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Oceanic Inst. Newsline Dec. 1994 AFIA MEETS AT THE OCEANIC INSTITUTE The American Feed Industry Association Aquaculture Committee (AFIA), headed by Chairman John Niemi, recently held a two-day meeting hosted by OI. This is the first time an AFIA committee has met outside the continental U.S. This was the first step in bringing feed industry members face to face with the applied research arm of aquaculture. A highlight of the meeting was a two-hour focus group conducted by OI with a professional facilitator. One of the many important points arising from the group was the fact that nutritional requirements for aquatic animals are not as well defined as they are for terrestrial species. Other points included the importance of successful feed formulation in reducing environmental impacts from both the feed itself and metabolic waste of the animals being cultured. The committee felt the focus group was a very valuable way to identify problem areas and to highlight solutions. Such focus groups like this, some committee members felt, are an effective and organized way to solve problems in aquaculture. Industry leaders who attended the meeting were Dr. Richard Lockwood, chairman elect, Dr. Bruce Johnson (ZinPro), Dr. Tom Zeigler (Zeigler Bros.), Dr. John Markus (Pennfield), John Saatkamp (Woodson-Tenent), Dr. Keith Behnke (KSU), Warren Dominy (The Oceanic Institute), Richard Sellers (AFIA staff) and Dick Stephen-Hassard (committee secretary). Sharing the same goals, OI and the U.S. feed industry look forward to a long and prosperous partnership. Black Sea Club Seeks OI Technology In an effort to help East European countries recover economically from the political changes in that region, the United States is helping these countries develop industry. And one industry for development is aquaculture. Last February Dr. Eirik Duerr, research scientist at
The Oceanic Institute Feeds Program, met with members of the Black Sea Club, an
organization dedicated to developing industry in countries along the Black Sea.
Those countries are Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, the Ukraine, Russia and Greece. Fishery resources have collapsed in the Black Sea due
to overfishing, pollution and a new jellyfish predator that eats fish larvae. There are financial hurdles to developing an
aquaculture industry along the Black Sea however. Although there is interest in
joint venture, there is little venture capital. The U.S. Agency for International
Development (AID) has a program that joins U.S. and East European partners for joint
ventures such as aquaculture. So with AID assistance and OI capabilities, the Black
Sea Coast could see its industry base expand with jobs, seafood products for its tourist
industry and eventual export revenue. CPM Builds Long Retention Time Double-pass conditioner for Aquaculture Feeds Research at The Oceanic Institute, Hawaii and Kansas State University The Oceanic Institute, located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, is a nonprofit applied researchorganization dedicated to the commercial development of aquaculture in the U.S. and abroad. Some of their work is done cooperatively with Kansas State University (KSU). One of the programs is the development of a better shrimp feed with the desirable characteristics of optimal animal performance, high density and water stability. Shrimp are bottom feeders and browsers. They do not swallow their food as hungry fish do. Thus the shrimp feed pellets must sink to the bottom of the ponds and not disintegrate before the shrimp consume them. Unconsumed feed is not only wasteful but promotes algae and bacterial growth, all potentially detrimental effects to the pond system. Shrimp feed pellets typically are very small, 2.2-1.8 mm or about 1/16 inch in diameter. High density and water stable pellets result from higher temperatures and longer retention (or cooking) time in the conditioning prior to the pellet mill. These factors promote gelatinization of the starches in the cereal grain constituents of the feed, which makes the pellet hard and durable, and without the necessity for chemical binder additives. However, it is also important to optimize the processing conditions to promote animal performance. California Pellet Mill (CPM) designed and built a
conditioner specially to suit the OI requirements. It has two steam-jacketed The two high conditioner is to be mounted over a CPM 1112-4 pellet mill at the OI mill laboratory. When completed OI research plant will produce on the order of 1500 pounds (700 kg) of pellets an hour, which is intermediate between the tiny CPM Lab mill (60 lbs or 30 kg per hour) and the smallest commercial feed mills (5 tons per hour). Applications of the aquaculture type technology of high density, water stable pellet may also be in turkey and duck feed. Another application of the high density, water stable pellet development may include "bypass protein" feeds for Ruminant animals. The objective here is to have a feed pellet stable enough which would not be appreciably affected in the first, second or third stomachs of the animal, but would be digested in the fourth stomach where the protein can be more effectively utilized. A significant goal of the aquaculture feed program is to maximize the utilization of the plant protein ingredients rather than the animal proteins. Plant protein like soybean meal and some unique high protein wheat varieties can synergistically work together in an optimal ratio when the growout trials of the animals assess the relative merits of such experimental feeds. The double-pass conditioner is currently installed and operating at Kansas State University to expedite the aquaculture research program activities while The Oceanic Institute aquaculture feed mill is being built. OI to Host Feed Industry Meeting American Feed Industry Association (AFIA)Aquaculture Committee will meet in Hawaii at The Oceanic Institute (OI) in October. Feed milling in the U.S. is a $20 billion industry; aquaculture feeds production is the fastest growing segment of that industry. This opportunity permits OI and the Hawaii aquaculture industry to showcase its talents and capabilities to those in the industry who are in a position to move both the feeds and aquaculture industry forward. There is considerable interest in aquaculture feeds and feed ingredient exports. Hawaii and OI are well positioned to work with the industry in their efforts. For more information contact W.C. Rowland,The Oceanic Institute, P.O. Box 25280, Honolulu, HI 96825. Dr. Gihyung Ryu and Dr. Keith Behnke of Kansas State University are currently working with Warren Dominy of The Oceanic Institute Feeds Program in a series of shrimp feed extrusion runs and growout studies. The objective of these extrusion runs is to determine ideal and detrimental manufacturing parameters of commercially extruded shrimp feeds. The extrusion trials are currently in progress and
the growout trials are expected to start in early July. The extruders used in these
