditions in culture deserve more attention.

Implications for other species

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.

characterise, however evidence suggests that fish may attempt to alter their vocalisation form and structure (length, frequencies and amplitude) to increase transmission probability as has been reported in other vertebrates.

Finally, the physiological responses are varied as a stress activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamicpituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis can impact on many processes however evidence of sound stimulating these processes is lacking to date.

Buscaino et al. (2009) demonstrated in sea bass and sea bream that sound perturbations above a threshold can result in an increase in blood glucose levels and haematocrit which confirms the involvement of the HPI axis in this species.

Acute stress response Our studies have shown that noise does elicit an acute stress response in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) juveniles. Fish exposed to sound in the 100-1000Hz range for 10 minutes, using suspended underwater loudspeakers, showed a significant increase of plasma cortisol concentrations within 10 minutes of exposure.

Furthermore, the response was dose dependent as sound pressure levels were direct-

Recovery from the sound perturbation was also rapid indicating it to be an acute stress response that fish should be able to cope and adapt to. This would in turn suggest a minor impact in the long-term performance of the fish stocks although, in fish farm facilities, those acute sudden noises are common and frequent. Thus, the second phase of the work considered how short ‘acute’ sound stressors applied over a long time frame can impact on fish performances.

Sound stressors over time: a significant impact We discovered that cod broodstock exposed to six hours of daily randomised noise at a SPL of 34 dB re µPa (comparable to a loud knock on a tank wall) significantly impacted on the their spawning performance. Egg production in terms of volume of eggs and egg size was comparable between broodstocks that were both exposed, and not exposed, to sound though in the sound exposed population fertilisation rates were reduced by almost half.

Work is currently underway to investigate why sound perturbations result in such a significant reduction in fertilisation success with one possibility being the maternal transfer 30 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

While evidence suggests that Atlantic cod is one of the more acoustically sensitive fish we firmly believe that there are implications for this work in most other cultured species.

Future work should focus on the long-term effects of noise as a stressor including temporary auditory thresholds adaptation as coping strategies. Acclimatisation to noise might be possible, although negative physiological responses could be present even without a clear behavioural response.

In terms of the culture facilities we use, clearly more attention has to be paid in reducing the noise caused around land-based aquaculture facilities and, by doing so, making aquaculture production more reliable and predictable possibly helping to reduce the commonly reported variability in fish performances in most aquaculture facilities.

Instituting some routine simple and cheap sound measurements on a farm could mitigate many unnecessary disturbances that might be acting as stressors affecting the welfare and thus performance of the fish. The results of doing so may well be seen in the bottom line.

■

Acknowledgments This project was co-funded by the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and EU FP7 project 232305 “PROSPAWN”.

References Buscaino, G., F. Filiciotto, et al. (2010). "Impact of an acoustic stimulus on the motility and blood parameters of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.)." Marine Environmental Research 69(3): 136142.

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FEATURE

Unlocking the hidden potential of plant proteins using solid state fermentation technology

by John Sweetman1, Ioannis Nengas2 and Serge Corneillie3

I

n the terrestrial animal feed industry the use of exogenous enzymes is a relatively common practice and today the global feed enzyme market is worth more than US$550 million. This saves the global feed market an estimated US$3-5 billion per year. To date the use of enzymes in aquaculture feeds has been limited, but interest is growing due to the increasing use of plant based protein ingredients and their by-products.

The incorporation of Synergen™ (Alltech Inc., USA), a natural solid state fermentation complex that improves profitability by maximizing nutrient release, has enabled the fishmeal content of diets for several commercial carnivorous fish species to be reduced by up to 65 percent. These diets have also maintained the same or achieved even better growth performance when compared to the high fishmeal diets.

This article highlights the recent work carried out with Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), red sea bream (Pagrus major), amberjack (Serioli dumerili), pangasius catfish and Nile tilapia.

Modern aquafeed challenges: maximising nutrient availability The economic success and sustainability of aquaculture depends on minimising production cost to maintain profitability, and feed generally comprises some 50 to 60 percent of the total cost in intensive culture. Traditionally fishmeal has been the preferred ingredient due to its high protein content, favourable amino acid and mineral profiles, oil and other benefits. Its replacement with plant based protein ingredients has been brought about by the increasing cost of fishmeal, its limited availability and the requirement to ensure that this expanding industry remains both financially profitable and environmentally sustainable.

Plant derived feed ingredients however have several limitations. Non starch polysaccharides (NSPs) are a complex group of polysaccharides which act as energy storage carbohydrates in grains and seed. While they may provide a cheap source of dietary energy

NSPs cannot be broken down by the digestive Alltech’s Bioscience Centers in Dunboyne, enzymes of many fish species especially the Ireland; Bangkok, Thailand; and Kentucky, carnivorous ones.

USA, have resulted in a $40 million state-ofA wide range of anti-nutritional factors the-art production facility in Serdan, Mexico.

(ANFs) such as protease inhibitors, nonThe SSF process involves the careful digestible carbohydrates, lectins, saponins and selection of specific strains of naturally occurphytates may also be present in a number of ring fungi which have the ability to ferment plant derived materials such as legume seeds, a wide range of agricultural products such as soybean meal, rapeseed meal etc. These can DDGS, corncob, palm kernel, wheat bran, impede digestion in fish often decreasing rapeseed oil cake and soy bean. The selected intestinal viscosity and bacterial loads which fungi are first propagated in a liquid media to in turn affect the animals’ performance. These produce a large volume of inoculum which ANFs have therefore to be removed before is mixed with pre-sterilised selected solid they can be incorporated in commercial feeds. substrate media to produce a mixture known The use of highly digestible and processed soybean meal such as low antigen SPC (soy proTable 1: Diet composition for Gilthead sea bream tein concentrates) or procDiet 1 2 3 essed corn gluten to replace fish meal is possible but these Control Natural Pre-treated complex with natural highly processed ingredients complex are expensive and the economic savings can therefore be relatively low.

Fish meal 25 25 25 Another solution for counSoybean meal 40 40 40 terbalancing the digestibility Wheat meal 16.7 16.65 16.65 problems of such ingredients is Corn gluten 5 5 5 to use enzymes that improve Fish Oil 13 13 13 substrate digestibility resulting in higher nutrient availability Vit-Min 0.3 0.3 0.3 thus improving growth, food Synergen 0.05 0.05 conversion rates and therefore economic efficiency.

Table 2: Effect of diet on the performance of Gilthead sea bream Today a better underafter 12 weeks. standing of how enzymes Pre-treated Natural work in animal feeds and the Control with natural complex increasing evidence of their complex ability to improve feed quality, shown in the last 10 years, Initial weight (g) 31,11±0,65 30,77±1,37 31,65±0,80 has allowed a more flexible approach by feed formulators. final weight (g) 84,04±5,76 95,57±3,57 100,75±1,90

Solid State Fermentation Technology Alltech has pioneered the production of SSF technologies for the animal feed industry. Eight years of collaborative research between

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

32 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

FEATURE

Figure 1. Feed conversion ratio (a) and Specific growth rate (b) of the Gilthead sea bream fed different diets Table 3: Experimental diet composition for red sea bream.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Ingredients

FM50

FM20

FT

FTP

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

FTE0.05 FTE 0.1

Others: Starch, vitamin premix and wheat flour

as ‘Koji’. Under strict aseptic conditions the Koji is then evenly distributed onto trays and introduced into environmentally controlled SSF culture chambers for up to five days.

