WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 9 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 10) by the extra cost of replacing fish oil with algal oil. Craig Foster, CEO of Clean Seas Tuna, gave a full and frank assessment of the progress of his company’s involvement in the industry, indicating that many lessons have been learned but there was still a journey ahead. Craig was critical of the lack of transparency and information from suppliers, especially in the feed industry. He said that aquaculture farmers were not being afforded the same information as many other agricultural operators in the knowledge of the exact formulations of the feeds they were buying. He strongly advocates for an approach where feed formulations are based on farmers’ ability to manage risks, especially because feed companies expect farmers to accept those risks. Murat Yigit, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey provided an overview of aquaculture activities in the Mediterranean region, with special emphasis on Turkey. The move offshore in Turkey appears to be paying dividends because they are becoming leaders in various technologies that deal with rougher offshore waters. Hisashi Yokoyama, Kyoto University, spoke about the flow of nitrogen through fish farms, leading to potential environmental impacts. Managing the water body, waste feed and utilization of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) is his area of study. Stable isotope techniques show optimum levels of nitrogen and are used to estimate sources of nutrients for polycultured organisms and to confirm the effectiveness of IMTA. Sea cucumbers are an integral component of the experimental IMTA that is being evaluated. Akira Takeshita from Nippon Suisan, one of Japan’s largest seafood empires, highlighted the issues in producing and marketing high-quality products from aquaculture in Japan. Quality issues with discoloration and “burning” of flesh (called yakiniku in Japan) are two areas of active research. The emphasis is on taste and flavor quality, food safety and nutrition and strongly communicating the correct messages around the world. Masaaki Sano, Professor of Marketing at Kagoshima University, gave background on the importance and significance of farmed fish in the Japanese seafood market, modern characteristics of seafood consumption in Japan and present conditions of the retail market for seafood, including farmed fish. Among young Japanese, seafood is not enjoyed or consumed as much as by their parents’ generation. Many prefectural governments around Japan are making extra effort to promote seafood consumption in schools, emphasizing important nutritional benefits. Today we live in a ‘processed food’ world where so much marketing effort goes into promoting food items that are nutritionally not the best for human health. There is also strong marketing promotion of capsules, including those containing fish oils and vitamins. From the Kagoshima Fisheries Technology Development Center, Akinori Imamura explained the importance of Kagoshima in fisheries and aquaculture. In Japan the prefecture is ranked first for amberjack, kingfish, bluefin tuna and eel and second for kuruma shrimp. Total production from aquaculture in the area is about 60,000 t with a value of around ¥ 80,000 million (~US$800 million). The Center is operated by the prefectural government but they work with industry on issues that need attention. They are doing some fingerling work on amberjack and have created a traceability brand called ‘Born and Bred in Kagoshima.’ The Center is culturing milkfish that are then used as live bait by tuna fleets based in the area. Unfortunately the first days of our event (and the Sushi Festival) were affected by a massive typhoon that hit northern Japan and killed a number of people. This created travel problems that did not allow the attendance of former Minister Yoshio Yatsu. He was very keen to promote our event and is a firm believer in the future of aquaculture. He sent a message that was read out to the audience, including the concept that ‘aquaculture will change the diet of the world.’ The exhibition revealed all the associated businesses that connect to make this a large industry. Masayoshi Kazato, Director, AJSA Sushi Skills Institute finalized the Sushi Workshop with a history of sushi and some tips on making it. Day 3 Dong-Feng Deng from the Oceanic Institute, Hawaii started the day with a presentation on controlling quality of cultured fish by manipulating feed formulations. Clearly there are insufficient quantities of traditional ingredients to continue the supply of feeds as we know them and alternatives must be found. Recent research confirms the essential need for taurine in diets. Dong-Feng is evaluating the replacement of fishmeal by duckweed protein in shrimp feed. Duckweed meal can replace up to 50 percent of fishmeal in shrimp feed without any adverse effect on shrimp growth. Nutritional and sensory attributes of shrimp are not significantly affected by duckweed as a protein source. Jacques Gabauden, DSM Nutritional Products, Thailand gave an excellent presentation on the importance of the immune system of fish. He said “Research and practice shows that functional feeds containing selected additives have well-defined and strong effects on given physiological functions. The use of ABOVE. Fortuitously the International Sushi and Sashimi Festival coincided with the High-Value Aquaculture Finfish Symposium.
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