Nexus · Nexus we report on some very sig-ni cant achievements in increasing ... presentation on the Sustainable Economic Aquafeeds (SEA) program, while other members of the local

Nexus Skretting

no.12 - Autumn-Winter 2012

Skretting strengthens sustainability activities

Local R&D update

Latest Residue Report out now

Skretting contributes to net marine protein productivity in salmonids

Email: [email protected]

Every day we are reminded of the limited resources available to us and the delicate balance we need to maintain to growing our industry and to managing our environment in a sustainable way. In this edition of Nexus we report on some very sig-nificant achievements in increasing the sustainability of Skretting feed and of the underpinning programs

that we have in place to guide our daily activities. The result being achieved through our Mircobalance TM products is re-ally pleasing. Not only does it deliver an improved sustainability position for the industry but it will also be a means of buffering the impact of ris-ing raw material prices. Good news

indeed! In this issue we also report on the re-sults of the ProtecTM trials. This work might have opened up new ways of controlling AGD and that is a truly ex-citing prospect. Enjoy the Nexus. ■

Each year Skretting Australia undertakes a residue monitoring program as part of its commitment to the global Skretting Nutrace® food safety system.

All tests carried out under this program are undertaken by selected leading international laboratories ensuring that we not only use best practice test methods but can also have great confidence in the results.

Through this program we monitor potential residues, use the results to guide our purchasing and product formulations and keep our customers informed of trends and issues.

Skretting Australia’s latest Residue Monitoring Report summarises the level of undesirable substances in Skretting Australia feeds from 2007 to 2011. Results from monitoring in 2011 indicate that Skretting Austra-lia feeds have again met all Australian and European requirements and that the levels of undesirable sub-stances found in feeds are substantially less than the limits set by authorities.

The report also outlines Skretting Australia’s sustainable ingredient assessment criteria, as stipulated by our Nu-trace® program.

For a copy of the report, please contact Trine Karlsrud ([email protected]). ■

Latest Residue Report Out Now

Nexus

Nexus is published by Skretting and is distributed free to all our custom-ers involved in the Australian and New Zealand Fish Farming Industry.

© All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced with-out the prior written permission of the publishers.

This publication is not intended to re-move the need to take advice when dealing with specific situations and readers should contact the editor be-fore taking any action in reliance on the articles in Nexus.

Contact Information:26 Maxwells Road Cambridge Tasmania Australia 7170

PO Box 117 Rosny Park Tasmania Australia 7018Telephone: +61 3 6216 1201

Cover image:Taken from Skretting’s

“Sustainable Feed Solutions” booklet

About this issueJames Rose Managing Director - Skretting Australia

2 • Skretting Nexus Autumn-Winter 2012

International colleagues Dr Alex Obach and Viggo Halseth enjoy a game of AFL with Skretting Australia Marketing Manager Rhys Hauler

The biannual Australasian Aquaculture Conference was held in Melbourne in May. Skretting Australia has long been a sponsor of this major event on the aqua-culture calendar, and similar to previous years, Skretting were the naming rights sponsor in 2012. More than 400 delegates from all parts of the world participated in the three day conference. Skretting Australia had a very strong presence during the conference. Our stand, highlighting our commit-ment to “Delivering sustainable feed solutions for aqua-culture”, was a focal point of the trade show and at-tracted many of our local and international customers. Skretting Australia was fortunate to have our interna-tional colleagues Dr Alex Obach and Viggo Halseth join the conference. Alex provided the plenary address on

the opening morning of the conference, highlighting the future direction of Aquaculture research and devel-opment over the next ten years. Viggo later provided a presentation on the Sustainable Economic Aquafeeds (SEA) program, while other members of the local Skret-ting Australia team provided presentations on various aspects of our business. At the conclusion of the week, we invited 40 custom-ers to a dinner event followed by an evening at Etihad Stadium to watch the Collingwood Magpies take on the Western Bulldogs in a game of Australian rules football. The conference will be next held in Adelaide in 2014 and will be hosted by the World Aquaculture Society. ■

