The 2018 Economic report of EU Aquaculture Sector provides an overview of the aquaculture sector at national and EU levels for the years 2008 to 2016. EU aquaculture industry has recovered from the recent downturn.

There is a 65% chance that El Niño will form and continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring 2019, however, significant global impacts are not anticipated during the remainder of winter, even if conditions were to form.

The Aquarium of the Pacific has released a report on a forum it convened titled: Aligning Stakeholder Communications for U.S. Marine Aquaculture at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The forum’s goal was to expand responsible marine aquaculture in the U.S. by facilitating the communication of accurate information to consumers, regulators, policymakers, and the public. The forum concluded that the long-term sustainable solution to creating a safe, secure, and sustainable global food system to feed a growing population is developing an integrated program of responsible land-based agriculture and ocean-based aquaculture.

The FAO Trade and Markets Division has released the October 2018 issue of the Monthly News Report on Grains. This month's report covers the plunge in China grain imports in September amid trade war with the US, and Russia's high dependence on grain in formulations means ongoing volatility in feed prices.

EUMOFA recently published the report “Blue bioeconomy; Situation report and perspectives.” The aim of the report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the blue bioeconomy sector in the European Union. The report found that more than 50% of any finfish product does not directly enter the human food chain, and animal feeds are among the main uses of waste products from fish. Furthermore, the demand for fishmeal and fish oil is expected to increase, due to the expected growth in aquaculture.

A new report released by the Rainforest Foundation Norway links Brazilian soybean suppliers to deforestation, slave labor and a host of other serious issues. The report focuses on the soy production chain of the companies Caramuru, Selecta and Imcopa, which supply soy that is used to provide fish feed for Norway’s salmon industry. “This study reveals instances where soy suppliers of these three companies have been found to practice illegal deforestation and use slave labor. It also presents evidence of land conflicts, irregularities in pesticide use and the advance of soy cultivation over indigenous lands. All these problems are directly or indirectly related to the soy business network that links Brazil to the Norwegian market.”

Feed and residual use for the four feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) and wheat, on a September-August marketing year basis, for 2018/19 is projected at 151.5 million metric tons, 2.2 million above last month’s projection. Global coarse grain production in 2018/19 is projected down 3.8 million tons this month to 1,343.4 million.

Researchers at Nutriad have written an article on how adding lyso-phospholipids and bile salts to aquaculture feeds can improve the absorption efficiency of major nutrients, particularly lipids, by fish. The article describes different digestibility enhancers and illustrates the potential of their application in aquafeed to reduce cost while optimizing digestive potential and growth performance.

The American Feed Industry Association has published its biannual print and online magazine, AFIA Journal, to keep members, association friends and affiliates of AFIA up-to-date on organization, industry and government information.

FAO has released its latest official world fishery and aquaculture statistics report, the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2018. According to the report, aquaculture is responsible for the continuing impressive growth in the supply of fish for human consumption. With 5.8 percent annual growth rate during the period 2001–2016, aquaculture continues to grow faster than other major food production sectors.

EUFOMA has updated their Country Profiles. EUMOFA Country Profiles offer a detailed snapshot of the fisheries and aquaculture supply chain of each EU country, providing data and information on the following: position of the country in the world & in the EU; fishing fleet and gear composition; producer organizations; landings; aquaculture; first sales; wholesale; processing, trade; supply chain structure; supply balance; and consumption. 

Feed and residual use for the four feed grains and wheat for 2018/19 is projected at 143.4 million metric tons, 0.2 million tons below last month’s projection. U.S. feed grain supplies are projected 2 million metric tons lower at 428.8 million due to reduced corn beginning stocks resulting from higher exports and slightly lower imports in the 2017/18 balance sheet.

U.S. feed grain supplies are projected 18 million metric tons lower at 430.8 million tons, mostly due to a production decline. Feed and residual use for the four feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) and wheat for 2018/19 projected at 143.6 million metric tons, 2.7 million below 2017/18. Declines were seen for corn and oats, while wheat feeding is projected to increase.

U.S. Feed Additives and Feed Pre-mixed with Additives Approved for Imports to China and Feed Raw Materials, Pet Food and Compound Feed Approved for Imports to China by Countries and Regions (Updated to March 1, 2018)

FAO’s Global Aquaculture Production Quantity and Value Statistics have been published online with the time series updated to cover 67 years from 1950 to 2016 (value data from 1984 to 2016). There are statistical details significantly improved retroactively for some back years for some countries, including a few global and regional major producing countries. The organization has also released a pen drive of all its publications.

‘Innovation and The Ripple Effect’ by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) is published today – a progress report for 2014-2017

Projected U.S. 2017/18 feed and residual use for the four feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) and wheat is projected at 148.9 million metric tons this month, 2.5 million lower than last month’s 151.4 million. World coarse grain production for 2017/18 is reduced 2.3 million tons this month to 1,321.9 million.

According to the recently released U.S. Animal Food Consumption Report, a total of approximately 708,000 tons of aquaculture feed was fed to 493.9 million catfish, 1.4 billion shrimp, 186.9 million trout, 44.5 million tilapia, 7.4 million hybrid striped bass and 25.9 yellow perch in 2016. More than 27 percent of this amount came from soybean meal.

An oral vaccine delivered via fish feed that protects European sea bass as tiny as 1 gram from Viral Nervous Necrosis (VNN) could be ready for market in the next 12 to 18 months if everything goes according to plan for VakSea. The vaccine is grown in cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) larvae, which are then ground up and manufactured with other aquafeed ingredients into pellet form. It is then administered to fish during their normal feeding regimens.

One of the systems needed in nearly every feed mill is compressed air to operate equipment in the plant. The proper design and installation of a compressed air system often isn’t thought about. This article discusses compressed air uses and the components of a properly designed compressed air system.