Monday, November 30, 2009

Current Aquafeed and Aquaculture in Thailand

Dr. Juadee Pongmaneerat, Senior Expert in Fishery Product and Inspection, Thai Department of Fisheries, Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is a leading country in aquaculture and aquatic feed development. The country boasts 64 feedmills and premix plants for aquafeed, of which 10 are GMP standard and six HACCP certified. The Department of Fisheries (DoF) has developed policies for food safety standards and promotes the CoC and GAP for aquaculture farms, and GMP and HACCP standards for feed manufacturing, over and above basic feed safety and quality control regulations.
In 2009 some 1.25 million tonnes of aquafeeds were consumed: 672,000 tonnes shrimp feed and 581,800 tonnes fish feed.

The status of economic aquatic species such as marine shrimp, giant fresh water prawn and tilapia will be presented. The DoF regulatory framework for quality control, the inspection and certification system for feed manufacturing and fishery products processing plants will also be discussed.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Conference fees will rise November 1

Only three days left to enjoy early conference booking rates. Register now before rates go up on November 1. Why pay more than necessary?

Visit www.feedconferences.com to register.

Travel and Accomodation Information

We have posted travel and accomodation information to the conference website. Apecial rates at selected hotels have been arranged by Victam International for all trade show and conference attendees. You must however book using the links provided to receive the special rates. Early booking rates apply.

Find details on the home page at www.feedconferences.com

Monday, October 12, 2009

Victam feed and grain conferences: Early Bird discount registration closing soon

Less than three weeks left to enjoy lowest rate registration for FIAAP, GRAPAS and Aquafeed Horizons Asia 2010 Conferences

HONOLULU, HI — October 12, 2009 — If you are planning to attend one or more of the feed and grain industry conferences to be held during Victam Asia 2010 in Bangkok, the organizers urge you to register before the end of the month. Early bird registration discounts for FIAAP, GRAPAS and Aquafeed Horizons Asia 2010 Conferences are set to end in less than three weeks.

“Delegates can save a substantial amount by registering early,” organizer Suzi Dominy said.

All three conferences will feature top-level speakers from Asia and around the world who will present the latest information on animal feed ingredient and formulation, Aquafeed formulation and processing and grain quality.

The GRAPAS, FIAAP and Aquafeed Horizons Asia Conferences will take place March 3-5, 2010, in Bangkok as part of Victam Asia 2010. To register and learn more, visit the conference website: www.feedconferences.com which also has links to the conference blogs. You can also keep updates at http://twitter.com/FeedConferences.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Increasing the ingredient flexibility of floating feeds

William Henry, Director of Technology and Research & Development, Extru-Tech, USA

The environment in which aquatic feeds being produced in Asia today has changed dramatically from even a few years ago. Now, more than ever, the ‘efficiency’ of production is critiqued at the same levels as ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ of production.

This presentation will focus on the greatest input cost to most aquatic feed production process’s, and that is raw materials.

When reviewing the ‘Total Cost of Production’ for a specific type of feed, the raw material cost is typically in the range of 80 to 90%. Needless to say, a 10% savings on the raw materials will have a greater impact on production cost efficiency than most likely anywhere else in the process.

This strategy of increasing the process’ ingredient flexibility will be addressed from two primary angles. We will first discuss changes and enhancements in the core pieces of equipment in a typical extrusion process. And secondly, a review of proper/recommended process management directives will be presented.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Reassuring the value-chain as to the sustainability and purity of fishmeal and fish oil

Dr. Andrew Jackson, Technical Director, International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation, U.K.

Two of the most important issues facing the fishmeal and fish oil industry in recent years has been the question of the sustainability of the fisheries providing the raw material and the purity of the products arriving at the feed mills. The industry is therefore looking at ways of reassuring the value-chain on these two critical issues. The best way to do this is using third-party audited schemes and the alternative schemes both developed and in the process of development will be discussed.

One scheme that is being initiated to address both these issues is the new IFFO Global Responsible Supply Standard. The development of this scheme will be discussed and how it assesses both fisheries and factories to provide the reassurance required.

Stabilizing formulation cost and performance of aquafeeds requires innovative approaches

Dr. Peter Coutteau, Business Development Manager Aquaculture, INVE Nutri-Ad, Belegium

In the livestock industry, a wide variety of feed additives are currently being investigated to improve cost-efficiency of animal nutrition. Organic acids, enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, highly available minerals, essential oils and natural plant extracts are some alternatives to antibiotics without causing bacterial resistance that would have at least similar effects on growth and food conversion.

This active search for natural growth promoters is starting to extend into fish farming as consumer pressure is likely to ban antibiotics from production in most countries. Although the screening of these compounds for aquaculture has just started, promising results have been obtained with different species.

The presentation illustrates the development of a number of innovative feed additives to optimize the utilization efficiency of nutrients from traditional ingredients for aquaculture species

Friday, July 31, 2009

Extrusion of Micro Aquatic and Shrimp Feeds

Joseph Kearns, Aquaculture Process Technology Manager, Wenger Manufacturing, USA

Production methods are reviewed for manufacturing of micro - or what is commonly referred to as starter feeds. Extrusions cooking in various formats are discussed with the technology involved for production of these feeds but also the ability to produce at increased production rate. Typical increase levels are in the three to five times range while allowing all the formulation advantages seen in extrusion of shrimp feeds.

