NUTRITION & HEALTH a control or reference diet or even a We live in interesting times and series of basal diets with various test working from home has given us ingredient substitutions. To this basal many opportunities to reflect on diet we could then supplement with how we might undertake tasks in the different feed additives and functional future. Certainly, I have had more bioactive ingredients that could even meetings than I could have imagined include enzymes or prebiotics and with the use of Skype, Zoom and probiotics. other platforms. My mobile phone This is good sensible practice and and emails have never stopped, and Professor Simon Davies studies could even run in parallel and it’s been quite hectic indeed over this Nutrition Editor, International Aquafeed share the control diets in some cases. long lockdown period across the globe It allows for better comparisons and and kept me very busy on projects can integrate separate trials into a and academic matters. Even Her theme study for the use of a product, e.g. protein concentrate Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has mastered this incredible or perhaps DDG with or without enzyme supplementation. It technology. can give benefits such as reducing the number of fish used in experiments, thus meeting the 3R’s (Reduction, Refinement Anyway, commerce and the business of aqua feed goes on & Replacement of animals) required by numerous regulatory with some excellent webinars of late covering exciting topics authorities. that we are all familiar with by now. The march to sustainable This can be seen in publications that show a commonality new ingredients is yielding many novel ideas and recently in the materials and methods section for the basal feed I have been involved with work on bacterial SCP sources. compositions used in a study but where the outcomes of These are usually produced by growing specific strains on sequential trials involving different feed additives tested on waste stream organic substrates under controlled fermentation fish would yield distinctly separate findings in respective peerconditions that generate high microbial biomass. The resulting reviewed papers. dried product is very high in protein (> 80%) and of a wellIndeed, in the field of fish nutrition and aqua feed science, balanced and digestible amino acid profile. it is time for a new online journal to compete with the main The material can equate to fishmeal and soybean and can frontrunners. This is a priority goal now for the 2020’s and the substitute to a high level in feeds for many different fish necessary infrastructure and platforms are in place for us to species. It is imperative that we can utilise a uniform and begin an exciting new development in due course. stable ingredient that is available in bulk and at a reasonable In the field of fish nutrition, I see new developments for RASprice to compete successfully with traditional commodities. optimised feed for fish reared in closed systems and bespoke One of the major problems is that their scale-up into providing diets for different fish is being produced by Aller Aqua group a regular source for aqua feed is not sufficient to meet the in Denmark. On the bacterial SCP front, Calysta is launching rising demands of the fish feed manufacturer and this can a 10,000-tonne production facility in China in a joint-venture lead to disappointment. I have frequently seen the efforts of between Adisseo to produce its premier FeedKind protein that several start-up companies being constrained by a real failure will make a very significant impact to the US $28 billion Asian to adequately research the market for ingredients, especially aqua feed market by 2022. those high in protein. These have often been the case for In the sustainability agenda, it is indeed welcoming news different types of algae and the insect meal developments that Mowi is dedicated to the use of only deforestation-free that range from small local enterprises to larger operations soybean sources in their aqua feeds from 2021. Mowi’s three that are good examples. The latter may indeed rise to meet major traceable routes of non-GM ProTerra certified soy these challenges as aquaculture expands in volume with more protein concentrate are Caramuru, Imcopa and CJ Selecta. investment. This will enhance transparency of the supply chain and help to The whole question of sustainability is now more important preserve Brazilian rainforests in future. than ever, so I welcome these important initiatives from many companies with an active interest in meeting this ‘protein gap’. I trust, despite the restrictions, you are all wisely using your time and keeping the industry buoyant and advancing. It’s In fish nutrition, work one has to consider the planning of good to have ‘thinking’ time. Please sit back, relax and enjoy experiments with fish often on the basis of short- or longthis August edition. term feeding trials. It’s very common to design a basal diet as
4 | August 2020 - International Aquafeed