Centre for Aquaculture Technologies applies for fish sterility patent
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Dr Neil Auchterlonie Working hard to secure the quality of feed
n the process of our work IFFO engages with numerous governments and intergovernmental organisations (IGOs). IFFO is fortunate to hold observer status with several of those IGOs, such as the United Nations bodies and networking within these fora provides excellent assistance and support for our work across the many administrations around the globe. At the time of writing, this week saw the 33rd Committee on Fisheries Meeting at the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) in Rome, and we attended the meeting. The biennial COFI meetings align with the release of the updated State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) reports, and this meeting was no exception. SOFIA 2018 is described as the product of an 18-month period of work and it is easy to see why. It is packed with information outlining the importance of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will take some time to digest the content of SOFIA 2018 and there will be much to discuss in relation to the outcomes of the report, but that is for another time. The COFI meeting itself ran over five days of the week commencing July 9, 2018, reflecting the wide-ranging work of the Committee, and it is an opportunity for all the member states to report on the progress that has been made against many of the COFI’s Sub-Committees’ workstreams. A highlight for IFFO was the co-hosting and sponsoring of a side-event with the Global aquaculture Alliance (GAA) on the Wednesday lunchtime in the FAO offices. This side-event addressed the importance of sustainable aquaculture development, but with a strong focus on feed. Presentations were provided by Melanie Siggs of the GAA, Dr Niels Alsted (representing FEFAC), Dr Trygve Berg Lea (Skretting), John Connelly (National Fisheries Institute in the US), Rodrigo Roubach of the FAO, and myself representing IFFO. The event was also streamed as a live webinar, and we were fortunate to find the room well-attended. Numerous diverse and interesting questions on sustainable aquaculture were asked from the floor, making for a truly engaging Q&A session. To the fore in the discussion were questions regarding what the supplementation of marine ingredients such as fishmeal and fish oil means in relation to the health, growth and quality of farmed fish. These are important questions of course, and with nutrition being so closely linked to health and physiology in general they are very important to ask. It is clear that the feed companies are working very hard to secure the quality of feed, and thus aquaculture product, for the future, but it is also clear that supplementation of fishmeal and fish oil is not straightforward. What is known is that the micronutrients found in fishmeal, including amino acids, long chain fatty acids, vitamins and minerals are not readily substituted from within other ingredient sources. Substitution itself adds both costs, and also in some instances may precipitate additional regulatory requirements. The constant murmur of “fish-free” in the media is a misrepresentation of the true situation and does not reflect reality where progress shall be made by the supplementation of fishmeal and fish oil rather than its replacement
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n July 19, 2018, the Centre for Aquaculture Technologies (CAT), a leading aquaculture R&D company focused on improving productivity, efficiency and sustainability in the aquaculture industry, filed a patent application regarding a method of generating sterile fish, shrimp, or mollusks. This application is the first in a planned family of patents covering tools and methods for making aquatic organisms sterile. Dr John Buchanan, CEO of CAT, commented, “This technology has broad applicability for aquaculture, with the ability to significantly improve productivity in grow-out while providing environmental protection for the industry. Thanks to our dedicated research team led by Dr Xavier Lauth, we plan to soon offer this efficient technology to achieve 100 percent sterility in the animals in an aquaculture production system.” CAT operates in two laboratories, its research hub in San Diego, California, and the world’s only Level 3 certified pathogen containment, private aquaculture wet lab located on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Thanks to the expertise of its team and the unique versatility of its labs, CAT is enabling the aquaculture industry to achieve efficient production growth without endangering the natural environment. CAT is now in active discussions with several potential investors to further develop its current R&D portfolio, with an opportunity to capitalise on the new biotechnologies that bring changes to the growing aquaculture sector. The sole shareholder of CAT is currently Linnaeus Capital Partners B.V., based in Amsterdam.
Dr Neil Auchterlonie is the Technical Director at IFFO. He has managed aquaculture and fisheries science programmes in both public and private sectors. Academically he holds a BSc in Marine and Freshwater Biology from Stirling University, a MSc in Applied Fish Biology from the University of Plymouth, and a PhD in Aquaculture (halibut physiology) from Stirling University. 10 | August 2018 - International Aquafeed
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