Thursday, Sept. 22, 3.21 p.m. CST
GSSI wants 30% of seafood to be certified by a recognized scheme by 2020
The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) is hoping to see 30 percent of seafood certified to a GSSI-recognized scheme by 2020, according to Herman Wisse project manager at the organization.
The GSSI is expecting many more schemes to sign up to be benchmarked in the coming years, and will undertake a formal review of its tool in 2018 in a bid to keep it updated and relevant, Wisse said.
In July this year, the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification Program became the first such scheme to be recognized by the GSSI.
Wisse warned though that being recognized was not an easy process, and certification schemes need to meet 140 different components to be recognized by GSSI.
“If you want to do it and want to do it right, it’s not easy, it’s quite a lengthy process,” he said, but worth it in the end.
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Thursday, Sept. 22, 1.06 p.m. CST
Algal blooms on the rise
Chile’s seafood industry needs to prepare itself because Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are not going away anytime soon, according to Adolfo Alvial regional director for Chile’s Corporación De Fomento De La Producción (Corfo).
While Algal Blooms are fairly commonplace in Chile, the harmful sort – Brown and Red tides – are likely to become more “consistent and intensive,” warned Alvial.
In 2016 there were two “unprecedented” harmful algal blooms in a matter of four months; one brown tide followed by a red tide.
In a matter of a few days the Brown tide was dispersed in Chiloe impacting 33 farms, killing 30 million fish (8% of the inventory) and equivalent to 40,000 metric tons. The total loss was estimated at $600 million.
“HABs will be an increased risk as the distribution of harmful species has covered a larger area of the region and climate change creates favorable oceanographic conditions for them,” he said.
Consequently he urged that monitoring, forecast and mitigation methods in the country are updated and co-ordinated to serve all sectors in a timely manner.
Additionally, Alvial said a marine environment center for aquaculture and fisheries is necessary for Chilean Patagonia. This center should study and monitor hydrodynamic conditions, HABs, carrying capacity and zoning in the aquaculture and fishing areas, he said.
“Co-ordination between agencies is fundamental and urgent to reach effectiveness in forecasting and mitigating HABs in the future,” said Alvial.
Meanwhile, insurance costs have obviously increased as a result of recent events so it is important the aquaculture industry establishes plans to monitor, forecast and mitigate HABs as soon as possible, he said.
“We have to show the insurance companies that we’re taking action.”
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Thursday, Sept. 22, 11.39 a.m. CST
IPAs taking off in China
Intensive Pond Aquaculture (IPA) systems are seeing strong growth in China, due to the number of advantages they offer.
Since three systems launched in the country in 2013, there are now close to 500 IPAs in China, with many more to come, according to Jim Zhang from the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
The systems are flexible - there is no fixed module in terms of the dimensions of the cells or the forms of the cells or ponds, and they vary from place to place and species to species.
“It is not a miracle that can solve all you problems, but a tool that gives you more options to solve problems and make production more controllable, more profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly,” said Zhang.
Additionally IPAs offer high yields, more than 300 percent higher than the average pond yield, which helps offset the increased costs of pond rent, feed, labor and energy, said Zhang.
IPA research started in the United States more than 10 years ago, but there was no extension. The US Soybean Export Council (USSEC) brought IPA to China in 2013 for tackling the bottlenecks and was immediately accepted by the industry.
By 2016 there are in total around 500 IPA cells in the entire country, mainly in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Shanghai areas. More than 10 different freshwater species are being cultured with IPA technology and IPA’s for saltwater species are in consideration, said Zhang.
“There is fast development for the coming 5 years and in more provinces,” he said.
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Thursday, Sept. 22, 10.41 a.m. CST
Bergen professor wins Global Aquaculture Innovation & Leadership Award
University of Bergen Professor Karin Pittman has accepted this year’s Global Aquaculture Innovation & Leadership Award for Quantidoc’s mucosal mapping technology.
Quantidoc is the commercialization of Pittman’s fish biology research, which uses stereology to measure and better understand mucous on gill, gut and skin tissues — the first line of defense for fish.
These tissues are crucial in the fight against aquatic diseases and parasites like sea lice, a major challenge for the salmon-farming industry.
