Significant work is under way on food integrity and biosecurity issues.

Information on the scope of work and research and development that is proceeding through the Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporations is available here.

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I find that one of the most useful tools for helping to prioritise the most critical innovations is to start by looking at some of the major changes facing the industry.

Some of the main trends impacting on Aquaculture include:

• a shift from a production driven approach to a market driven approach with emphasis on the whole supply chain from producer to consumer
• increased globalisation resulting in greater competitive pressures, growing power of trans-national companies especially in food industry research, processing and marketing
• an exacting range of demands by consumers including product consistency, reliability of supply, food safety, product choice, and more recently, sustainability of production
• a revolution in technologies applied to aquaculture including genetic manipulation of plants and animals, precision farming and information management —this involves a trend to patented input systems
• the development of an industrialised system of aquaculture with increased vertical integration, a systems approach to aqua-industries and implementation of industry-wide quality assurance
• continuing increase in mechanisation and capital intensity
• concern for the environment, especially the issues of water quality and degradation, air quality and climate change
• reduction in the number of mainstream commercial farms, increasing farm size
• an increase in the ‘critical mass’ for aquaculture required to support up-to-date infrastructure, information systems, processing, reliable year-round supply capacity and marketing

NORWEGIAN researchers in Bergen are investigating how climate change affects feed utilisation and growth in farmed salmon. Sea temperature is also said to be rising in other countries that farm Atlantic salmon in sea cages: Chile, USA, Tasmania and Ireland, meaning this is an international issue.

Salmon prefer temperatures below approximately 17C. Fish farmers have experienced that feed intake among salmon drops in such periods, the growth is reduced and the feed conversion ratio rises. In other words, they say the fish do not utilise feed as efficiently.

“In the research project, Salmon farming in warmer seawater, funded by the Research Council of Norway, we are aiming to identify how much fat and protein salmon use for growth and how much they use to maintain bodily functions when the sea is 19C. We also want to find out how higher sea temperatures affect feed conversion and feed factor,” says Ernst Morten Hevrøy, a researcher at the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES). The project is a collaboration between the Institute of Marine Research, Marine Harvest Norway, Nofima Akvaforsk/Fiskeriforskning AS, Skretting and NIFES.

“The goal is to come up with a feed whose combination of nutrients ensures the growth and wellbeing of salmon and efficient feed utilisation in warmer water. This is also important in order to ensure good fish health.”