During this time the fungus grows rapidly, breaking down the fibrous and non-fibrous portions of the chosen substrate. Doing so dramatically changes the nutritional profile of the material and results in the generation of products that can be used to reformulate diets. On day five, the Koji is extracted and the by-product is dried.

The product from the Alltech SSF process, Synergen™, allows for a more flexible approach to feed formulation through the inclusion of by-products or by reducing nutrient constraints in the diet. It has also been shown, through animal performance, to remain

effective over a wide range of feed processing conditions.

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Carnivorous fish: Gilthead sea bream At the Institute of Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine research an experiment was performed in which approximately 31 g juvenile Gilthead sea bream were fed 3 different diets (Table

rformance

Wellbeing, the source of pe

For more information: contactlfa@lesaffre.fr

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 33

FEATURE that requires additional facilities and Treatments therefore it Parameter FM50 FM20 FT FTP FTE0.05 FTE 0.1 would need a change in the production Final body weight (g) 71.5c 49.8a 55.2ab 59.7ab 74.5c 67. 8bc line. Since Weight gain(g) 57.7b 35.9a 40.4ab 59.7ab 59.9b 53.7b the results SGR (%/day) 1.96c 1.52a 1.57ab 1.70ab 1.94c 1.87c obtained from FCR 1.12a 1.30b 1.27b 1.25b 1.16ac 1.21ac the ‘natural complex’ Feed intake (g/day) 64.7a 46.6b 51.2ab 56.6ab 69.6a 64.9a diet have no a,b Means differ P<0.05. significant dif1) in triplicate at a water temperature of 18 ± ference from the ‘pre-treated with natural 2 °C. The sea bream were fed with a control complex’ diet, this indicates that the natural diet (1) with a moderate 25 percent fishmeal complex can be effectively added directly to inclusion and two other diets in which a the ingredient mix. The ‘natural complex’ diet portion of the wheat meal was replaced by gave an improvement of 18 percent in FCR Synergen, incorporated at 0.05%. In diet 2, and a 13 percent improvement in SGR when ‘Natural complex’, Synergen was incorpo- compared to the control diet.

Currently industrial trials and commercial rated into the whole ingredient mix prior to extrusion while in diet 3, ‘Pre-treated with application are underway. Based solely on the improvement in FCR, a return on investment of 1: 43 can be expected when Synergen is added in this manner for this species with additional increased profit benefits to be added from the growth rate improvements.

Table 4: Effect of dietary treatment on the performance of red sea bream after 12 weeks.

Figure 2: Growth of red sea bream fed different diets

Carnivorous fish: Red sea bream

Improved growth rates have also been achieved

by Satoh et al. (2011) with juvenile red sea bream. In this case red sea bream, of approximately 13.5 g were fed six different diets (Table 3). A high fishmeal diet with 50 percent anchovy meal was fed as a control and five other diets all with low fishmeal incluFigure 3: Growth of Amberjack with and without sion (20%) but to which Synergen different components were added (taurine, taurine and natural complex’, the plant ingredients were phytase enzyme, taurine and Synergen). In hydrolyzed with the Synergen for four hours these diets the fishmeal was replaced with ordinary corn gluten and soybean meal, at 40 °C prior to extrusion.

The diet whose ingredients were pre- which are cheaper and industrially available treated by hydrolysing them with Synergen ingredients.

Diet 2 was low fishmeal, diet 3 was low before the extrusion gave slightly better but not significantly different results than the fishmeal and taurine, diet 4 low fishmeal and diet which incorporated Synergen as a sup- taurine and phytase enzyme, diet 5 was low plemented ingredient, mixed directly with fish meal and taurine and 500 g Synergen/ the rest of the ingredients. Both these diets tonne feed and diet 6 low fishmeal and performed significantly better than the control taurine and 1 kg of Synergen/tonne feed.

The best performance was obtained with diet with improved growth, SGR and FCR the positive high fishmeal diet (best growth (Table 2 and Figure 1).

Pre-treatment of raw materials in com- and lowest FCR). Comparable growth and mercial feed production units is a procedure performance to the high fishmeal diet was 34 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

only obtained by the low fishmeal diets containing Synergen. The lowest growth and highest FCR were obtained with diet 2 (low fishmeal). Adding taurine alone or taurine / phytase to the low fishmeal diet improved the performance but this performance was still much lower than the high fishmeal diet or the Synergen treated groups.

Adding higher amounts of the natural complex (1 kg of Synergen/tonne) did not further improve the results. These results show clearly that highly carnivorous fish (RSB) can be fed with low fishmeal levels and that ordinary plant proteins can be used if appropriate ingredients are added.

Field trials in Japan with red sea bream have confirmed these results. In commercial cages, red sea bream performed better when Synergen was incorporated in the diet with an increased SGR (0.70% when compared to 0.55% in the control group) and a final weight gain of 175 g which was greater than the 138 g achieved by the control groups. The FCR was 21 percent lower in the fish fed the diet incorporating Synergen and the feed efficiency of the Synergen incorporated diet was also improved. (86.6 versus 68%). Amberjack (Serioli dumerili) also showed similar growth results growing from 2.2 kg to 2.6 kg (without Synergen) or 3.1 kg (with Synergen).

Pangasius and tilapia It is strongly believed that omnivorous and herbivorous fish can digest plant proteins better than carnivorous fish and therefore do not need additional ingredients in their diets. However the inclusion of Synergen in diets for fish species such as tra and basa catfish and tilapia has resulted in significantly improved growth and lowered significantly the FCR in both low and high fishmeal diets.

In recent trials, by Hung and Kim (2007), a comparison was made between a 15 percent fishmeal diet and a five percent fish meal diet (65% reduction) with added Synergen (200 or 500 g per tonne feed) to both diets. They demonstrated that irrespective of the diet used (low or high fish meal) the addition of the natural complex resulted in dramatic improvements in performance parameters. Growth reached approximately double that of the diet without the enzyme present. Tra catfish grew from 14 g to 36 g (without Synergen) or 70 g (with Synergen) while Basa catfish grew from 6 g to 57 g (without Synergen) or 82 g (with Synergen).

Similar results have been recorded for Nile Tilapia in which a zero percent fishmeal diet was used as the control diet where growth from 3 g to 21 g occurred without Synergen and to 35 g (with Synergen).

This indicates that supplementing the low

FEATURE

and high fish meal diets with the natural complex has enhanced the availability of dietary nutrients and compensated for the poorer quality of the raw ingredient characteristics in the low fishmeal diet so improving overall dietary performance.

Conclusion The application of this SSF technology in this manner opens the door more flexible feed formulation and allows the incorporation of lower cost vegetable protein substitutes such as simple soybean meal and corn gluten. Improved nutrient availability impacts directly growth and performance so increasing dietary efficiency both in terms of cost and environmental impact. The savings in fishmeal usage addresses consumer concerns and sustainability issue in the industry.