There were eight nominees for the 2016 award, said GAA’s George Chamberlain, including Humberto Villareal for his innovation incubator in Mexico; Joao Rocha for selective breeding and genetics in shrimp; Roullier Group for its probiotic algae confection; Inve for a range of hatchery feed innovations; Jeff Sedacca, for his work promoting small scale shrimp farmers; Kevin Edwards for his certification body SGS and William Connor for his investment in the “Blue Evolution”.
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Thursday, Sept. 22, 8.50 a.m. CST
How to produce 140 million additional tons of fish by 2050
The world needs to produce an additional 140 million metric tons of fish by 2050, tripling the size of the current industry, according to Mike Velings, CEO of Aqua-Spark.
“We simply don’t have enough,” he said. Average fish consumption has already climbed from 9.9 kilograms per capita in the 1960s to 20 kilograms per capita this year, he said.
But to get there – based on the assumption of farming sensible species with a feed conversion rate of less than two and a half – will require an extra 300 to 400 million metric tons of feed, he warned.
So sustainable alternatives to fishmeal are paramount, he said. Total soy production is not enough and currently around 275 million metric tons and the industry has limited potential to grow he said.
“Alternatives will take years to develop, but we will get there if we collaborate across the sector.”
In this vein, Velings outlined his philosophy of creating a “portfolio ecosystem” which will include investing in farming operations, inputs, disease battling, technology, retail, marketing, and distribution.
Aqua-Spark currently has 60 to 80 companies across these sectors in which it intends to invest. But to do this all companies must sign an agreement to collaborate.
“Working together is key,” said Velings.
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5.32 p.m. CST
Embrace change, embrace the Internet
“Online and on phones - that’s how people shop nowadays especially the middle classes and young people,” according to JD.com’s Clark Meng.
That is why the company – China’s equivalent of Amazon – is moving into fresh food e-commerce including seafood.
The company has had online capabilities for mobile phones, digital products, computers, appliances and even frozen and chilled food, for many years, but fresh is new.
“This is a good time to move into this sector, said Meng. “The Internet will bring efficiency to this market, of course there will be challenges, but you will see the benefits that come out of it,” he said.
With less than 1 percent penetration rate for online fresh e-commerce in China, there is “enormous” room for future growth, said Meng.
While major players have joined the market, most have yet to make a profit as fresh e-commerce requires complex infrastructure making it difficult to build supply chains and maintain a low spoilage rate. However, Meng says JD.com can leverage its existing network to make this easier.
Nielsen predicts that China’s fresh food e-commerce market will grow to sales of more than $15 billion in 2017 and more than $22.5 billion by 2018.
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5.03 p.m. CST
Fight or flight?
During a panel at GOAL today it appears different major players in the foodservice space are split on how they would react should they discover issues of slave labor or human rights abuses in their supply chain.
While Laky Zervudachi, group sustainability director for Direct Seafoods, said in no uncertain terms, “slavery is abhorrent”, he said should his company discover bad practices in its supply chain he would take the position of trying to change it, “we can’t walk away from it.”
“There is no advantage in walking away,” he said. “It is beholden on us as the buyer of responsible seafood to work closely with suppliers and show them the best way forward. If not you’re just walking away from the problem and leaving it for someone else to deal with.”
That said, Zervudachi said ultimately the company would have to walk away if those changes were not forthcoming.
Ben Wheeley senior purchasing manager fish and seafood Brakes Group, on the other hand said the company’s initial position “would be to stop buying from that business right away.”
“Then we would look at the business and say we will only purchase again if we see clear work from it to stop illegal practices,” he said.
Likewise, Joe Zhou senior director - supply chain at Red Lobster Seafood Company, said his company has “zero tolerance for that kind of behavior”.
As the world’s largest restaurant purchaser of seafood, Zhou said it takes its responsibility very seriously. “Our actions would be fast, swift and effective,” he said.
Charlie Lousignont senior vice president of supply chain management for Brinker International, said slave labor was an “horrific practice” and an issue the industry should all strive very hard to eliminate.
“We’re fortunate to already have a supplier code of conduct in place. If we became aware of it would cease business immediately, unequivocally,” he said.
Zervudachi said Direct Seafoods was putting itself right at the forefront of trying to raise peoples’ awareness of these issues in seafood.
“Foodservice is a very broken up field,” he said. “But social ethics is a key issue that needs cracking down and we’re on the road but need to get there.”