Skretting Australasian Aquaculture Conference 2012

The Skretting Australia Stand at Australasian Aquaculture 2012

Aquaculture Conference Update

Skretting Nexus Autumn-Winter 2012 • 3

Skretting and its parent company Nutreco have long-established records of attention to sustainability. Nu-treco began reporting on sustainability in 2000 and in 2008 Skretting brought together its sustainability activi-ties in the aquaculture-specific SEA programme. Stand-ing for Sustainable Economic Aquafeeds, the SEA pro-gramme focuses on Skretting’s objective of increasing the sustainability of its products, with attention to long-term environmental considerations while also helping farmers run profitable businesses. In April 2012, in addi-tion to its ‘Sustainability Report 2012’, Nutreco published a ‘Sustainability Vision 2020’. This highlights the sustain-ability issues related to the animal and fish feed indus-tries and how companies such as Skretting will address these issues over the coming eight years. At the same time, Skretting updated the SEA programme and this is described in the new SEA brochure: ‘Delivering Sus-tainable Feed Solutions for Aquaculture’.

Introducing the 2012 SEA programme, Viggo Halseth, Chief Operating Officer of Skretting Group, said, “Many fish farming companies greatly appreciate the pro-gramme and use it as an information tool within their own organisation and towards external customers. Since its introduction in 2008, the issues have evolved as have the industry and Skretting initiatives to manage them. We have updated our SEA programme in line with these developments.” The booklet also provides facts and figures that show aquaculture is relatively ad-vanced in its approach to environmental issues and is an efficient form of protein food production.

REFLECTING CURRENT CONCERNS

The updated SEA programme is constructed around the themes identified by Nutreco in preparing the ‘Sus-tainability Vision 2020’. In developing the vision there was a focus on the global challenge of doubling food production while halving the footprint, to feed in a sus-tainable manner the nine billion people predicted to be on the planet in 2050. Issues identified were grouped in four themes: Ingredients, Nutritional solutions, Opera-tions and Commitment. Each theme divides into sub-topics. For example, Ingredients includes ‘Sustainable sourcing’ and ‘Flexible formulations’.

SUSTAINABLE SOURCING

In March 2011 a sustainable procurement strategy was developed by the global Skretting purchasing team. A core objective of the policy is to move Skretting towards

purchasing only demonstrably sustainable raw materi-als for its feeds. That requires widely accepted defini-tions of sustainable raw materials and they are difficult to find. Priorities vary between regions and raw materi-als; it is not adequate to rely solely on national legisla-tion. Chieko Sasaki, Purchasing Manager of Skretting Australia explains, “The Sustainable Procurement Strat-egy includes a general Vendor Policy requiring suppli-ers to comply, for example, with good labour practices and environmental regulations. Additional specific poli-cies relate to three major raw materials categories of strategic importance to Skretting and Nutreco. These are soya products, palm oil and marine products, spe-cifically fishmeal and fish oil. The marine materials policy requires suppliers to confirm their prod-ucts do not come from illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing, and do not include any endangered species. The procurement strat-egy was introduced to vendors in 2011 and the purchasing team is now steering the sup-plier base towards full compliance.”

The following are man-datory criteria when de-livering marine products to Skretting:

• The supplier must docu-ment the species used in the production of fish-meal and fish oil delivered to Skretting and content of by-product meal (meal from trimmings) if included in the product that is supplied.

• The fishery and the production of fishmeal and oil must be in compliance with the laws and regula-tions of the country of production or regional laws related to fisheries. The catch processed must not originate from any fisheries that are illegal, unregu-lated or unreported.

