Feed business BioMar’s focus on adding value appears to be paying off, with increased earnings for the first quarter of 2024 despite a lower volume of sales, year on year. Including all the feed companies in the BioMar group, the company recorded an EBITDA for Q1 of more than DKK 310m (£35.5m), compared with DKK 117m (£13.4m) for Q1  2023. Volumes were down 8% to 262,000 tonnes, and revenue was over DKK 3.24bn (£371.4m), 30% lower than Q1 2023. BioMar said strong growth in the shrimp feed segment had offset a lower sales volume in the salmon segment. Lower raw material prices and exchange ..read more

India’s extensive shrimp farming industry has been accused of large scale human rights abuses among its workers, says a new report. The report has been published by the international human and labour rights organisation, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL). It has carried out a three year long  investigation into India’s multi-billion dollar shrimp aquaculture industry . The CAL report, Hidden Harvest says: “Over the past decade, India has emerged as the United States’ leading source of shrimp, the most consumed seafood in the country. “However, this success is marred by a production proce ..read more

University of Stirling postdoctoral researcher Simão Zacarias has been named as the winner of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Innovation Award for 2020. Zacarias edged out two other finalists — Pablo Berner of Nuseed and Mark Luecke of Prairie AquaTech — to win the competition, which was sponsored by Lineage Logistics. All three finalists were featured in GAA’s Global Aquaculture Advocate in September and presented on October 8 at GAA’s GOAL 2020 conference, held virtually for the first time ever this year. Zacarias’ work zeroed in on the common — and, in animal-welfare circles, contentious ..read more

A DEADLY new virus is re-emerging in China, the first country hit by Covid 19 – but this time it is threatening to decimate many of the country’s shrimp farms. Known as known as Decapod iridescent virus 1, it has infected up to a quarter of the shrimp farms in Guangdong province, the heart of production in the south of China. However, while it destroys Pacific White Shrimp (commonly called prawns in the UK) it is not thought to be harmful to humans. The development is being watched anxiously by other shrimp farming countries in Asia, most notably India which is a big exporter of Pacific shrimp ..read more

A new report appears to have found a dangerous gap in shrimp disease testing The standard test applied to detect a devastating disease in farmed shrimp falls dangerously short of what is required, according to a study carried out by researchers in Australia. White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a pathogen that can cause huge damage to shrimp populations. The point of care (POC) test commonly used to detect it is intended to allow farmers to stop the spread of the disease. Latest research, however, suggests that it is only effective in detecting high levels of WSSV infection. “In 2019, Australia ..read more

Rabobank’s look ahead to 2024 suggests better days are coming for aquaculture producers, reports Vince McDonagh After a turbulent 2023, the aquaculture industry – and the salmon sector in particular – looks set to rebound next year, according to a report based on input from producers worldwide. What to expect in aquaculture in 2024, the latest report from the Dutch-owned financial group Rabobank in co-operation with the Global Seafood Alliance, paints a brighter picture for fish farming. They believe shrimp production, which has endured a turbulent year, will be back to growth and so too will ..read more

Salmon will hold on to its position as the most profitable sector in aquaculture through 2024, while shrimp farmers are set to face continuing challenges. That’s the prediction in the latest Global Aquaculture Update from Netherlands-based Rabobank. Subtitled “The new normal”, the forecast for H1 2024 says the global salmon industry will continue to be the most profitable aquaculture sector. The shrimp industry is struggling to stabilise amid oversupply, low prices, and weak Chinese import demand. Further good news for the salmon farmers is that global fishmeal supply is expected to improve, a ..read more

Italy is falling in love with salmon in a big way, says the Norwegian Seafood Council. Export figures show that the country has been leading the way in terms of growing demand in the run up to Christmas. Measured in euros, Italy is now the third largest growth market after Poland and Denmark, Europe’s two main salmon processing countries. Seafood Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl said growth was up by around 50% to NOK 2.3 billion (£168m). Tom-Jørgen Gangsø, the Seafood Council’s Italy envoy, said this success had been achieved despite the country experiencing higher inflation following the Covi ..read more

Fish Farmer providing the latest expert view and news in the aquaculture industry Italy is falling in love with salmon in a big way, says the Norwegian Seafood Council. Export figures show that the country has been leading the way in terms of growing demand in the run up to Christmas. Measured in euros, Italy is now the third largest growth market after Poland and Denmark, Europe’s two main salmon processing countries. Seafood Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl said growth was up by around 50% to NOK 2.3 billion (£168m). Tom-Jørgen Gangsø, the Seafood Council’s Italy envoy, said this success had ..read more

Fish Farmer providing the latest expert view and news in the aquaculture industry An Israeli company that aims to revolutionise vaccination for shrimp farming has raised US $8.25m (£6.6m) from a consortium of venture capitalists. ViAqua Therapeutics is developing an orally delivered vaccine platform for the targeted administration of RNA-based solutions to improve disease resistance in aquaculture. RNA vaccines work by introducing an mRNA sequence (a specific molecule which guides cell reproduction cells) so that the immune system recognises it when the actual pathogen is encountered, and can ..read more