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 3.10 p.m. CST
Supplier engagement is key
In today's globalized economy, outsourcing business operations doesn’t mean outsourcing responsibilities or risks -- or that a company's responsibility ends when a product is sold, according to Jeremy Prepscius, vice president at Business For Social Responsibility (BSR).
But -- using the example of canned tuna -- he conceded supply chains are complex and difficult to police entirely. “Good working conditions and transparency are among the top supply chain issues,” he said.
Sustainable supply chains depend on companies adopting and embedding an integrated system of internal, supplier-facing and collaborative efforts across industries and geographies, said Prepscius.
Accountable collaboration in particular is important -- working with others who share the same drive and ambition to accelerate change. "Many of today's challenges require collective commitment," said Prepscius.
But supplier engagement is key, and there are many ways to do this.
For example codes -- setting high, but realistic goals and adopting strategies and policies to achieve them.
Then there is communication - communicating expectations early with suppliers and engaging with them often to improve performance.
Auditing and assessment is also important as is finding mutual solutions to chronic problems.
“We are not talking about making it slightly better. It is a real problem with real issues that fundamentally affect people,” said Prepscius.
“It requires collaboration –one company itself can’t buy that solution, companies have to come together through collaboration to be successful.”
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 12.59 p.m. CST
Dublin to host GOAL 2017
Possibly the worst kept secret at this year’s event -- Dublin, Ireland, will be hosting GOAL 2017, Donal Maguire, director of aquaculture development at Bord Iascaigh Mhara/Irish Sea Fisheries Board, confirmed to delegates.
“We have a small but very vital aquaculture industry,” Maguire said. Aquaculture activity includes growing finfish, such as salmon and trout but also shellfish farming, including the cultivation of mussels, oysters and scallops.
The country produces 15,000 metric tons of salmon on average per year, worth around €135 million. In total the aquaculture industry is worth around €250 million, he said.
The event will take place between Oct.3 and Oct. 6 in 2017.
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 10.34 a.m. CST
Perception versus reality
According to Rolf Knecht, executive chef at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel, there has been a “tremendous improvement” in China in terms of regulations on seafood products but perception from consumers has not changed and people still believe it to be poor quality.
“It is the difference of perception versus the reality -- this needs to change but the question is how,” he said.
The Hyatt has a policy to go out and engage with the farms from which it sources product and to verify what is says in report happens on site.
“So it is about engaging with fish and shrimp farms, to make sure product is safe,” said Knecht.
Alan Orreal, director of culinary at Shanghai Disney Resort, agreed consumer perceptions need to change.
Disney is not compromising whatsoever when it comes to food safety, he said, and is there is a “very rigorous” food safety standard the company follows.
“We manage to find great products in China, world class products, and we do our best to promote that,” he said. “It is very easy to buy sustainable fish from Europe, but then there is the question of carbon footprint so we have to balance both things. So we look forward to working with new vendors in China, we’re open.”
Orreal said he was shocked to discover that only 5 percent of what is being produced is actually certified. He said he’d like to see more variety on certified products – “they are out there, they just need to be certified.”
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 10.00 a.m. CST
Transparency and traceability
Transparency and traceability are key to the online B2B seafood marketplace, according to Helen Gao from Gfresh.
“An online platform allows producers and exporters to fully disclose features, standards of products, certifications, country of origins, and any other quality standards from other parameters,” she said.
But traceability is the most critical feature demonstrating end to end tracking from the source to delivery in the customers hand or to the restaurant.
“There are a lot of stops between the source and the table,” said Gao. “We think less is better, reduce supply chain, lower the risk and make the product better quality.”
Alan Orreal, director of culinary at Shanghai Disney Resort, agreed about the importance of traceability.
“We at Disney like to work with vertically integrated operators that control the whole chain,” he said.
The company also has systems in place whereby it can trace products “to the hour, to the minute” he said.
However, Rolf Knecht, executive chef at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel, warned of the potential pitfalls of online platforms.
Citing a recent scam in China whereby an supplier was selling uncertified seafood as certified, he said “online platforms can do a lot of damage to work certifications body to do.”
“If Chinese companies want to get into online market, they have to be transparent. A lot of companies are doing good things but don’t talk about it.”