• No species that are caught, landed and processed by the supplier can be classified as Critically Endan-gered or Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

Skretting is encouraging suppliers of marine products

Skretting strengthens sustainability activities

Nutreco’s Vision for 2020 at a glance


to become certified under an accredited scheme. “We will work with identified fisheries and producers to ac-tively encourage these companies to start the process of Responsible Supply (RS) of the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO) or Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accreditation of the fisheries that they use,” adds Chieko. Over time Skretting will encourage the aquaculture industry to adopt the fishery manage-ment principles used by the IFFO RS scheme (in accor-dance with FAO code of conduct of responsible fisher-ies) as the industry’s minimum requirement.

FLEXIBLE FORMULATIONS

Over the past seven years Skret-ting has significantly reduced

its reliance on marine ingredi-ents. These developments

were made possible by the work of the Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre in Stavanger, Norway. The most re-cent and dramatic ad-vance came with the MicroBalance™ con-cept, which greatly in-creased the flexibility available when formu-

lating feeds while retain-ing a consistent nutritional

value in the end product. Coupled with the Sustain-

able Procurement Strategy, these technical advances will contribute significantly to a sustainable growth in aqua-

culture. For example, when fishmeal and fish oil prices are high, their inclusion in diets for barramundi, trout, salmon and other species can be reduced and re-placed with alternative, more sustainable and less ex-pensive alternatives.

NUTRITIONAL SOLUTIONS

Improving the performance of feeds and farms is an-other aspect of the SEA programme. Over the years Skretting introduced several innovations to improve the feed conversion ratios, for example extrusion and vacuum fat coating. “A significant part of Skretting’s R&D portfolio is and will be aimed at improving nutri-

tional efficiency. Simultaneously we will continue our ef-forts to enable farmers to significantly reduce the emis-sions of phosphates, nitrogen, trace minerals by the fish farmed,” adds James Rose, Managing Director of Skretting Australia. “In the past decade we developed farm models to support farm efficiency. Now we have begun using our models also to be the basis of sustain-ability indicators such as nitrogen retention.”

Feeds that support fish health, for example the Protec™ feeds, make a further contribution to improved produc-tivity and sustainability.

SKRETTING OPERATIONS

Skretting is assessing the impact of its own operations on the environment, including climate effects. Armed with that knowledge it will strive to mitigate negative im-pacts, either by reduction or an equivalent positive ac-tion.

In 2010 Skretting’s parent company Nutreco commit-ted to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations by 50% from the 2009 level by 2015. Because it is energy dense, producing fish feed uses more energy than mak-ing compound feed for land farming or the premixes used in feeds. Incidentally, as fish feed is energy dense it gives better feed conversions than normal compound feed. Fish feed represented 17% by volume of Nutreco production in 2011 but accounted for 46% of the total energy. Improving energy efficiency in Skretting pro-duction will therefore make a significant contribution to reaching the Nutreco target. Skretting formed a team from nine countries to organise projects and share best practices in energy efficiency. As a result, all Skretting companies are implementing plans to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprints that result from manufacturing.

COMMITMENT

Raising sustainability in the aquaculture value chains requires commitment and participation by many stake-holders, as well as Skretting. To facilitate progress Skretting is engaged in a number of organisations and processes linked with the development of sustainable aquaculture solutions.

Nutreco and Skretting are active in international initia-tives aiming to set verifiable standards for sustainable farming and aquaculture activities, including the pro-

Sustainability

Nutreco’s Vision for 2020 at a glance

continued page 6


Skretting’s “Sustainable Feed Solutions” booklet (top) and Nutreco’s “Feeding the Future” booklet (above). For copies please contact Lauren Sproule ([email protected]).

duction and use of feed raw materials. For example in June 2011 Knut Nesse, Nutreco CEO, became a mem-ber of the Supervisory Board of the Aquaculture Stew-ardship Council (ASC). An independent not-for-profit organisation founded in 2009, the ASC manages the global standards for responsible aquaculture devel-oped by the Aquaculture Dialogues, a programme of round tables initiated and coordinated by WWF.

