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The World Aquaculture 2017 event in Cape Town, South Africa was the first occasion for its venue in the African continent. It had a strong theme, which underpinned the ethos of sustainable aquatic food production from a variety of production systems, including; finish and marine invertebrates of high commercial value, all over an intensive yet fulfilling five days.
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International Aquafeed Editor, Professor Simon Davies shares his thoughts about the latest edition of World Aquaculture his years theme really captured this multi-disciplinary industry with sponsors such as the prime gold Sponsor Aller Aqua, feed manufactures based in Denmark that have a strong presence in Africa and a number of session sponsors from leading companies involved in aquatic health, nutrition and fish biology (MSD,
Skretting, World Fish). Many other leading industrial groups such as feed and nutrition companies from across the globe were present and International Aquafeed were of course there to interact and report. The conference setting (Cape Town International Convention Centre) near the impressive wharf and sea front with its modern bars and fine restaurants provided a most professional assemblage of commercial companies, government bodies (The Department of Science & Technology, Republic of South Africa), technologists and numerous students associated with the fish farming industry representing global interests and the socioeconomic as well as technological advancement of aquaculture throughout the continent of Africa and beyond. This annual meeting was co-organised by the Aquaculture Association of Southern Aquaculture Africa (AASA and the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries, DAFF). It also attracted support from World Fish Centre, The African Union and NEPAD amongst others. The attendance was very good and certainly international as I met many colleagues from various countries, all contributing to the speaking programme of scientific presentations and those representing industry at the large exhibition complex and stands. The focus was clearly on South Africa with its rich potential for developing aquaculture but with much representation internationally for established and emerging technologies in fish and crustacean farming, as well as shellfish and exotic species relevant to other parts of the world with emphasis on South East Asia and beyond. It was my first opportunity to meet young talented students from Stellenbosch University, famous for agriculture but with a strong fish group working on areas such as fish nutrition and feed technology.
I met with a Professor whose company is Africa’s only feed extruder manufacturer with bespoke equipment for fish feed production suited to local species but with much potential for export into Europe, for advanced fish feed production. The trade show and exhibitors were very busy with a great attendance in full flow with many key areas covered with an array of specialist equipment and products on display. More than 2,000 delegates from across the global aquaculture industry and related sectors registered for the event, comprising a good number of local students from Colleges and Universities in South Africa, Africa and beyond to whom I was able to meet and chat. The trade show encompassed some 90 exhibitors in the main hall and a separate function and lecture halls was available for the academic sessions running in parallel. There was a very wide ranging display of posters from academia reflecting many of the specialised topics with a strong research focus mainly the work of postgraduate students from leading universities and colleges from all over the world in all manner of disciplines embracing mainly the aquaculture biosciences. On the nutrition front, the Nutreco owned Skretting feed company (Skretting Africa) was fully behind the conference in Cape Town. It funded and hosted a special seminar at the event, called ‘Tilapia Nutrition Symposium’ that focused particularly on tilapia feeds, feed ingredients and nutrition and was chaired by Dr Arjen Roem, Technical Director at Skretting Africa and Dr Lourens De Wet, Director of Nutrition Hub (formerly University of Stellenbosch). Aller Aqua had a very comprehensive involvement in the conference and is one of Europe’s most established feed companies with factories in Denmark, Poland, Germany and Egypt with new developments in Zambia and Egypt. Their role in Africa is expanding and they have a high quality range of diets for rainbow trout, carp as well as tilapia and catfish so relevant to the meeting in Cape Town. Blue Aqua based in Singapore were evident with a large stand displaying a range of innovative products for shrimp hatchery feeds and on-growing with emphasis on sustainable nutrition and health options. There were other WAS premium sponsors along with Sonac, Tyson and Ziegler of the USA. Sonac and Tyson specialise in high quality animal proteins, mainly poultry by-product meals
44 | August 2017 - International Aquafeed