There is still much to learn about these complex interactions but the indicators show the potential of this technology. ■

References Hung LT and TNH Kim. 2007. Reducing fish meal utilization in Pangasius Catfish feeds through application of enzymes. Presented at Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam, 5-8 August 2007.

Satoh S, Hanini I, Sarker MSA, Haga Y, Ohkuma T and H Nakayama 2011.

Effect of Taurine, Phytase and enzyme complex supplementation to low fish meal diet on growth of juvenile red sea bream Pagrus major.

Presented at World Aquaculture 2011, Natal, Brazil, 6-10 June 2011.

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 1050011, Japan

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 35

FEATURE

Enzymes to improve water and soil quality in aquaculture ponds

by Elisabeth Mayer MSc, BIOMIN, Austria

I

n aquaculture, environmental impacts such as deteriorated water quality and poor pond bottoms are becoming challenging and omnipresent problems. This article highlights measures which can be taken to improve the quality of water and soil in aquaculture ponds, and therefore the immediate environment of fish and shrimp. Better rearing conditions will improve the overall performance of your fish and shrimp.

As the aquaculture industry expands and develops, several challenges have arisen. A key problem caused by aquaculture operations is its environmental impact. Intensive aquaculture pond systems result in high organic loadings that cause deteriorated water quality and pond bottom and the accumulation of toxic compounds such as ammonia, nitrites and hydrogen sulfides.

This changes the bacterial composition in the water and soil of ponds by increasing the presence of pathogenic bacteria, thus contributing greatly to the occurrence of diseases in fish and shrimp farming.

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

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

When added to the culture water or spread on top of the pond bottom soil, enzymes are able to degrade the major organic constituents normally found in shrimp and fish ponds.

Each enzyme has its mode of action and is very specific in the chemical reaction it catalyses. For example, protease hydrolyzes insoluble proteins and amylase polysaccharides such as starch; cellulase catalyses the breakdown of cellulose (the major cell wall material in plants); ß-Glucosidase is involved in catalysing the hydrolysis and biodegradation of various ß-glucosides present in plant debris; and lipase works on lipids or fats (Table 1).

Direct enzyme application Enzymes are also naturally produced One way of improving water and soil and excreted by some quality in aquaculture microbes. These extrais the direct application Table 1: A diverse range of enzymes used as bioremediation cellular enzymes, such as of enzymes and benagents in aquaculture cellulase, protease and eficial micro-organisms Enzyme Substrate amylase, are produced to ponds. This type of during the aerobic ferbiotechnology applicamentation of organic mattion is often referred to Amylase Starch ter by micro-organisms, as ‘bioremediation’, an ß-Glucosidase ß-Glucoside for example by some environmentally friendly Cellulase Cellulose Bacillus species. Bacilli are approach which involves Lipase Lipids and fat commonly found in pond the manipulation of sediments and can also be micro-organisms in ponds Protease Protein added to the pond water to reduce pathogenic Xylan, Xylanase for bioremediation purbacteria, enhancing the Hemicellulose poses.

Some Bacillus sp. mineralization of organic Pectinase Pectin are also able to degrade matter and removing nitrogenous compounds undesirable waste comand their large variety of excreted (extracelpounds through specific enzymes.

In the bioremediation process, enzymes lular) enzymes additionally helps to speed up play the role of catalysts that accelerate the degradation of organic matter and toxic biochemical reactions in pond soil and water. compounds such as ammonia.

36 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

Some specific enzymes can be active in a very wide range of environmental conditions. While some micro-organisms have a narrow range of environmental conditions where they are able to proliferate (pH, oxygen, availability, etc.), certain enzymes are able to act in multiple environments. They remain active even when environmental conditions change drastically, especially if they are immobilised on a carrier. For example, protease is able to work effectively in pHs between four and 11 and with temperatures less than 20 °C and greater than 70 °C (Whiteley et al., 2002).

Furthermore, another advantage of this immobilisation is that the enzyme activity is preserved and can thus be reused (Karam and Nicell, 1997).

There is currently a lot of interest in manufacturing such enzyme preparations despite the high costs of isolation, purification and production. Nevertheless, some of these products are already being used as bioremediation agents in aquaculture.

Proven benefits of bioremediation Enzymes have the capacity to stabilize the soil organic matter and can be used effectively to manage soil quality and rearing conditions for aquatic species. There is not one specific enzyme that works best in all cases (Ruggaber and Talley, 2006). A blend containing a variety of enzymes may be the most effective means for bioremediation in aquaculture. The efficacy and mode of action of enzymes require that they: • Catalyse the degradation of organic matter (such as feces, undigested feed and dead algae) • Break apart large sludge particles (deflocculation) and reduce sludge accumulation • Reduce solids content • Decompose plant debris • Reduce anaerobic conditions in the pond bottom • Promote the degradation of certain complex nutrients • Facilitate the release of highly digestible nutrients

FEATURE quality of the pond, and the performance of the cultured fish and shrimp.

Studies have confirmed that ponds using bacterial strains and enzymes showed better soil conditions (yellow soil) Figure 1: Avergae growth rate of shrimp during Figure 2: Feed conversion ratio of control and enhanced the production period and probiotic test groups shrimp performance, while the soil Enzymes strongly reduce sludge accu- (FCR) was improved by nine percent in of ponds without the treatment showed an accumulation of dead organic matter (black soil). mulation and anaerobic conditions in pond the treatment compared with the control.

The addition of specific enzymes (proThe soil of the treatment ponds in bottoms. They promote a faster degradation of the organic matter that accumu- Picture 1 was yellow, which is regarded as teases, amylases, cellulases, xylanases) and/ lates in ponds, especially under intensive the best bottom type, while the soil of the or enzyme-producing bacteria, such as production conditions. This organic matter control ponds in Picture 2 exhibited a dark Bacillus sp., promotes the pre-digestion of comprises uneaten feed, dead plankton, black color, an indication of the accumula- cer tain complex nutrients and facilitates the release of highly digestible nutrients. mineral soils, feces and pathogenic micro- tion of dead organic matter.

Results suggested that with the com- This helps to reduce sludge and organorganisms in the soil where the conditions are often anaerobic. However, for all bined use of beneficial bacteria and ic matter accumulation, as well as the these bioremediation processes catalysed enzymes, pond soils containing black and anaerobic conditions in pond bottoms, by enzymes, the presence of beneficial glutinous organic sludge turned into a thus improving the rearing conditions for ■ bacteria is important as well (Boyd and more yellow soil. For the animals, enzymes shrimp and fish.

Gross, 1998). Enzymes accelerate microbi- improve the growth and performance of al processes by breaking apart large sludge shrimp by balancing their ambient environ- More Information: particles, thus creating more surface areas ment.