Skretting and parent company Nutreco organise the major international aquaculture business conference, AquaVision, every two years. Organising AquaVision since 1996 has enabled Nutreco and Skretting to play an initiating and constructive role in developing aqua-culture towards being a responsible industry. Identify-ing the issues confronting the industry is an important aspect of organising the conferences; sustainability has been a consistent theme throughout.

Following AquaVision 2010, in 2011 Nutreco published a booklet entitled ‘Feeding the Future’. The booklet fo-cuses on how aquaculture can contribute to an ex-panding and sustainable food supply. It identifies the challenges facing aquaculture and potential solutions for it to expand and bridge the widening gap between the relatively stable yield from the wild catch and the growing demand for fish. This is now complemented by ‘Sustainability Vision 2020’ and the updated SEA pro-gramme. ■

from page 5


”“continued page 8

This trial was conducted between April-July 2012 at the University of Tasmania’s Aquaculture facility in Laun-ceston. The study investigated the use of some experi-mental diets to mitigate mortality caused by Neopar-amoeba perurans, the causative agent of amoebic gill disease (AGD) which has devastating effects on the Tasmanian Atlantic salmon industry, and more broadly in other parts of the world also.

Atlantic salmon smolt (150g) were randomly stocked into one of twelve 300L tanks with full strength seawa-ter at 16°C for a 5 week acclimation period. This was fol-lowed by a 4 week period during which quadruplicate tanks of salmon were fed one of 3 diets; a control diet or two test diets. The two test diets had varying com-binations of functional ingredients known to be immu-nostimulating and immunosupporting. Following the 4 week period, all tanks of salmon were challenged with Neoparamoeba perurans at 500cells/L. All 3 diets were continued to be fed to their assigned tanks of salmon during the challenge. Mortality was monitored daily up

to 31 days post-challenge.

At the conclusion of the challenge trial, those tanks of salmon fed the experimental diets had significantly im-proved (P < 0.01) survival compared to those fed the control diet (Figure 1). In fact the relative percentage survival (RPS) was 27% better on the experimental di-ets.

This study is the first anywhere that demonstrates diet manipulation can actively play a role in reducing mor-tality caused by AGD. As AGD is becoming an increas-ingly problematic pathogen in many parts of the salm-on farming world, and continues to represent a major economic impediment on the Tasmanian industry, this spectacular result has caused considerable excite-ment amongst researchers and industry stakeholders alike.

The effect of an immunostimulating and immunosupporting diet on the response of Atlantic salmon to amoebic gill disease (AGD) in an experimental challenge trial

Skretting Australia has a number of trials recently completed or underway investigating dietary effects on fish health and overall performance. Below are some of the highlights of these trials.

Nicole Ruff Product Manager - Skretting Australia

Local R&D Update

Figure 1. Survival of Atlantic salmon fed a control or experimental diets and challenged with Neoparamoeba perurans, the causative agent of amoebic gill disease (AGD). Different letters denote a significant difference among diets (p<0.01). *Relative percentage survival (RPS) is calculated by the formula RPS = (1 – (% mortality/ % control mortality)) x 100, (Amend, 1981).

relative percentage

survival (RPS) was 27% better on

the experimental diets

Days post-challenge

Control mortality = 67.1% a

b RPS = 27.1%b RPS = 26.8%

% S

urv

iva

l

ControlTest 1Test 2

0

25

50

75

100

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31

Local R&D Update


”“Protec™, Skretting’s immunosupporting diet, has been proven to reduce stress in species such as sea bream and sole. This has been demonstrated in stress tests and subsequent measurement of secondary stress response parameters such as blood lactate and glucose. In order to determine if a similar re-sponse could be found in hatchery reared Atlantic salmon, a study was undertaken in June of this year.

