Ridley Aqua-Feed has recently employed Dr. Matt Briggs as their project Manager for the commercialization of NovacqTM. Matt Briggs has 30 years aquaculture experience and a PhD in shrimp culture from the Institute of Aquaculture, Scotland, and has worked worldwide in research, development, training and managing shrimp breeding, larval rearing and grow-out projects for international NGOs (including FAO & NACA) and private companies.
He takes over the project to start scaling up production trials of NovacqTM leading to full scale production and commercialisation of NovacqTM. Over the last 10 years scientists at CSIRO have developed NovacqTM as an additive that provides a critical bioactive molecule which improves both the growth and health of crustaceans. It also allows flexibility of formulations to meet customer demands by maximizing growth or by progressively or even fully replacing marine raw materials and still maintaining or usually improving performance. NovacqTM is a natural food source based on the natural marine microbial processes that occur in prawn farm ponds and natural estuaries, which have a profound impact on prawn nutrition and health.
Commercial farm trials conducted by Ridley and CSIRO have demonstrated the commercial viability of the product, but now the hard work really begins.
“As well as joint trials with CSIRO, we have run both lab and field-based trials independently of CSIRO with both P. monodon and P vannamei and clearly this is a game changer”, said Dr Richard Smullen at Ridley Aqua-Feed. Ridley ran challenge trials using both WSSV and vibrios and CSIRO ran challenges using GAV and in all cases, there was an improvement in survival of shrimp fed with NovacqTM during the challenge. Scaling up the up the production of NovacqTM and its incorporation into feed on a commercial scale will be a large and complex task.
Matt Briggs will now commence the project to determine the most cost effective means of manufacture, harvesting and incorporation of NovacqTM into feed and then conduct further commercial trials both in Australia and throughout South East Asia.