BIOMIN The improvements of enzyme appli- www.biomin.net which can then be attacked and fermented by microbes. This reduction of sludge and cation may be dead organic matter can be seen visually greater in ponds not only through better water quality, but with even higher stocking densities also through better soil quality. and feeding rates where the water Combining bacteria and soil quality and enzymes To test the effects of a combination deteriorate greatly of beneficial microbes and enzymes on during the prosoil quality under practical pond condi- duction period. tions, a field study was conducted using a commercial probiotic product (2 x 10 9 Promising CFU/g, AquaStar ® PondZyme, BIOMIN results GmbH, Austria) containing an enzyme For the amelblend (amylases, xylanases, cellulases, pro- ioration of aquatic teases) under intensive farming conditions environmental for white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in conditions under Zhuhai, China. intensive farming Four earth shrimp ponds (0.7 – 0.8 ha/ operations, the pond) with a depth of 1 – 1.2 m were combined applicastocked with juvenile shrimp (approxi- tion of enzymes mately 1.4 g/shrimp) with a density of 50 and beneficial shrimp/m². The trial was carried out for a bacteria as an period of 57 days with a dosage of 500 g/ effective manageha of product applied once a month to the ment tool seems treatment group (two ponds). The control very promising. ponds consisted of two ponds with normal Enzymes play production operations. The shrimp in both important roles as treatments received the same diets. biological control Figure 1 shows that the average daily agents in pond growth of shrimp in the treatment group culture, particuincreased by 36 percent. It can be seen larly with respect from Figure 2 that feed conversion ratio to water and soil July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 37

FEATURE

FISH FARM

MONITORING

by Patrick Ruthven, Technical Sales, AC-CESS Ltd

T

he monitoring of what happens within a pen at a fish farm has progressively become a greater necessity for fisheries. As the complexity and importance of monitoring the relevant behaviour of the fish developed so did the engineering solutions.

Traditional methods focussed around divers getting wet and dipping in to the tank, perhaps with waterproof cameras to record the data to be analysed later. This method obviously has its draw backs as it is not practical or desirable for a diver to be in the pen for extended periods of time, which would have been needed if a true representation of what was going on was to be acquired. This was why fish farms started to look for remote visual inspection solutions to their monitoring needs.

Pan and tilt cameras have been used extensively in fish farms throughout the world for monitoring the fish, feeding behaviour and condition of the fish within the farm environment. A problem with this is that they could only set their pan and tilt cameras to a fixed depth and location within their fish pens.

The primary objective is to keep feeding for as long as possible, whilst wasting as little feed as possible. Operators need to watch the fish feeding so that they can control the feed supply rate and in some cases the feed specification. At the start of a feeding session, the fish are frantic at the surface, but as the session progresses, the fish move down and progressively more and more of them stop feeding. The operator wants to control the feed supply rate by watching, not so much

the fish, but the feed pellets to see how much is falling past the fish. Feed is expensive and the pellets are quite small, they also come in different ‘sink’ rates.

A pan and tilt camera on its own can only be moved manually however All Oceans Engineering of Aberdeen, Scotland developed a two winch system that can be moved over the full width and depth of a pen or tank.

The pan and tilt camera is suspended on lines from the two winches. Operating the winches together or separately greatly increases the tank viewing options.

Other inspection requirements There are however many other underwater inspection requirements on fish farms.

The above considered the ‘product’ while the following considers the high value asset represented by the pens, anchors and environment. This is where All Oceans and their associate company AC-CESS are again providing support. The AC-ROV micro ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) is a revolution in micro ROV design. Never before had a company manufactured a robust and manoeuvrable system that came in such a small package as to be able to be deployed and operated by one person. This seems to be the perfect solution.

Distributors of products developed by AC-CESS and its parent company All Oceans Engineering have also had success in implementing the use of bespoke remote visual inspection solutions for the monitoring of fish in fish farms worldwide. In northern Europe in Norway and Finland remote visual inspection is increasingly being integrated into every 38 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

day use at the fish farms. However, the most notable of these developers was in one of the world’s greatest salmon farming nations; Chile, with an AC-ROV distributor called Mariscope leading the way.

Chilean salmon farming The southern region of the SouthAmerican continent is normally known as Patagonia. It is possible to distinguish between two ‘Patagonia’s’, the Argentinean side, and the Chilean one. Due to the fact that there are the Andes in between, both regions have a completely different climatology.

This new concept is based on the fact that the Argentinean part is mostly arid and the Chilean side has a temperate-humid climatology. Similar to Norway, this area has an immense amount of fjords and channels.

Hundreds of islands, including underwater volcanoes make this region unique in the world and ideal for aquaculture activities. Due to the pristine water, the strong currents, the continuous water mass exchange and the proximity to fresh water reservoirs, an important salmon farming industry has developed over the last three decades.

It started as a project in the early 80s, with very small wooden cages. The results were so encouraging that a small industry followed.

Up to the end of the 90s, the salmon industry in Chile was growing fast. A lot of things changed from the beginnings and the industry developed from a very artisan one to a very modern harvesting industry.

By 2007, Chile produced as much salmon as Norway, some 600,000 tonnes per year. As a consequence, the net cages became bigger

FEATURE and the moorings had to be stronger according to the stress of wind, waves and currents.

Huge harvesting sites The difference in Chile is that the harvesting sites are far bigger than anywhere else in the world. With nets of 50 m in diameter and up to 40 – 45 m deep, the amount of salmon per cage reached 150 – 200 tonnes and more. The biggest production sites had up to 36 such cages per module and sometimes three modules in parallel. These huge sites had to be moored with dead weights of up to 20 tonnes each, sometimes with more than 700 tonnes of weight for each site. The deep fjords combined with strong currents and the action of waves made completely new mooring designs necessary. Problems arose, since often the more than 1 km long mooring lines crossed each other during installation and suffered damage during the operation. Accidents with total or partial loss of harvesting sites and millions of dollars in fish loss resulted from a lack of inspection of the underwater environment and installations.

Extreme conditions Since this harvesting happens in Patagonia, there are some peculiarities related with this region at the world’s end: in this case the sea lions. These predators find it most interesting to attack the cages filled up with salmons

in order to complete their diet. Therefore salmon farmers need to protect the net cages with special sea lion nets that involve the original nets.

To complete the image before we look at the ROVs in this context, a couple of other aspects have to be explained. The harvesting sites are all located in relatively protected inshore waters, not in the open Pacific Ocean.

Nevertheless, these waters are all but calm.

With currents of up to five knots and depth over 500 m, salmon producing companies

have to fight day in day out with the extreme area they are located in. In comparison, the maximum current velocity in Norway is around 0.5 knots in salmon producing areas.

Extreme weather conditions with very fast changing winds (there is a lot of ocean and very few land masses at these latitudes) are just another problem of working in this area.

Introducing ROVs Insurance companies started to ask for better control after the sites were moored

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FEATURE and during the operational time. Additional problems arose through heavy bio-fouling, increasing the weight of the nets by four to five times their original mass. This was the moment where ROVs appeared on the scene.

Mariscope started with the first inspections for the insurance companies around 2002.

Initially just a couple of mooring lines were inspected from the top buoy to the seabed. These inspections demonstrated a

to inspect the sea lion nets and to repair them. Since these nets sometimes reach as deep as 70 m, dive time is reduced also reducing the cost effectiveness of using a diver.

