On the first day, the main topic of the seminar was Health. Indeed, the first presentation was about fish pathologies and nutrition: intestinal and skin diseases. The farmers (re)discovered the preventive and curative management. Then, there was a focus on sustainability: current and future challenges that the Chilean industry will face towards the current & new regulations. This morning of conferences ended by the presentation of Dr Vincent FOURNIER - R&D Manager at Symrise Aqua Feed on health benefits of functional protein hydrolysate. Vincent highlighted the importance of using a standardized functional hydrolysate through the ActiShrimp product (shrimp hydrolysate powder).
In the afternoon, MerAlliance (a smoked fish leader part of Thai Union Group) welcomed the team to do the visit of the factory in Quimper. An interesting visit for the fish farmers who had the chance to enjoy the quality of the final products.
On the second day, Dr Daniel MERRIEFIELD, Associate Professor of Fish Health and Nutrition at University of Plymouth introduced the effects of the raw material replacement in the microbiota & health of the fish. Then, the Chilean and Norwegian fish farmers listened to Wolfgang KOPPE conference on nutrition/alternative ingredients: global changes that the industry is facing with the active ingredient. This presentation was followed by Vincent FOURNIER introduction to Palatability Enhancers for carnivorous fish (Extrapal range). The palatability enhancers help to be less dependent on animal proteins and allowing more novel and plants ingredients. It also helps the fish to adapt to a new diet or formulation changes.
After this conference, the attendees visited Aqualis (IFREMER) in Brest, one of the performance measurement centers of Symrise Aqua Feed. This marine fish facility was created in 2003 and since that time, 320 trials has been done and more than 2400 products/feeds/application have been evaluated for feed intake and nutritional benefits. The fish farmers were impressed by the precision of the results to offer efficient solutions on the market.