Monday, February 01, 2016

Process Control in Aquafeed Production

Olafur H Jonsson, Managing Director, Tovalia sarl, France

In the growing industry of aquaculture, the demand for fish feed is on the rise.  Efficient use of the raw material as well as optimum use of energy resources becomes more and more important and this means that the need for accurate and instant information from the production process becomes vital.  However, not only is the information useful, but also it is important to know what to do with it.
Process information includes moisture content of the raw material as well as the finished feed.  Also the density of the feed pellets is a vital parameter.   Pellet density is particularly important in fish feed production as it determines how fast the pellet should sink.  Another process parameter which is important is the oil content after coating.
The presentation focuses on the measurement of various parameters and how they can be used to improve the production process in order to increase profitability and reduce wasted energy.

Olafur H Jonsson has a degree in mechanical engineering, with a Masters degree in aquaculture engineering from Scotland.  After graduation Mr. Jonsson spent his professional carrier with companies in Scotland, Iceland and France developing innovative products for the feed and food industry.  He obtained a worldwide patent for a sensor, which instantly measures moisture content of materials such as meal or feed pellets.  Sensors based on this patent have been in use for the last 10 years in the animal feed industry.  Mr. Jonsson received the prestigious Aquafeed Innovation award from Aquafeed.com at the Victam Exhibition in Germany in June 2015.

Functional Feeds – Bad Bug Busters to Reduce the Impact From Disease in Farmed Fish and Shrimp

Dr. Peter Coutteau, Business Unit Manager – Aquaculture, Nutriad International NV, Belgium

Bacterial and viral infections continue to cause disastrous collapses of the aquaculture industry. Import regulations, consumer demands and sustainable management strategies restrict the number of drugs available to treat pathogens. Vaccines are in many fish species still limited and even ineffective in crustaceans, which lack a specific immune system similar to that of vertebrates. Therefore, aquaculture producers must consider genetics, seed stock quality, husbandry procedures and healthy nutrition as key tools to control disease. This talk reports on recent progress in the development of functional feed additives capable of keeping the bad bugs under control in shrimp and fish farming using multiple mode of actions.
Functional feeds containing gut health promotors allow the delivery of an adequate concentration of natural antimicrobial/anti-parasitic activities into the digestive system of fish and shrimp with every meal . These feeds are an important component of any strategy to prevent opportunistic bacterial diseases such as Vibriosis. However, the success of this approach will depend on the efficacy of the selected gut health promotor against the pathogenic bacteria involved. Synergistic blends of natural compounds can be selected on their bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties against a specific range of pathogenic bacteria in vitro. Recent research shows that apart from direct bactericide or bacteriostatic effects, selected combinations of antimicrobial compounds are at the basis of more complex mechanisms to steer microbiota composition, ie Quorum Sensing (QS) disruption

Peter Coutteau obtained a Ph.D. in Biological  Sciences in 1992 at the Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center, University of Gent, on the filter feeding biology of Artemia and bivalves. He continued his research at postdoc level on lipid nutrition of bivalves, fish and shrimp, publishing over 40 refereed  papers in scientific   journals. In 1997 he joined INVE Technologies NV, as head of R&D in the aquaculture division. In 1999, he took up R&D for a new range of premixes and feed additives for grow-out feeds for fish and shrimp. From 2002-2008, he was product  manager farm nutrition for INVE’s Business Unit  Aquaculture, responsible for global product development and customer  service for feed concentrates and   additives for fish/shrimp feedmilling and farming. From 2006-2010, he was the  general manager of the research company Caditec Testing SL (Cadiz, Spain). Since 2009, Dr. Coutteau has been  Manager of Nutriad’s Business Unit  Aquaculture,  directing the product development,  customer service and implementation of sales objectives for a specialized portfolio of aquaculture additives.