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 9.10 a.m. CST
Economics, not environment
The current concerns in the fishmeal and fish oil sector are “very much an economic issue,” said Giovani Turchini a professor at Australia’s Deakin University.
It is to do with supply and demand but it is an economic sustainability issue not an environmental sustainability issue, he said.
In reality production of fishmeal and fishoil has been relatively constant at around 5 million metric tons and 1 million metric tons respectively, over the years, but it is the commodity prices that have been soaring, Turchini said.
Fishmeal and fishoil inclusion in aquafeed is constantly and rapidly declining, he said. Predominantly because of the increasing prices reducing margins, but also due to the uncertain availability in terms of both quantity and quality.
"This results in constant reformulation and the technology is both challenging and expensive," Turchini.
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Wednesday, Sept. 21, 8.32 a.m. CST
Chinese market needs more certifications
Consumers in China are increasingly on the lookout for safe, high quality seafood products, and to be successful producers need to convince them their products meet these requirements.
“They want safe products, and high quality products, and producers need to distinguish their products from other products,” saidWang Maohua from China Registration, Certification & Accreditation Administration (CNCA).
“When you can prove products are good and safe, another precondition is the customer trusts your product, and believes they are safe.”
In addition, import countries also have a lot of legal requirements and are getting stricter towards products from China, said Maohua.
While the country currently does quality checks on final products,” this is not enough”, and it needs new approaches to meet new requirements.
Increasingly sourcing companies are requiring farms and factories to prove themselves their products are up to standard. This is where certification schemes come in – they need to demonstrate their own quality.
Schemes such as EUREPGAP, and Global Gap, are important and in China, and the CCFA is in the process of creating other sourcing standards. There is also the Chinese GAP.
“In the future we will use third parties to play a more important role,” said Maohua.
The Chinese demand has changed -- consumers want higher quality products but there is not sufficient supply.
“The needs of consumers have changed and the environment, sustainability, food safety, all these issues have become concerns,” said Maohua.
“If we cannot convince them, they will not buy, but will fly overseas to buy products. So we need to convince consumers – we need more certifications to show conformation with certain specifications.”
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 6.36 p.m. CST
Tilapia production expected to climb 4.5% in 2017
Global tilapia production will reach around 5.5 million metric tons this year, up from 5.3 million last year, but is predicted to increase a further 4.5 percent in 2017 hitting 5.8 million metric tons, according to Ragnar Tveteras, business economist at University of Stavanger.
China is still the leading producer of tilapia with around 1.7 million metric tons, followed by Indonesia with just over 1 million and then Egypt with 665,300 metric tons on average.
Pangasius production, meanwhile, also continues to climb, and Vietnam still represents more than 50 percent of production.
Production of pangasius from the major producing countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam is expected to reach around 2.2 million metric tons in 2016 but climb to more than 2.5 million from these countries in 2018.
Of these countries, Indian production will see the most growth, increasing from around 447,500 metric tons this year to around 640,000 metric tons in 2018 -- up 43 percent.
Total production of catfish species, including pangasius, is expected to reach nearly 4.9 million metric tons in 2018, up from 4.4 million this year, said Tveteras.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 6.00 p.m. CST
Mediterranean bass and bream production continues fall in 2016
Mediteranean seabass and seabream production is continuing to slip in 2016 after reaching a peak of 326,900 metric tons in 2014, according to figures presented by Ragnar Tveteras, business economist at University of Stavanger during the first day of GOAL.
Production dropped down to 309,100 metric tons in 2015 and is predicted to fall further to 301,400 metric tons in 2016, the figures said.
"Prices have not provided much incentive to grow," said Tveteras, but are starting to edge up now, meaning he expects a 10 percent growth in production to 330,000 metric tons next year.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 5.05 p.m. CST
Global shrimp production to hit 4.5 million tons by 2018
Although notoriously difficult to get hold of good, reliable information, James Anderson gave his annual update on the global shrimp market this morning.
“This is timely data from the industry,” he said. “We hope we have the trend right, even if the numbers are not completely correct.”
According to Anderson’s graphs shrimp production is likely to be around 4.1 million metric tons in 2016, up from just below 4 million in 2015 and gradually climbing to around 4.5 million metric tons in 2018.