Through lax regulations and control divers very often suffer severe injuries from the long and deep exposure and mortality among the industry divers still remains relatively high. As a consequence ROVs started to be used permanently for the net inspections. The divers

disinfection processes before and after leaving the fish pens. For many fish farms this asserted ROVs as the most cost effective and simple solution for monitoring.

Some of the larger companies, such as Marine Harvest, have developed ROVs to clean away the dead fish killed by disease from the bottom of the nets using ‘lift up’ suction tubes attached to the ROVs. Additionally, over the years there has been an accumulation of rubbish under the net cages.

Since this and bio-fouling continues to be a problem and also the copper based antifouling paints are decaying, ROVs are used to clean the nets while installed. More and more, ROVs are changing from purely inspection systems to light work class units that are able to pick up materials, carry instruments or carry out cleaning tasks.

Next Generation ROVs

lot of problems in the way moorings were deployed. Big risks for the salmon companies and for the insurance companies appeared.

More and more, complete and periodical inspections took place, reducing the amount of accidents and the risk of losing sites and stock.

Additionally, mooring companies had the possibility to check their work and learn how to change procedures to be more efficient.

Divers to ROVs Divers had been used since the beginning

that had been diving for years repairing and inspecting the nets can now be found operating the ROVs. Over the last couple of years, the fish farming industry in Chile suffered from several diseases, some of them as a result of over production and increased stock density. The industry was hardest hit in 2007 after the infectious salmon anemia outbreak, which depleted stocks drastically.

Following this, laws in Chile were changed so that divers and the equipment that serviced the divers had to go through stringent 40 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

At Mariscope, System Integration is the basis for new ROVs. These vehicles have a completely different concept from standard light work class ROVs. Normally these types of vehicles are equipped with one or at best two manipulators, a tracking device and some kind of sonar. If you then have a couple of laser pointers and a HDTV camera on board, you are already at the top of the range. In the case of the new generation of light work class ROVs, the vehicles are equipped with a wide range of oceanographic measuring devices.

You can think of them as small underwater research vessels. Sensors like CO2, H2S, Oil in Water CTDs, Turbidity and Chla just to name a few, are installed on board and lowered under the cages, where other systems can not get to. Here, under the cages, the sediments grow and are contaminated due to the activities on the surface and are the focus for new diseases. Measurements will help the producers to take the correct decisions for the future of their sites.

But these underwater labs are also useful in other branches like offshore, research, pollution detection, salvage operation and others.

The more real data you have, the better you will be able to take operational decisions.

Modern, high efficient microprocessor based ROV electronics, coupled with high-end sensors and measuring devices are opening a new world of opportunities for light work class and micro-ROVs. ■

AC-CESS Tel: +44 1224 790100 Fax: +44 1224 790111 Email: patrick@ac-cess.com Website: www.ac-cess.com Mariscope Website: www.mariscope.cl

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INDUSTRY Events 1st - 5th September 12 Aqua 2012, Prague, Czech Republic Contact: Mr Mario Stael, Marevent, Begijnengracht 40, 9000 Gent, Belgium Tel: +32 9 233 49 12 Fax: +32 9 233 49 12 Email: mario@marevent.com Web: www.marevent.com

5th - 7th September 12 Aquamar International 2012, Cancún Mexico Contact: Lic. Fernanda Tovar Galindo, Mexico, Distrito Federal Tel: +52 998.267.82.93 Email: ventas @aquamarinternacional.com Web: www. aquamarinternacional.com

23rd - 25th September 12 VIV China 2012, Beijing, China Contact: Anneke van Rooijen, Postbus 8800, 3503 RV, Utrecht, Holland Tel: +31 30 295 2772 Email: anneke.van.rooijen@vnuexhibitions.com Web: www.vivchina.nl/en/Bezoeker. aspx

10th - 13th October 12

INDUSTRY Events

Aqua Sur 2012, Puerto Montt Contact: María Paz Fernández, Lado Poniente Km 1.018 Ruta 5 SurPuerto Montt- Chile Tel: +56 2 7565402 Email: mpfernandez@aqua.cl Web: www.aqua-sur.cl

17th - 19th October 12 Offshore Mariculture Conference 2012, Hilton Hotel, Izmir, Turkey Contact: Isobel Roberts, Mercator Media Ltd, The Old Mill, Lower Quay, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 0RA, UK Tel: +44 1329 825 335 Fax: +44 1329 825 330 Email: conferences @offshoremariculture.com Web: www.offshoremariculture.com/

17th - 19th October 12 FIGAP/VIV Mexico 2012, Expo Guadalajara - Halls Jalisco A & B. Av. Mariano Otero No. 1499 Col. Verde Valle - Guadalajara -Jalisco - México Contact: Patricia Jazo, Palermo 3001 Col. Prados Providencia.

Guadalajara, Jalisco. CP.44670 Tel: +52 3336 418119 Fax: +52 33 36 411604 Email: pjazo@figap.com Web: www.figap.com

Events Key: * = See our magazine at this show • = More information available

24th - 25th October 12

5th - 7th December 12

BioMarine Business Convention 2012, Fishmonger’s Hall, London, UK Contact: Veronique Erwes

Algae Technology Platform Europe, NH Hotel, Ghent, Belgium Contact: Ignace Debruyne, Smart Short Courses, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem (Belgium)

Email: veronique.erwes@biomarine.org Web: www.biomarine.org/

25th - 26th October 12

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

The Protein Summit 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands Contact: Bridge2Food, Jan van Eijcklaan 2, 3723 BC Bilthoven, The Netherlands

13th - 15th December 12

Tel: +31 30 225 2060 Email: info@bridge2food.com Web: www.bridge2food.com/ProteinSummit-Bridge2Food-2012.asp

IAI Expo and ISRMAX Expo, IARI, Ground, PUSA, New Delhi, India Contact: Prachi Arora, # 923, Sector 9, U.E. Karnal, Haryana, 132001, India

6th - 8th November 12

Tel: +91-9991705621 Fax: +91-184-2231050 Email: marketing@pixie.co.in Web: www.isrmaxriceandgrainexpo.co.in

GLOBALG.A.P. SUMMIT 2012, Madrid, Spain Contact: Nina Kretschmer, GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH, Spichernstr. 55, 50672 Koeln, Germany Tel: +49 2215 7993693 Fax: +49 2215 799389 Email: kretschmer@globalgap.org Web: www.summit2012.org

13th - 16th November 12 EuroTier 2012 including BioEnergy, Hannover, Germany Contact: DLG Service GmbH, DLG, Eschborner Landstrasse 122, 60489 Frankfurt/Main, Germany Tel: +49 6924788- 265 Fax: +49 69 24788-113 Email: expo@DLG.org Web: www.DLG.org

3rd - 4th December 12 Aquafeed Platform Europe - 12th Practical Short Course Trends and Markets in Aquaculture Feed Ingredients, Nutrition, Formulation and Optimized Production and Product Quality, NH Hotel, Ghent, Belgium Contact: Ignace Debruyne, Smart Short Courses, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem (Belgium) Tel: +32 51 31 12 74 Fax: +32 51 31 56 75 Email: aquafeed@smartshortcourses.com Web: www.smartshortcourses.com

21st - 25th February 13 Aquaculture 2013, Nashville Tennessee, USA Contact: Mario Stael, Begijnengracht 40, 9000 Gent, Belgium Tel: +32 9 2334912 Email: mario@marevent.com Web: www.was.org

Interview with Guillermo Moreno Hernandez, Communication, Image and Publications, AQUAMAR Organizing Company International.