studies are the Insta Pro 2500 and the Wenger X-20 and X-165. These trials are being
conducted in cooperation with the technical staffs at Insta Pro of Des Moines, Iowa and
Wenger Manufacturing of Sebetha, Kansas. Bumper Crop of Mahimahi
Harvested The Oceanic Institute's Mahimahi Program recently recorded its largest production of mahimahi juveniles from the hatchery. Over 40,000 fish were harvested from a single spawn of 128,000 eggs. The survival rate of 31% far surpassed the average 5% rate currently used to estimate production capabilities. The improvement resulted from research directed at determining methods of screening egg batches prior to conducting a rearing. Although mahimahi are known for their high fecundity and abundant egg supply, not all spawns produced are of high quality that result in high larval rearing survival and healthy fish. The previous estimate of 5% survival took into account results obtained using both high and low quality spawns. According to Dr. Tony Ostrowski, Mahimahi Program Manager, the technique allows a prospective mahimahi farmer to better predict which spawns will result in quality larval and high production, thus improving the capability of farmers to achieve their production goals with greater certainty. Research on mahimahi egg quality has been one focus of the program's activities over the past year. The level of production obtained in this run is estimated to be the bimonthly requirement to supply a large-scale mahimahi farm with a growout production capability of 125 tons yearly. Weaning these juveniles from live to pelleted feeds will incur about 50% mortality in the nursery stage at the commercial production level. The reasons egg quality in mahimahi varies still elude the research team. Work is currently underway in cooperation with OI's Feeds Program to manipulate mahimahi broodstock diet formulations as a first step toward determining which nutritional factors impinge most importantly on egg quality in this species. The Mahimahi Program is in its fourth year at OI.
It is currently in a technology demonstration phase in the hatchery; research
continues in growout and egg quality. It is anticipated that commercial feasibility
of the land based system will be achieved by the summer of 1995. The Oceanic Institute
Publishes Manual on Selective Breeding A new manual titled, Selective Breeding of Fishes in Asia and the United States was recently published by OI. The publication is a state-of-the-art manual on practical selective breeding to improve fish performance for aquaculture, genetic resource management for stock enhancement and conservation of natural genetic resources. The manual is based on formal papers that were presented at a workshop in Hawaii in May 1993. Representatives from the United States, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, the People's Republic of China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Norway attended the workshop and presented papers. The 267-page manual is divided into five sections: themes of selective breeding, defining industry terminology; aquaculture and conservation in Asia and the United States; enhancement and conservation programs in Asia and the United States; selective breeding research activities and programs in Asia; and critical issues of selective breeding for aquaculture and stock enhancement. Selective Breeding of Fishes in Asia and the United States
is available in limited numbers from Dr. Kevan Main, The Oceanic Moi Go to Market After surveying fishermen on species enhancement in Hawaiian waters, The Oceanic Institute began research and development of moi (Pacific threadfin); due to overfishing, moi is rarely found in Hawaii. It wasn't difficult to predict that this would be a valuable and popular fish. On an experimental basis, moi was recently taken to the United Fishing Agency, Honolulu's fish auction, where it fetched $7.70 a pound. At local fish markets, the moi sold for a whopping $10.99 a pound. Some of the top local restaurants were given moi, which averaged over a pound each, for taste testing and preparation. How did the moi fare? The chefs liked the taste, texture, appearance and size of the moi, and would like to feature it on their menus. The fact that moi is Hawaiian grown and food of alii (ancient Hawaiian ruling class) adds to its allure. While moi did very well in preliminary growout tests, more research is needed to determine moi's commercial viability. According to Eric Schaleger, OI research assistant, growout of this particular batch of moi and its market response was very successful. From the reception that moi received in the restaurants and markets, there is no doubt about its popularity and marketability. Mullet Spawn Year Round at OI A major focus of the Finfish Program's mullet research has been the development of year-round production technology. In May 1993, testing of a commercial hatchery protocol was initiated which, when completed in the next two months, will represent the achievement of that goal for the first time anywhere in the world. The story actually began seven years ago when experiments on natural maturation had just finished. It was determined that the major setback to increasing fry production was the limited reproductive season. In Hawaii, females mature and spawn December to March only. To obtain potential spawners during the offseason, methods needed to be developed to control the maturation process. From 1987-89, controlled indoor studies were conducted on the effect of photoperiod and temperature on maturation. These tests revealed that the combination of short photoperiod and low temperature would stimulate maturation, while long photoperiod and high temperature would inhibit maturation. It was also discovered that when females were maintained indoors over three months, egg quality markedly deteriorated. Apparently their artificial diet was deficient in nutrients acquired from the naturally occurring algae blooms in outdoor tanks. This problem had to be addressed before year-round production could be achieved. In 1990, the program embarked on a series of experiments to develop methods for controlling photoperiod and temperature in outdoor tanks. Tank covers of various designs and light banks were used to shorten and lengthen photoperiod, respectively. Brackish water was used to maintain temperatures in stimulatory ranges (<26OC). By 1992, an effective method had been found for maintaining good egg quality.
While some adjustments to the schedules were required, this experiment will prove that mullet can be produced every month of the year. Spawning trials through the first 10 months have yielded an average of 2.3 million fertilized eggs per month (Figure 1). While the emphasis has been on egg production, larval rearing trials were also conducted every month to verify egg quality. Fry produced were shipped to neighbor islands for use in the Hawaiian Fishponds Revitalization Project.
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