Tanks of triploid Atlantic salmon were fed either a control diet or Protec™ for a period of 7 weeks, at which time a group of randomly selected fish were removed from each of the two treat-ments. Blood was sampled from some fish to determine baseline levels of lactate and glucose, while the remaining salmon were subject to a stressor (exhaustive exercise) for 10 minutes and then left to recover for 1 hr. Blood was removed from these stressed individuals also for

the measurement of lactate and glucose.Not surprisingly, both lactate and glucose were elevat-ed in the stressed groups compared with the baseline data (Figures 1 and 2). More importantly, those salmon

fed the Protec™ diet were found to have a signifi-cantly reduced secondary stress response. Af-

ter the stressor, Protec™ fed salmon had lac-tate concentrations 13% lower than those

salmon fed a control diet, while glucose concentrations after the stress event were 10% lower in the Protec-fed salmon compared to the control group.

This trial supported the results already observed in other species, in that Protec

can help support the fish’s ability to handle stressful events. From a practical point of

view, leading up to periods of known stress (e.g. handling, grading, vaccination), Protec™ can be

used as a strategy to help recover from these events. ■

Figures 1 and 2. Blood lactate and glucose levels of fish fed prior and 1 hour post stress. Fish were fed either Protec™ or a control diet. Different letters denote a significant difference among diets (p<0.01).

2

6

10

14

18

Baseline 1hour post stress2.00

3.75

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9.00

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Lactate

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ol L

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Sample Point

ControlProtec™

a

b

Glucose

Sample Point

mm

ol L

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ControlProtec™

ab

The effect of Protec™ on the stress response in Atlantic salmon

salmon fed the Protec™

diet were found to have a significantly

reduced secondary stress response

Right: Skretting Australia’s Matt Bransden utilises handheld glucose and lactate meters

Local R&D Update


EU Marie Curie project Omega3Max officially starts

A major kick-off meeting was held in Madrid in January which ARC researchers Ingunn Stub-haug and Alex Obach attended. The aim of this major, four-year project is optimize dietary fatty acid composition and antioxidant sources and concentration to limit in vivo lipid peroxidation in fish tissues, thereby helping to preserve EPA and DHA. This includes optimization in different water temperatures. The University of Madrid is programme manager while ARC is a consor-tium partner. ■

Oxygen levels below 5 mg/l are generally con-sidered as suboptimal for Atlantic salmon and will reduce growth by disturbing metabolic path-ways and reallocation of energy resources. These changes were monitored by measuring blood gas parameters by a “point of care” instru-ment. Point of care (POC) instruments have the advantage that sensitive blood parameters (e.g. partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide) can be measured in blood.

POC analysers are used for routine measure-ments in hospitals, but the ARC has had recent success in their use in aquaculture trials. Skret-ting Australia has also purchased a POC instru-ment (right) recently with the equipment already used in our study on AGD. Further applications of the POC analyser will be to use it to help identify feed formulations that improve performance un-der low oxygen conditions.

Measuring sensitive blood gas parameters by “Point of care” analysis

ARC Update


“Skretting invests heavily in sustainable business practices. Our vision for 2020 is to have reduced our environmental footprint while contributing to feeding a growing world population in a sustainable way.

For several decades our focus on aquaculture diets has been on reducing the concentration of marine proteins and oils. There are both economic and en-vironmental reasons for this. While these raw materi-als are a rich nutritional source, the capture fisheries where these raw materials are derived are of a finite resource. While the marine raw material market is volatile, the overall trend is for prices to increase (Fig-ure 1).

Figure 1. Historical trends in fish meal and fish oil prices ($USD/tonne).

‘Efficiency’ in which marine proteins and oils are utilised in fish can be expressed in numerous ways. Commonly it is either calculated as ‘FIFO’ (‘Fish-In / Fish-Out), or whether there is a net consumption or production of marine protein and oil.

DEVELOPING MARINE SUBSTITUTES

Subsequently with the pressure of reduced availabil-ity of fish proteins and oils, and ensuing price hikes, researchers raced to find suitable and sustainable raw material substitutes. While substitution of fish oil was relatively straight forward, it became clear that fish meal substitution was more complex. As a result, salmon aquaculture remained a net protein con-sumer; that is, more marine protein was being fed to salmon than was actually being produced.

