Given the persistent warmth in the tropical Pacific Ocean, models continue to suggest an El Niño remains possible during the last quarter of 2014.

A coalition of consumer and advocacy organizations including Food & Water Watch (FWW), the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumers League and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union called on the Office of Management and Budget to create an inspection program for domestic and imported catfish. The 2008 Farm Bill mandated the creation of such a program, to be administered by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which was supposed to be implemented by December 2009.

The Research Council of Norway has allocated NOK 13 million to the AquaFly project. The project will spend the next four years investigating the potential of using insects as safe and healthy ingredients of future fish feeds.

Mari Moren took up her post as Director of Research at the food research institute Nofima on October 1. She takes responsibility for Nutrition and Feed Technology, which is one of the research areas in Division Aquaculture.

Organizations commit to using their influence within aquaculture supply chains to promote the spread of good labor practices

New Aquaculture degree and postgraduate qualifications at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) will help support industry achieve its targets of $1 billion in sales by 2025, said NMIT Chief Executive Tony Gray.

The appointment of Dr Larry Marshall as the new Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) was announced by the Chairman of the CSIRO Board, Simon McKeon.

Aquaculture will provide two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030, FAO predicts, with a large contribution coming from Asia. Six countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the world’s largest consumer of fish products, have come together to draft a work plan on the sustainable intensification of aquaculture for ‘blue growth,

IMNV virus, which has been a major concern for shrimp farmers, now has an antidote. The solution CP Prima has come up with uses feed formulated with natural herbal extracts plus a pond supplement.

Tenders have been called to build the most technologically advanced and extensive large fish experimental aquaculture facility in the Southern Hemisphere. The $6 million Experimental Aquaculture Facility will be built by the University of Tasmania at its Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies’ (IMAS) Taroona campus and jointly-funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, the University of Tasmania, the State Government, the Seafood Cooperative Research Centre, Huon Aquaculture and Skretting.

A letter signed by 90 scientists – including a Nobel Prize winner – and biotechnology executives, was sent to President Obama this week regarding their concerns about a “damaged” FDA review/approval system for animal biotechnology applications.

The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program has expanded its coverage with the completion of new BAP hatchery and nursery standards for finfish, crustaceans and mollusks.

A report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) reveals that measures to support aquaculture in the period up to 2013 were not well designed and implemented at EU and Member State level, and that the European Fisheries Fund (EFF), as the funding instrument of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), failed to deliver value for money and effective support for the sustainable development of aquaculture.

Fish oil is an ideal source of omega-3 in salmon feed, but the capacity to produce farmed salmon using fish oil as the main source of omega-3 in feed is limited, if the farmed salmon itself is to remain a rich source of omega-3. This means that the salmon feed industry needs access to large volumes of new ingredients that contain omega-3. Experiments at Nofima have shown that a type of algae known as “heterotrophic algae” can fully replace fish oil in feed used for small salmon.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance is recognizing Vietnamese seafood champion Dr. Nguyen Huu Dzung with a Lifetime Achievement Award at its GOAL 2014 conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, next month.

Torben Svejgard, who has been Group CEO in BioMar since 2008, has resigned from his position in order to focus on a career as a full-time board member. The BioMar board has appointed VP Carlos Diaz as new Group CEO, and he will take over the seat from Torben Svejgard sometime towards the end of the year.

Nutreco has appointed Samson Li as the new Managing Director for its business unit Asia and member of Nutreco\'s Executive Committee with effect from 15 September 2014. Based in Hong Kong, Li, a Chinese national, will lead Nutreco\'s expansion in the Asian animal and aquafeed markets. He will report to Knut Nesse, CEO of Nutreco.

OriginOil’s algae harvesting process to be integrated into large-scale showcase of algae production for fish feed

At present, there is an insufficient number and range of medicines to prevent and treat diseases in animals in the EU. This is especially the case for animals considered as ‘minor species’ such as fish. The lack of suitable veterinary medicines results in poorer animal health and welfare, increased risks for human health, and economic and competitive disadvantages for EU farmers.The EU Commission has adopted proposals on veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed that will make more medicines available in the EU, to improve health and wellbeing, to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the EU and to foster innovation.

Most of the models continue to predict El Niño to develop during September-November and to continue into early 2015. A majority of models and the multi-model averages favor a weak El Niño. At this time, the consensus of forecasters expects El Niño to emerge during September-October and to peak at weak strength during the late fall and early winter. The chance of El Niño is at 60-65% during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter,