Volume 21 Issue 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
PROFILE
TOP 10 UNDER 40
A league of their own: The industry's most outstanding young professionals
Growing bigger, more robust smolts in RAS is the goal of Scottish Sea Farms' new state-of-the-art hatchery
Game changer
New Barcaldine hatchery moves Scottish farm to smolt self-sufficiency BY LIZA MAYER
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BY MARI-LEN DE GUZMAN
rom the Atlantic to the Pacific, this year’s roster of some of the world’s most exceptional hatchery practitioners under the age of 40 are as diverse as the species they work with. Ten talented professionals from around the world coming from different backgrounds – research, academia, production, business management – continue to provide confidence that the future of the industry is bright. Hatchery International is proud to shine a spotlight on these individuals and hope that it will serve to inspire the next breed of industry leaders pushing for a more stable, sustainable and profitable future for the aquaculture industry.
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FEEDING AND NUTRITION
Feed frenzy Researchers validate novel ingredients, but how quickly can they scale? BY LYNN FANTOM
he quest to find alternative aquafeed ingredients intensified in recent months, with announcements about successful feed trials of canolabased products, a study of how krill meal enhances the health of Atlantic salmon, and even plans to evaluate a single cell protein produced from industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. They are all part of a drive to ensure that the growth of aquaculture will not be limited by the supply of fishmeal and fish oil, which has been flat for the last forty years. And while single cell proteins, insects and microalgae appear to be winning favor from both analysts and investors, industry watchers question how quickly they can scale. With giants like Cargill taking seats at several tables, it is not a matter of if, but when.
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Cargill says it is sourcing a “basket” of sustainable options to lessen the pressure on fishmeal and fish oil. (Photo: Cargill)
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fter years of relying on flow-through hatcheries and freshwater lochs, Atlantic salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms made a decisive move in 2017 to build a freshwater hatchery equipped with recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology. The $72.3-million (£55-million) facility marks the single biggest investment for Scottish Sea Farms, co-owned by SalMar and the Lerøy Seafood Group ASA of Norway. It moved the producer beyond the familiarity of traditional hatcheries, which have proven inadequate to supply the growing needs of its 42 marine farms. “Even combined, these three hatcheries and four freshwater lochs didn’t have enough production to supply our farms. We even had to buy a lot of smolts from third-party suppliers,” says Noelia Rodriguez, operations manager of the Barcaldine RAS Hatchery, named after the Scottish village where the facility is located. Dependence on a geographically dispersed network of hatcheries and outside suppliers has led to unpredictability in the quality and size of the smolts and timing of deliveries.
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