In response to higher prices, increased shrimp production in India, Vietnam, Ecuador and Mexico led to an overall increase in world production in 2014, but production fell again in 2015, he said.
In the period from 2015 to 2018, though, the projected annual growth rate is expected to be 4.2 percent, said Anderson, “which is less optimistic than last year.”
China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia all reported lower production in 2015 relative to 2014, but on the other hand India and the Americas saw production climb, he said.
China’s production is shrinking, borne out by figures showing production of shrimp feed in the country, which declined 15 percent between 2012-2014 to around 1.4 million metric tons.
Meanwhile, shrimp exports from China were also down 37 percent from 2011-2015, predominantly due to an increased domestic consumption, said Anderson.
In last the decade between 2005-2015, domestic consumption in China more than doubled by 123 percent from around 750,000 metric tons to 1.7 million metric tons, he said, while consumption has climbed 60 percent since 2010.
Both China and Thailand expect to make a partial recovery in shrimp production by 2018, said Anderson, but Thailand has now moved from second to fifth place in the Asia region.
Malaysia has also been heavily impacted by disease, but a partial recovery is expected by 2018, while strong growth is also expected in Bangladesh.
“The most dramatic growth is expected in Ecuador, reaching nearly 500,000 metric tons by 2018,” said Anderson, adding that maybe “this is a bit too bullish, and I’m probably off by 60,000 metric tons or so.”
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 1.50 p.m. CST
Post-EMS future is bright
Although EMS is complicated, the outlook is promising, according to Robins Mcintosh, senior vice president at Charoen Pokphand Group.
“The future is bright, we understand the disease now, and Thailand is already demonstrating it,” he said.
Since the disease decimated the industry, lessons have been learned, Robins said, and once implemented these changes can result in success.
The prevention process starts in the hatchery with healthy post larvae.
“Without healthy post larvae, genetics don’t mean very much," he said.
A completely new biosecurity implementation is another key to success.
The industry needs to focus on ensuring clean broodstock, clean post larvae, a clean farm and a clean water source.
Mcintosh also championed the use of a “shrimp pond toilet” which can be used to quickly flush sludge, old feed and molts from pond.
By changing the layout of CP’s Lamae farm, for example, the company has seen significant benefits, Mcintosh said.
The company has boosted the number of primary treatment ponds at the site, as well as reservoirs, while also significantly decreasing the number of culture ponds.
“And with change, today’s farm has greater profits than before [EMS],” said Mcintosh. The company reduced the number of culture ponds from 77 to 38 and between 2014 and 2016 saw costs per kilo fall from $13.90 to $3.25 per kilo. Profits also jumped (see below).
“Next time we are faced with a disaster, recovery will be quicker, now we will have the tools in place to respond,” said Mcintosh.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 11.57 a.m. CST
Everyone wins with area management plans
Area management plans tend to be created where farms share a common water body and therefore their practices can impact on each other, but they are “certainly not the norm," according to Iain Shone, development director at the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
But where they are implemented, the farms benefit from a common management system to minimize risks, he said.
Farms working together on collaborative biosecurity management plans will see better disease control, leading to improved harvests and crops.
But there are also significant financial benefits as well, said Shone. For example, lower risk means lower insurance premiums, and improved access to finance. And there is an opportunity to consolidate and improve technical services and in turn lower costs.
“But buyers also benefit as lower risk in the supply chain means more reliable supply,” he said.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 10.58 a.m. CST
Are algal blooms the next big syndrome for the industry?
Disease continues to be the primary challenge for the global aquaculture industry, according to George Chamberlain, president of the GAA.
“Disease affects our entire industry and it’s fundamental we learn how to control it,” Chamberlain said.
Citing the major disease challenges around the globe, such as ISA in Chile, sea lice, WSSV and EMS, following recent events, Chamberlain questioned whether hazardous algae blooms will be “the next big syndrome we have to work with.”
What the industry has learned, though, is how disease outbreaks usually come about.
Outbreaks are usually associated with a high concentration of producers in a certain region, uncontrolled movement of animals, insufficient knowledge of the pathogen until it’s too late, weak regulations and ineffective strategies, said Chamberlain.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) analysis is paramount, but ultimately "there is no magic silver bullet – it’s a package," he said.