Which sectors of the industry is the event aimed?

Anyone who is interested in growth, knowledge, ideas, and business training for the aquaculture and fisheries.

What can participants expect to see?

The exchange of knowledge, future business and seminars is important but the thing that makes 2012 Aquamar different from other shows is the interaction between different parts of the industry. Participants will learn about new technical technologies to mark trends in the market.

There will also be taught seminars and workshops.

26th - 28th March 13 AGRA Middle East, Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai, UAE Contact: Rizwan Mustafa, PO Box 28943, Dubai – United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 407 2424 Fax: +971 4 407 2485 Email: agramiddleeast@informa.com Web: www.agramiddleeast.com

30th May 13 - 2nd June 13 Aquarama 2013, Hall 401-403, Suntec Singapore, International Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Raffles Boulevard, Suntec City, Singapore 039593 Contact: Ms. Jennifer Lee, 3 Pickering Street, #02-48 China Square Central, Singapore 048660 Tel: +65 6592 0891 Fax: +65 6438 6090 Email: Jennifer.lee@ubm.com Web: http://aquarama.com.sg

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Review all of our industry's key events for 2012/13 on our new Events section on the Perendale Publishers App.

Why should people participate in International Aquamar 2012?

The variety of exhibitors, workshops, discussions and different viewpoints at Aquamar are seldom seen in other expos. We will have a wide range of technology offerings and meetings dealing with all parts of the industry.

The seminars and workshops will be valuable information that is important for formation and training.

What are your expectations for 2012 Aquamar International?

I want to gather together as many visitors as possible (over 3,000) and create successful businesses. I am also interested in the views and experience of aquaculture students because in a few years, they will play a fundamental part in the industry. I also want to get some feedback from the people who attend.

How has Aquamar International developed over the years?

I can tell you that we have grown in number of exhibitors, number of visits, seminars and workshops as well as a consolidation within the industry.

The confidence that people in the industry have in us. For example, we nearly filled the halls of the expo, which is a major achievement.

INDUSTRY Events: PREVIEW INDUSTRY Events

T

he AQUA events are coorganised by EAS and WAS every 6 years. AQUA 2012 succeeds the 2006 event in Florence, Italy and the 2000 event held in Nice, France. The event comprises an international scientific conference, an international trade exhibition, workshops for aquaculture producers, forums organised by students and by the European Commission Directorate General for research and many other workshops and meetings.

The overall theme for this year’s meeting is ‘Global Aquaculture: Securing our future’.

Presentations by the two plenary speakers, Petter Arnesen and Geoff Allan, will provide industry and science perspectives on the different aspects of the theme, which has obvious implications for global and regional food security and aquaculture trade. It also refers to economic and environmental sustainability and the image of aquaculture activities.

What can participants expect to see and do?

This is the biggest general aquaculture event so participants can expect to see a lot. There will be almost 600 oral presentations and 400 posters on display as well as 90 trade booths and numerous workshops. There will also be the opportunity to go on farm tours in the Czech Republic.

I’ve been to Prague a few times in the course of organising AQUA 2012 and before. It really is a beautiful city, with many things to do and see. Hotels and restaurants are plentiful and not expensive. .

AQUA 2012 Who is the event aimed at?

AQUA 2012 is a global aquaculture event so it is aimed at the global aquaculture community. This includes scientists, producers, suppliers and policy makers and legislators who want the latest scientific data and to take part in all of the discussions and networking that are the ‘core’ of these events. We expect around 2,000 participants from 60 countries to be with us in Prague in September.

of the AQUA 2012 theme, while Geoff Allan, of the Depar tment of Primary Industries in Australia and who is a past president of the World Aquaculture Society, will focus on the scientific perspectives of the theme.

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

There’s increasing competition between industry shows and scientific conferences but AQUA 2012 has developed something different. It brings together both of these elements and shows how aquaculture is developing across disciplines, so that people working in one research area or sector can listen to sessions on other disciplines and activities. In short, it gives a

What are the themes of AQUA 2012?

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 2012 The European Aquaculture Society (EAS) is one of the two co-organisers of AQUA 2012. It incorporates the EAS “Aquaculture Europe” and the WAS “World Aquaculture” events. In addition, the University of South Bohemia is our local organising partner. AQUA 2012 is the third AQUA event, succeeding meetings in Florence in 2006 and Nice in 2000.

In Prague, we hope to build on the successes of previous events, with high participation, good science, a well-attended trade event and generally favourable perception from attendees.

There are different ways of interpreting the theme, ‘Global Aquaculture: Secur ing our future’.

One way is food security. This is an issue for developing countries but also for the USA and Europe because they rely heavily on imports.

The event will also look at the image and perception of aquaculture. It is generally positive, but the actual production activities of the sector are not generally wellunderstood by consumers.

AQUA 2012 will also address the management of resources notably water and feeds – but also human and market resources with an emphasis on education and managing knowledge. This brings us to the plenary speakers: Petter Arnesen of Marine Harvest will give an industry perspective

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What are you most excited about for AQUA 2012?

We have an excellent management team with John and Mary Cooksey and with Mario Stael, and I work with them to make sure that

everything runs smoothly. I will try to sit in on a few sessions but, I’m not sure that I will have the time.

One of things that interests me is the potential to use of macro algae (seaweeds) as protein and lipid sources in feeds. Developing algae as feed ingredients rather than using terrestrial plants could

really help solve the problems of water, space and GM associated with using terrestrial plants..

Consumer s may also have issues with farmed fish eating feeds predominantly made from ter restr ial plants that could themselves be used for direct consumption.

It would be more natural for farmed aquatic animals to eat (farmed) aquatic plants… At AQUA 2012 there will be several sessions on nutrition, looking at novel raw materials and ingredients in fish feeds.

How has the event changed and developed?

We have lots of successful press and media partners but we would also like to develop contacts with non-

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trade press that could bring some of or good news to the general public.

Aquaculture research findings do not generally get well communicated outside of our sphere, so we need to do that better. Political will to develop aquaculture in Europe seems to be at an all-time high, so we should use this opportunity to spread the knowledge we are generating to support policy and develop a balanced (legislative) framework for the sector.

Plenary speaker Petter Arnesen, Breeding Director, Marine Harvest I have been working in aquaculture for almost 25 years. The salmon industry began around 40 years ago and has developed greatly over the last 20 years. Now it is relatively successful

INDUSTRY Events: PREVIEW in Scotland and Norway but there are salmon industries in Chile, the Faro Islands and British Columbia amongst others. It is still a learning curve but we have come a long way.

As the Breeding Director at Marine Harvest I use traditional breeding methods rather than GM. The salmon industry is one of the last in Europe not to use GM products in the fish or the feed. At the moment, there is a fair bit of opposition to GM food from consumers and retailers even though there is no scientific evidence that salmon is affected by GM. Yet for the feed industry, it is getting harder and more expensive to source GM-free raw materials.