Research by Skretting discovered that fishmeal pro-vides several essential micro-nutrients that are, or were, the limiting factor in reducing fishmeal contents

of feeds. We went on to identify alternative sources for these micro-nutrients and defined parameters for their use in feed. Subsequently fish meal could be fur-ther reduced in diets for aquaculture species without detrimentally affecting fish growth, health or quality. This knowledge provided the basis for the MicroBal-ance concept.

LOCAL MICROBALANCE TRIALS

Nicole Ruff, Product Manager for Skretting Austra-lia, explained that the next step was to demonstrate the merits of MicroBalance in our local markets. “The research undertaken by the Skretting Aquaculture Re-search Centre (ARC) in Norway was robust and compelling, but we wanted to give local farmers confidence in how far we have come in re-gards to understanding fish meal replacement. Subse-quently we established two large-scale, replicated com-mercial trials with our indus-try partners at Tassal and New Zealand King Salmon.”

A large scale commercial trial was firstly undertaken at Tassal’s Dover lease in southern Tas-mania in 2010. A control diet with 22% fish meal (at that time the industry standard) was benchmarked against a diet containing 15% fish meal. After several weeks there were no differences in growth perfor-mance, so a subsequent step was made to further reduce the diet to 8% fish meal. At the conclusion of the trial, it was demonstrated that 8% fish meal di-ets can be used without compromising fish growth, health or quality. The result meant that for every 1kg of marine fish protein used, 1.32kg of marine protein from salmon was generated. This was a significant improvement over historical trends (Figure 2).

Linda Sams, Chief Sustainability Officer at Tassal, went on to say “Fishmeal is a limited resource and a key sustainability focus for Tassal and the Optiline diet [with MicroBalance principles applied] means we can reduce fishmeal content without affecting the performance of our fish. This in turn supports Tassal’s objective of meeting world best practice with regard to marine resource use.”

Skretting contributes to net marine protein productivity in salmonids

Eight percent fish

meal diets can be used without

compromising fish growth, health or

quality

Fish meal (Prime, USD)

Fish oil (USD)

2500

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Week 5 2012

Week 7 2011

Week 9 2010

Week 11 2009

Week 1 2008

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US

D/T

on

ne

”At New Zealand King Salmon, a similar experi-

ment was conducted in the experimental sea cage facility at the company’s Ruakaka Sea-farm in the Marlborough Sounds. A diet con-taining the then industry standard 30% fish meal was compared to a diet containing 8% fish meal. Over the 3 month duration of the trial

which began in October 2011, there were no sig-nificant differences in fish performance or health.

The overall improvement in net marine protein productivity was as striking as the Tassal result, with 1.30kg of marine protein being produced for every 1kg of marine protein consumed, a 70% improve-ment on the diets used prior to the development of MicroBalance (Figure 3).

KEEPING COSTS DOWN

Mark Preece is the General Manager of Aquaculture at New Zealand King Salmon, and commented on the achievements of using MicroBalance formulat-ed diets on their farms: “We wanted the trial to show whether we could use Skretting diets formulated with the MicroBalance concept to have lower fish-meal levels in order to manage diet cost in the face of rising marine protein prices. Also, we are always keen to enhance the sustainability of our farming op-erations — which is important to us as responsible fish farmers as it is increasingly to our cus-tomers. These results in our own stocks, and similar results from other facilities, have given us the confidence to move to lower fishmeal in all our production diets. We are now using fishmeal levels

that enable us to produce 1.3 kilograms of fish pro-tein for every kilogram of fish protein we use in our diets — making us net producers of fish protein by a substantial amount — and at a significant cost saving compared with high-fishmeal diets when fishmeal prices are high.”