Definitions of Micro feeds
Requirement of Fine Grinding
Review Spherizer Agglomeration System (SAS)
Direct Extrusion Review for Small Diameter Feeds
Dryer Requirements for Micro Feeds
Review of New Technologies for High Capacity Shrimp Feed Production

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The use of rendered animal products in aquaculture diets

Geoff L. Allan, N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries. Port Stephens Fisheries Centre, Nelson Bay, Australia

Aquaculture remains the fastest growing food producing primary industry in the world. Of the approximately 52 million tonnes of production, about 16.3 million tonnes comprises species that are fed. Marine finfish are generally strictly carnivorous and most are fed on fishmeal-based, high protein diets (>45% protein) or even directly fed “trash fish”. Current production of fishmeal is stable, and the increases in demand have been met by diverting fishmeal from other animal feeds. However, future increases in aquaculture production will require alternative protein sources.

Increasing amounts of vegetable proteins are being used but for marine carnivores, a requirement for high dietary protein, driven mainly by an inability to tolerate high dietary carbohydrate, or effectively use either carbohydrate or lipid for energy, has restricted fishmeal replacement to date. However, rendered animal protein sources, such as poultry offal meal, meat and bone meal and blood meal products are excellent protein sources with no carbohydrates and few anti-nutrients. Approximately 12.5 million tones of rendered animal meals are available globally, roughly twice as much fishmeal as is available.

Data for digestibility and utilization of rendered animal products fed to a variety of carnivorous and omnivorous aquaculture species will be presented. Data for trout, red sea bream, tilapia and mud crabs from numerous research studies will be summarized and the potential for use of rendered products discussed. The data demonstrate that rendered animal meals can be excellent protein sources for aquaculture species, including carnivorous marine finfish.

Substantial replacement of fishmeal is possible, particularly with blends of alternative protein sources based on rendered animal meals.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Improving Plant Efficiencies

Galen J. Rokey, Manager, Process Technology, Wenger Mfg., Inc., Kansas, USA

In today’s economic climate, the aquaculture industry is affected by many trends that are affecting plant efficiencies. Industry surveys indicate that energy usage and product safety are the major challenges facing the industry. Sustainability and environmental issues also are impacting aquaculture.

Several specific areas will be reviewed that favorably affect plant efficiency and can easily be implemented.

Trends in aquaculture that impact plant efficiency
A. Raw material costs
B. Market conditions
C. Energy and water conservation
D. Supply chain costs reduction
E. Automation
F. Labor costs
G. Food safety
H. Flexibility
I. Emissions control
J. Lean manufacturing

Specific areas to improve plant efficiency
A. Adjust process to use least cost energy source
B. Tighten product moisture variation off dryer
C. Recycle under-processed material
D. Extended service programs and line audits
E. On-line monitoring and control

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Harvesting the benefits of grain application in Aquafeeds

Dr. Brett Glencross, Stream Leader – Novel Feed Ingredients and Nutrition, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia

To reduce risk associated with being too dependent on fish meal use in aquaculture feeds, considerable effort has been expended to assess and develop a range of grain protein meals as alternatives. However, the evaluation of such feed ingredients is crucial to their effective application in diets for aquaculture species. In evaluating ingredients for use in aquaculture feeds there are several important knowledge components that should be understood to enable the wise use of any particular ingredient in a feed formulation. The four primary knowledge components are: (1) Ingredient characterization, (2) Ingredient digestibilities, (3) Ingredient palatability, and (4) Nutrient utilization and/or interference of utilization.

In addition to these four key knowledge components, further details on ingredient functionality, gene and/or protein expression, the influence on immune status and organoleptic qualities are also important considerations.

Using this approach a range of feed grain resources have been evaluated in the diets of a range of aquaculture species. While there is no single ideal alternative many of the different feed grain resources offer sound potential when used in the right application. Indeed the judicious use of certain feed grain resources can confer significant nutritional and technical advantages to the feed design and management process.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Aquafeed Trends in South East Asia and China

Urs Wuest, Buhler, Head Engineering & Fulfilment

Changes throughout the entire aquafeed value chain will impact feed millers in the near future and beyond.

Urs Wuest will present the current trends in the aquafeed industry,l including the changes in raw materials, feed manufacturing, aquaculture, processing of the fish and crustaceans and the demand from customers in total and segmented by fish species.He will explain how changing requirements in the aquafeed industry translate into a demand for specific technical requirements, such as extrusion technology.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Call for Papers

A Call for Papers has been published for Aquafeed Horizons Asia 2010. Qualified industry experts are invited to submit papers for consideration on the following topics:

Impact of market trends on feed development ;
Aquafeed processing technology;
Aquafeed ingredients and formulation;
Quality control.

Please download, complete and return the CALL FOR PAPERS form from the home page of the conference website: www.feedconferences.com.

The deadline for submission is April 30, 2010.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Aquafeed Horizons Asia 2010 Date Announced

The next Aquafeed Horizons Asia Conference will take place alongside the Victam Asia and FIAAP trade shows at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

This will be fourth conference in the series to be held in association with Victam International.

FeedLink will once again stage the Feed Ingredients & Additives Asia Pacific (FIAAP) Conference on the following day, Thursday, 4 March, 2010 and joint registration for the two conferences will be offered.

For more information and to download the presentations from FIAAP Conference 2008, visit: http://www.feedconferences.com/

For more information on either conference, please contact editor@aquafeed.com