Integrated health management, diagnostic testing, breeding or genetic selection, vaccines, biosecurity, sanitation and husbandry all play a role, he added.
“The crowning jewel, and one the salmon industry has recognized for long time, is to do with biosecurity area management,” said Chamberlain. “It means producers cooperating, working together to reduce diseases – you can have a perfect farm in terms of biosecurity, but if your neighbor violates these rules, then it’s for nothing.”
Chamberlain highlighted the salmon farming industry in the Faroe Islands as an example. Here the industry boomed at high production then crashed with an ISA outbreak.
“But then it resurrected itself and was much stricter on standards, and now the best in world," he said. "It is an example of taking a system that is not working and how to fix it.”
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 10.12 a.m. CST
Farmer education a priority in China
Farming practices are very important for the interests of shrimp production in China, and farmers need to be educated on this, according to Chen Dan, president of Guangdong Evergreen Group Co. Ltd.
But for this, the leading companies in the country such as Evergreen need to invest in them.
“We want to educate them well to promote safe farming models and practices, and for this there must be investment to provide these learning opportunities to farmers,” he said.
Chen Dan said his company has been working for many years to meet sector standards in terms of feed and production and has worked hard to train farmers on how to produce, and how to protect the environment while farming.
“But there are farmers in high land areas, and some in low land areas, so how can we standardize farming practices?” he asked.
“In general our survival rate in China is not very high, the practices we use and the environment we have built with 150,000 or 200,000 or even 300,000 larvae in one pond is not scientific at all.”
Instead, stocking densities, temperatures, feeding practices the use of chemicals, all must have “a controlled approach" to improve the overall industry, said Chen Dan.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 9.52 a.m. CST
China must boost tilapia VAP to fend off increased competition from SE Asia
The tilapia industry in China has been suffering with continuously dropping prices for months on end, and now it is facing the fresh challenge of increased competition from southeast Asian countries.
“Tilapia production has been increasing in southeast Asian countries, and this will be challenge,” said Liu Rongjie president of Hainan Xiangtai Fishery Co. Ltd.
“So we must increase quality; efficiency and more value added products to deal with competition in the market,” he said.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 9.30 a.m. CST
E-commerce still growing in China
China’s e-commerce market has been growing very fast since 2011 and will continue to grow fast until 2018 and beyond, according to Fan Xubing managing director of Beijing Seabridge Marketing & Consulting Co.
In general, in 2015, the growth rate for the overall business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce market was 36.2 percent with a penetration rate of 12.6 percent.
For fresh food e-commerce, which includes seafood and started in 2013, there is “room to double or even triple the penetration, in the next few years – we are at a very good stage.”
The fresh food market had a growth rate of 80.8 percent in 2015 and a penetration of 3.4 percent. This is expected to be 82 percent and 4.8 percent respectively in 2016, said Xubing. The growth rate should be around 70 percent in 2017 with a penetration of 6.1 percent and in 2018 it should show 53.8 percent growth with penetration hitting 7 percent.
However, of fresh food, seafood is not the most popular category online but the trend is that it is getting more popular, he said. Seafood comes fourth after vegetables, fruit, and meat.
In 2015, more than 53 percent of Chinese bought fresh food online, said Xubing. “Why? The main reason is it is convenient and saves time; the second reason is it is cheap; and the third reason, there are more products online.”
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 9.18 a.m. CST
Young generation driving boom in Chinese seafood imports
Chinese seafood imports are on the rise and within the next few years the country will likely import as much as Japan -- becoming one of the world’s largest seafood importers, according to Fan Xubing managing director of Beijing Seabridge Marketing & Consulting Co.
The reason for this is not difficult to explain and simply down to the growing population, said Xubing, in particular the younger generation.
“It is mainly because of the younger population – young Chinese people like seafood, and especially imported seafood,” said Xubing.
But it is important to understand the younger generation in China, he said. They heavily rely on new media and social media, they also heavily rely on e-commerce and fewer and fewer go to the supermarkets, said Xubing. Additionally, the younger generation is not good at cooking and have less time to cook at home, and prefer imported seafood, but don’t have much money.
“So the younger consumer is quality driven, brand driven but price sensitive,” said Xubing.