The low fish meal diets that are made possible due to the MicroBalance concept, are now commer-cially used in the Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and chinook salmon industries in Australia and New Zea-land. Further, trials are currently underway in other species farmed in the Australasian region such as barramundi and other marine species. ■

New Zealand King Salmon Report (August 2011)

http://www.epa.govt.nz/Publica-tions/Appendix%202%20NZ%20

King%20Salmon%20Report.pdf

Fish Farming International, October 2011. Feed Update on fish meal trials at NZKS

(www.intrafish.com)

Fish Farming International, December 2010. Feed Update on fish meal trials at Tassal

(www.intrafish.com)

Tassal 2011 Sustainability Report (www.tassal.com.au)

Aquaculture Asia Pacific (http://www.aquaasiapac.com/ )

References and fu

rther in

formatio

n

Figure 2. Historical and current trends in the net marine (fish) protein production in diets fed to Tassal’s Atlantic salmon.

Figure 3. Historical and current trends in the net marine (fish) protein production in diets fed to New Zealand King Salmon’s chinook salmon.

Marine Protein Replacement

0

0.4

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ou

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in)

Early extruded

diets

Pressed pellets

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rote

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tion

(kg

ou

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r kg

in)

Early extruded

diets

Pressed pellets

Eight percent fish

meal diets can be used without

compromising fish growth, health or

quality


During May, the International Abalo-ne Symposium was held in Hobart. Skretting was the Gold Sponsor of this conference. This biannual event attracts several hundred delegates from all major abalone production countries, and includes representa-tives from both the wild and farmed sectors.

Global abalone aquaculture pro-duction around the world totals more than 200,000 tonnes. Aus-tralian production represents only a small fraction of this production, with around 1,000 tonnes. Conversely, Australia contributes almost half the catch to the world’s wild abalone volume.

During the symposium, more

than 20 abalone farmers from as wide as Chile and South Africa, as well as local producers from Austra-lia, visited the Skretting Australia fac-tory for a tour of our facilities.

Skretting produces our abalone diet, Halo, in our sister production fa-cility of Mozzecane at Skretting Italy. During 2012 it is planned that Halo will be made locally at the Skretting Australia plant.

While abalone production contin-ues to grow particularly in the Asian region, farmers primarily use mac-

roalgae as the primary food source. Formulated feeds are only generally used in Australian and South African farms, however, there is growing in-terest and demand for formulated feeds as generally speaking im-proved performance (growth and efficiency) can be achieved com-pared with macroalgae.

The farmers were given a number of presentations on our business activities, followed by a tour of the mill.■

Eighth International Abalone Symposium, May 2012

Snippets

“I do not ask you to change direction, but I ask you to accelerate progress”

This year’s fully subscribed AquaVision conference in Stavanger, Norway, was described as the “best ever”. With presentations from key experts from around the world, a key highlight of course was an address to par-ticipants by former Secretary General of the United Na-tions, Kofi Annan. This alone is a mark of the rising rec-ognition of aquaculture as part of the solution to feeding the planet in the coming decades.

Kofi Annan congratulated the industry for its focus on improving sustainability, with initiatives such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, then asked for more attention to the potential long-term impacts of climate change to increase productivity in conditions to come, in the developing countries as well as the developed world. Reviewing the industry’s current approach to improving productivity and sustainability he comment-ed, “I do not ask you to change direction, but I ask you to accelerate progress. We need to work together if we are to overcome world hunger”.

Skretting Australia had a strong presence at the con-ference, and were accompanied by various custom-

ers and other stakeholders from Australia and New Zealand. Stephen Scott, Commercial Manager, de-scribed the event as inspirational. “AquaVision is about providing intellectual stimulation for our customers who attend. Importantly, it also provides a wonderful oppor-tunity for them to network amongst their global peers.”■


Documents

Nexus · Nexus we report on some very sig-ni cant achievements in increasing ... presentation on the Sustainable Economic Aquafeeds (SEA) program, while other members of the local