The main issues in aquaculture today are feed resources including raw materials that go into feed and the management of farms.

There is a fair bit of aquaculture regulation the EU but the main challenge in the EU is to have more sites of production. At the moment, the EU imports 65 percent of its seafood. Going forward, the EU will have to increase its production.

However, tradition fisheries are on the decline so there is a gap between the requirement and what traditional fisheries can produce.

This gap has to be covered by aquaculture and as a result, good production sites are needed. This is easier said than done. For example, in Norway, the authorities are in charge of giving out sites but there are very few granted each year.

At Aqua 2012, I will be speaking about the challenges associated with aquaculture in general and also point out some of the major achievements in aquaculture such as feed, genetics and the environment.

In the future, I will be working on solving the challenges faced by aquaculture. There is great promise in breeding and genetics.

There are new tolls coming along such as a genomics. The salmon genome is now being sequenced and will hopefully be completed in the next year. This will give us a new tool to use in our breeding work.

INDUSTRY Events

Come and meet the International Aquafeed team at Aqua 2012 - booth 65

A second Premium Sponsor for EAS

H

aving enjoyed the support of MSD Animal Health as its only Premium sponsor for some years, the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) has announced that SINTEF Aquaculture and Fisheries is its second Premium Sponsor.

While EAS actively targets sponsors for its annual Aquaculture Europe event, the Premium Sponsors show their support of the society ‘as a whole’ – and specifically of its objectives – with a financial contribution that allows EAS to offer reduced membership fees for young persons and for those working in relatively low income countries.

The President of SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, Karl Almås, is pleased to show SINTEF’s support for EAS. “Collaboration and participation in EAS is important to us in SINTEF as it is an industrial organization with a strong research focus which is vital to us and our research partners in

EU. This sponsorship makes clear our commitment and we look forward to strengthening our work in EAS through this agreement”, says Almås.

The EAS President Elect (becoming President in September), Kjell Maroni is also pleased to have a second Premium Sponsor, especially one from Norway. “It is very good to have a technology oriented research institute as SINTEF from Norway on board as a Premium sponsor. EAS need the contribution from Premium sponsors as an important basis for the economy in addition to normal members”, he says. “Premium sponsors are also important to make EAS more known in the aquaculture industry in Europe.”

As Premium sponsors, SINTEF will be promoted through the EAS web site and its publications, but also at the AQUA 2012 (September 1-5 in Prague) and AE2013 (August 9-12 in Trondheim).

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Our solutions focus on providing health through nutrition. Our complete portfolio of gut environment modifiers together with our extensive R&D and application expertise, have positioned our technologies as successful tools across the world and the industry.

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® is a trademark of Novus International, Inc., and is registered in the United States and other countries. TM SOLUTIONS SERVICE SUSTAINABILITY is a trademark of Novus International, Inc. ©2012 Novus International, Inc. All rights reserved. 2978

INDUSTRY Events: REVIEW

VII FERIA

INTERNACIONAL DE ACUICULTURA Aquaculture UK 2012

10 al 13 de octubre Puerto Montt - Chile

by David Mack, Aquaculture UK Organiser

A

quaculture UK 2012, held at the Macdonald Conference Centre at Aviemore on May 23 -24, 2012, was a great success according to exhibitors.

Attendance was up on 2010, as record numbers of visitors came to take advantage of unrivalled networking opportunities. More than 100 exhibitors made their way up Scotland to showcase their latest products, services and innovations for the fish and shellfish farming industry.

The weather helped as temperatures in the high 20s allowed the caterers to run a barbeque outside Hall 2 to replace the usual tea bar, whilst visitors basked in the heat.

Definitely not your typical Scottish spring weather!

Several new exhibitors told event organiser David Mack, they were surprised at how much business they had done.

Jørgin Gunnarsson, owner of Lift-up Akva, told organisers that, despite his stand material failing to arrive after being held up by customs at Aberdeen Airport, “it was the best trade show I have ever attended”.

Three students from Bogor Agricultural University in Indonesia made the trip especially to learn about the Scottish aquaculture industr y and to see how techniques and equipment used here, differ from the Far East.

The location lent itself to easy and relaxed networking as all the hotels, the exhibition halls and conference rooms are close together in a campus like setting and this means that if visitors fail to make contact during the day it is possible,

with hardly any effort, to do so in the evening.

One of the undoubted highlights of the event was the competition for the Novartis Best Student Presentation award. This was won

by Rogelio Flores, a PhD student from Stirling University, undertaking research at the Ardtoe Marine Laboratory into the effects of noise on cod. He beat seven other UK based research students to win the coveted prize, which is an expenses paid visit to the Novartis Animal Health’s R&D facilities in Prince Edward Island, Canada in July. The presentations were made by UK based research students and it is a reflection of the UK’s reputation as a major centre of aquaculture research that the presenters came from six different countries.

Rogelio, from Mexico, was presented with his award at the Gala Dinner, “I am thrilled that my presentation was the winner and really excited about visiting Novartis scientists in Canada,” he said.

So pleased were Novartis with the success of the day’s events that they intend to offer the prize again in 2014.

Conference organiser David Mack said there seemed to be lots of satisfied customers and was rewarding to see so many visitors from the international aquaculture community in Aviemore. The event has grown every year since the first one in 2008 and plans are being made for an even larger show in 2014.

Read more about Rogelio Flores’ research on the effects of noise for farmed Cod, on page 28 of this edition of International Aquafeed.

40

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July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 47

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AquaBioTech Innovia AquaBioTech Innovia is the Research and Development (R&D) division of the AquaBioTech Group based in Malta. Its primary role within the company is carrying out aquaculture, aquatic and aquariology orientated research, development and testing to assist in product development for commercial partners, provide research services to commercial and academic partners in European funded projects, and to support other departments of the AquaBioTech Group in terms of technology benchmarking and testing. ABT Innovia regularly collaborates with European partners, both in academia and industry, in EU funded projects both an SME and as an RTD partner.

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48 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

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The aquafeed interview

F

rancisco 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.

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

Last year I had the privilege to address the plenary of the world aquaculture society in Natal, Brazil. There I expressed my view that the aquaculture forecasts are an underestimate. Currently, aquaculture is predicted to increase to 220 mmt of production by 2050, from our current 60 something level today.

These estimates fail to incorporate technology development.

Actually they assume that the gains in efficiency in aquaculture will continue to occur at a slower rate than in more sophisticated industries such as poultry. This is a mistake, because aquaculture’s efficiency is increasing every day.

Moreover, it is inaccurate to assume that aquaculture is comparable to poultry; aquaculture is a new platform for human development. Its applications go way beyond meat production per se. Algae is a good example. Algae culture is in many ways a spinoff of highly tech aquaculture sectors.

If agriculture is the platform of land, aquaculture is the platform of water and it is essential for mankind to steer this new platform to fundamental sustainability, socially, environmentally and economically.

Aqua is important for Novus simply because we recognise how important it will be to feed the world.

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

Francisco Saraiva Gomes, Aquaculture Business Unit, Novus International

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.