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 8.57 a.m. CST
China's Certification And Accreditation Administration Of China signs MoU with GAA
China is on a mission to improve the quality of its seafood exports and that is why it is signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GAA, according to Liu Weijun, vice director general of the Certification and Accreditation Administration Of China (CNCA).
GAA, the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA), Seafood HACCP Alliance (SHA) are signing a memorandum of understanding at GOAL 2016 later today, resulting in the establishment of a voluntary program that would strive to help aquaculture operations in China meet or exceed export countries’ food-safety requirements.
"The CNCA is open to all international trade associations standards, and we want to forge alliance on safety and security of food products. We want to forge closer collaboration with foreign organizations for a healthy and sustainable aquaculture industry in China."
According to Weijun, the Chinese government is eager to change the "poor supply quality" of its exports. " It is not easy to meet increasing demands of public for high quality products," he said.
"We want to improve the quality of exports and meet the same quality and standards of domestic products and to do this certification is important."
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Tuesday, Sept. 20, 8.36 a.m. CST
Happy Birthday
Today is the GAA’s 19th birthday, says Wally Stevens, executive director at GAA as he officially kicks off Day 1 at GOAL 2016.
Using that as a jumping off point, Stevens looks at the aquaculture industry as a 19 year old – “look how far we have come in that time, but we are still young. In essence the aquaculture industry is a young adult, and not mature yet as an industry,” he said.
Comparing the industry to a nineteen year old person, Stevens looked at the overall health of the sector, in terms of education, environment, state of finances, social responsibility, diet, and leadership.
"We need to grow up. We need to remove from the teenage, rambunctious young adult, and lead the industry forward. That is our role, that is our challenge."
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Healthy fish, Healthy people, Healthy planet’.
“It is important for the aquaculture industry to meet regularly in China, as it is such an important player,” said Stevens. “We must recognize the changes taking place in China that the country is bringing to the market place, such as the role of ecommerce.”
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Monday, Sept. 19, 4.36 p.m. CST
Fishmeal, fish oil not really needed for fish feed
In reality, fishmeal and fish oil are not really needed as ingredients in fish feed at all, according to Giovanni Turchini, a professor at Deakin University.
In fact by 2030, Turchini believes fishmeal will no longer be the primary protein source in aquafeeds. Instead it will be more of a specialty ingredient added to enhance palatability, balance amino acids and supply other essential nutrients.
Likewise by 2030 fish oil will more likely be used in the nutraceutical market -- which can afford it -- rather than aquaculture, said Turchini.
“Fishmeal or fish oil are not actually necessary ingredients at all," he said. “You can get rid altogether -- I am not suggesting that -- but while it is not needed, the key is to use fishmeal better.”
Nutritionally speaking, fishmeal is not fundamental in feeding fish and shrimp. Production is entirely possible without it.
“It is not fishmeal they need rather they need essential amino acids, and a correct protein to energy ratio," he said. "Fishmeal is just an excellent source of highly digestible dietary protein.”
But while fishmeal can be replaced, it will cost a lot, Turchini warned.
“We need coordinated and adequate research and development (R&D) investment to reduce the costs of fishmeal replacement," he said.
Likewise shrimp and fish don’t need fish oil in their feed -- but what they do need are digestible energy sources, and essential fatty acids.
While there are plenty of alternatives available for fish oil, the main bottleneck in this case is the need for omega-3s -- and not for production, which is possible without it, but for human requirements.
"So we do also need other sources of EPA and DHA," he said.
Alternatives could include soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil, terrestrial animal fats and other vegetable oils. While these are traditionally referred to as "alternatives," this is conceptually wrong, said Turchini.
They are "complementary" and perfect to fulfil the role of an energy source, but more R&D is needed.
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Monday, Sept. 19, 3.06 p.m. CST
Missed fishmeal certification opportunities in Asia
Is there enough responsibly sourced fishmeal out there to meet the needs of aquaculture certifications? The answer simply is “no,” according to Anton Immink, global aquaculture director at Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.
The aquaculture industry needs fishmeal and fish oil for feed and demand is continuously growing, therefore the industry has a core responsibility for ensuring it comes from responsible and well managed sources, said Immink.
In this vein, responsible feed sources are now an important aspect of aquaculture certifications, he said.
GAA’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, for example, requires 50 percent of the feed ingredients either come from MSC certified fisheries, be Global Standard and Certification Programme for the Responsible Supply of Fishmeal and Fish Oil (IFFO RS) compliant or is in a fisheries improvement project (FIP).
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) also calls for MSC certification after five years and IFFO certification before that, but this standard is changing and soon may well include FIPs as well, said Immink.
The major sources of fishmeal are generally split 50/50 between Atlantic and Pacific reduction fisheries and southeast Asian reduction fisheries.
Atlantic and South American fishmeal and fish oil fisheries are in “pretty good shape," said Immink. Around 11 percent are in a FIP, 16 percent are MSC-certified and 68 percent are IFFO compliant. Only 5 percent of these fisheries do not have any certifications or sustainability plans.
However, southeast Asia is the real problem, or opportunity, depending on how you look at it.
In this region, only 1 percent of the fishmeal and fish oil fisheries are in a FIP. The rest are neither in a FIP, MSC-certified or IFFO compliant, said Immink.
With 52 percent of the world’s fishmeal and oil sourced from this area for aquaculture feed “it is a missed opportunity,” said Immink.
“So we need to do something in Asia and FIPs are the best short-term option."
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Monday, Sept. 19, 3.01 p.m. CST
Nearly half of world fishmeal production IFFO RS compliant
In 2016 around 45 percent -- or nearly 2.5 million metric tons -- of the combined fishmeal produced globally will be compliant with the IFFO RS scheme, according to Neil Auchterlonie, technical director at the organization.
In addition around 36 percent of marine ingredients production from by-products will be compliant with the IFFO standard, he said.
To become IFFO RS compliant, producers must demonstrate responsible sourcing, traceability and production.
The majority of IFFO RS compliant facilities are in Peru, but also Chile, Norway, Denmark and the United States. So with a few exceptions in Vietnam and Thailand there is a clear need for more work to be done in Asia.
But new approaches are needed in the region, said Auchterlonie. Many of the fisheries are multi species and therefore can’t be evaluated with conventional methodology, while small artisanal fisheries are difficult to control.
This where the IFFO "improvers" program comes in. This involves third-party gap analysis of the factory and its raw materials against the RS standard, and also involves implementing a structured plan to help facilities improve and meet the IFFO RS standard in a reasonable time.
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Monday, Sept. 19, 1.23 p.m. CST
Critical as it’s ever been
Global Aquaculture Alliance's Melanie Siggs kicked off the special session of GOAL on how to ensure fishmeal and fish oil inputs into fishmeal are derived from responsible fisheries.
This question is as “critical as it’s ever been and involves all stakeholders to make that happen,” said Siggs.
And while replacements for fishmeal are becoming increasingly important, optimizing fishmeal is also especially important, she said.
While the conversation is relevant to all geographies of the world, the “biggest challenge right now is to do with southeast Asian fisheries," said Siggs.
"Aquaculture continues to be the fastest growing protein on planet… but we have to work out how to support good aquaculture on the ground and continue to grow in a responsible way and in terms of feed, fishmeal and fish oil input is critical to that," she said.
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Monday, Sept. 19, 1.00 p.m. CST
Welcome to Guangzhou
For the 15th edition of the Global Aquaculture Alliance's (GAA) annual GOAL conference, the who's who of the aquaculture world is headed to Guangzhou, China.
More than 400 professionals from the global aquaculture industry are expected to attend the four day event which gets underway today with a special session on responsible sourcing of fishmeal and fish oil.
Presenters today include GAA's Melanie Siggs, Neil Auchterlonie from the IFFO Marine Ingredients Organization, Anton Immink from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), and Duncan Leadbitter from Fish Matter, among others.
The main event will officially kick off Tuesday with an opening speech from Wally Stevens. But the following few days will see presentations -- interspersed with numerous panel discussions -- on topics such as the current trends within the seafood industry in China, updates on shrimp and finfish production data and analysis, latest developments in disease and area management, food safety in China, and fishmeal/fish oil use in aquafeed, as well as many others.
There will also be discussions surrounding the hot issue of supply chain accountability and the approach to anti-human trafficking.
Since its inception in 2001, GOAL has been attended by a cross-section of representatives from industry, retail and foodservice, government, academia, the investment community and the NGO community.
IntraFish will be reporting from the event via this blog and Twitter, so be sure to keep checking back to keep up with everything that is going on.
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