The fishmeal an oil dependency is perhaps the most significant issue, but surely not the only one. We must not be deaf to the criticism invoked about transferring millions of mt of soy produced on land onto the water. Soy is certainly a solution but will it be the only solution in the long term.

Alternative proteins must be investigated and algae, single cell protein or insect protein are no longer the science fiction cases they were 10 years ago. Not only, that but it seems more and more likely that feeds will be the preponderant vehicle to prevent disease in aquaculture.

Without proper health management, there will be no industry. The importance of feed also relates to species and culture systems. We need to learn more about the nutritional requirements of our animals so that we can design feeds that are more efficient, so that they are better absorbed. Conversion of feed is something so paramount to the industry that it affects everything from offshore licensing, to design of recirculated systems, to financial profitability and so on.

Offshore farming is perhaps the other big topic. The potential of the oceans to provide us with food is enormous.

I’m convinced that the sustainability of the human species depends on farming the oceans. But the oceans are an extremely sensitive ecological compartment of the planet.

We now know that in spite of the gigantic size of the oceans, we have actually been able to change their chemical properties as whole! This is by all measures an incredible fact.

So now we know how destructive we can really get if we do not pay attention. Should that prevent us from moving forward? I believe it should not. The only real alternative we have is not whether we should farm the oceans but how do we farm the oceans.

And there again, feeds and sustainable nutrition will have a major role. Salmon farming is the largest marine cage industry in the world. The two main environmental criticisms are one related with feed waste accumulating in the bottom of the oceans and the other related with biosecurity. Aqua feeds are definitely the solution for the first and a major supporting pillar for the second.

Sometimes the industry still falls on the trap of defending its sustainability by engaging in the argument “what we’re doing is the best alternative available so…?”. Actually, the world does not want to hear that, we are expected to give not the best available but the sustainable one. And if none of what we are using is the sustainable strategy, then we must recognise that somewhere in the world there will be growing voices of dissatisfaction.

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

Our goal is to be the referential provider of health and nutrition technologies in the industry. Size, revenue and profit all matter of course and we do have ambitious goals well before 2050. But I believe our legacy will be complete if in 2050, we could be recognised as one of the silent partners of a truly sustainable industry that in the space of a century went from virtually nothing, to the largest provider of animal protein in the world.

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

Our role covers the entire value chain of aquaculture production from raw materials to harvest. Within that value chain, we focus on five key platforms: Feed Cost Reduction, Functional Feeds, Health through Nutrition, Optimised Raw Materials and Sustainable Practices. We do not provide the feed, the same way we do not provide raw materials or the culture systems. What we do is to optimise such raw materials or processes. This role allows us to be at the cornerstone of the development of the industry

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?

I would like us to come out of that session with a structured document. One that could be published as a three to five year roadmap and could be considered as an agenda for a more in depth debate and discussion on how to drive marine aquaculture towards sustainability.

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

50 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

"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

July-August 2012 | International AquaFeed | 51

Olav Fjell new Nofima chairperson

T

he outgoing CEO of Hurtigruten, Olav Fjell, has been elected as the new chairperson of the Board of Directors of the food research institute Nofima.

Fjell, who holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, has previously served as CEO of Statoil, Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk and Postbanken. He also has a number of board positions in Norwegian industry.

“Nofima is a large and important institution in both a Norwegian and international context. The institute’s role as a research partner for the fishery, aquaculture and food industries is extremely important and has a large growth potential,” says Olav Fjell.

“Norway is one of the world’s leading seafood producing nations. It will be exciting to work with developing this position and also work to strengthen our domestic food industry.”

Nofima is Europe’s largest industry-oriented research institute which engages in research and development for the fishery, aquaculture and food industries. The institute has around 420 employees and has an annual turnover of about NOK 500 million.

Nofima's new chairperson, Olav Fjell - Photo courtesy oF Hurtigruten.

AQUACULTURE IN 2012

INDUSTRY FACES

New technical services project manager for MSD Animal Health, aquaculture in Asia

N

orman Lim is to become technical services project manager for MSD Animal Health. In his new position, Mr Lim will be responsible for implementing market support trials and producing technical materials and resources to support MSD Animal Health’s rapidly expanding line of vaccines and therapeutics for aquaculture.

Mr Lim reports to Neil Wendover, technical services and market support manager for aquaculture, and is based at the company’s office and aquatic research facility in Singapore.

Prior to joining MSD Animal Health, Mr Lim was nursery manager for Barramundi Asia, Singapore, a leading producer of barramundi in Southeast Asia. Earlier in his career, Lim served as operations director for GenoMar Supreme Hatchery, one of the world’s largest tilapia hatcheries, located on the island of Hainan in southern China.

Mr Lim is a graduate of Tamasek Polytechnic, Singapore, where he received his diploma in biotechnology.

He also has a biological sciences degree from Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Change of CFO in Marine Harvest

J

ørgen Kristian Andersen steps down from his position as CFO in Marine Harvest ASA as from end of July 2012. Ivan Vindheim has been appointed as new CFO in Marine Harvest ASA and will take up the position from Auguest 1, 2012 The change of CFO is a result of the need to have the CFO function located together with the rest of the Group Management at the headquarter in Bergen. Marine Harvest will maintain the office in Oslo where group finance and some other group functions will remain.

Ivan Vindheim, 41, comes from the position as CFO in Lerøy Seafood Group ASA. Mr. Vindheim holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from NHH, and an MBA from the same school. He is a State Authorized Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Analyst. Previous to his job at Lerøy Seafood Group Mr Vindheim held a position as Vice President Finance at Rolls-Royce Marine AS. From 1996-2004 he worked for Deloitte.

Nutreco CEO Wout Dekker hands over to Knut Nesse on 1 August 2012

N

utreco’s Wout Dekker will hand over his responsibilities as CEO on August 1, 2012 to Knut Nesse. In addition, the current Managing Director of Skretting Northern Europe and Australia, Viggo Halseth, will be nominated for appointment to the Executive Board of Nutreco and Chief Operating Officer Aquaculture at the upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on 23 July 2012. In both capacities Viggo Halseth will succeed Knut Nesse.

Wout Dekker says, "on 9 February of this year we have announced that Knut Nesse will succeed me by the end of 2012 as CEO of Nutreco. Since then we have witnessed the continuing strong momentum of Nutreco's business as we have been able to reconfirm in our first quarter results. The confidence in our strategy and the execution of our plans is strongly supported by our shareholders and other stakeholders. Knut is ready to take over and start in his new role as CEO. Now that we have our top structure in place, I am more than comfortable to make room somewhat earlier than anticipated".

Jan-Maarten de Jong, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, says, "since February we have concentrated on a transfer of responsibilities and considered the future composition of the Executive Board. We are happy that with Viggo Halseth we can nominate an internal candidate as the successor of Knut Nesse. Being with Nutreco since 1984 and having served the company in a broad range of managerial roles, Viggo Halseth has fulfilled an important role in the success of our Aquaculture division. Viggo is best positioned to succeed Knut as Executive Board member and COO Aquaculture."

52 | International AquaFeed | July-August 2012

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