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Report on the 2019 Fishmeal Technical Workshop in Zhuhai, China

Fishmeal quality and safety and the integrity of fishmeal supply chain
 

On the 16th May 2019, IFFO organized a Fishmeal Technical Workshop in Zhuhai, Guangdong province of China, focusing on “fishmeal quality & safety and the integrity of fishmeal supply chain”. Five speakers gave presentations, and topics covered fishmeal market dynamics, processing and technology, safety and quality control, standards and certification and it was obvious that the Chinese feed industry relies on the importance of marine ingredients in manufacturing high quality aquafeeds.

  

Neil Auchterlonie, IFFO Technical Director, gave an overview of the fishmeal and fish oil industry, insisting on its sustainability and its efficiency. According to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, “91% of pelagic reduction fisheries are well-managed”. Furthermore, the use of wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish has become highly efficient, with 12 times the volume of fishmeal used in aquatic feed being created in the production of farmed seafood.

Guo Jiyuan, Quality Manager in New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd. Member of the Advisory Committee of China Feed Industry Standardization Technical Committee and member of the National Aquaculture Standardization Technical Committee, then gave an interesting insight on Chinese fishmeal imports and its domestic output.

Production is expected to decline, meaning China will require more imports to maintain current supply levels.  China’s Ministry of Agriculture has required local fishing companies reduce total catch from coastal waters to 10 million metric tons from 17m metric tons by 2020. China imported some 1.46 million metric tons of fishmeal last year.

Guo Jiyuan stressed the fact that higher requirements on fishmeal quality are now in place regarding protection of the environment and industrial integration, which led to increased investment on fishmeal factories and hence to improved production process and higher quality. More attention is now paid to fishmeal freshness as well as to the impacts of fats oxidation on animal intestinal health.

He ended up his presentation with a word on the China Fishmeal Standard GB19164, which is under revision.

 

Hu Miaofeng, Quality Manager of Aller Aqua (Qingdao) Co., Ltd., presented on the challenges for companies to use fishmeal (quality, cost, breeding effect, environmental protection). He explained that Aller Aqua is improving the use efficiency of fishmeal through:

  1. a quality index tested in Aller Aqua: chemical composition (Calcium, fat, protein, etc.), amino acid, vitamins, acid value, peroxide value, histamine, cadaverine, metals, etc.
  2. excellent fish resources, advanced processing technology, quality control system.
  3. optimizing feed formula with comprehensive adjustment (nutritional requirements, environmental protection, feed physical indicators), protein source substitution (animal protein source, plant protein source, crystal amino acid)and adjustment of production process.

 

Nguyen Nam Hai, sub-manager of Grain & feed section at Kanematsu Vietnam, provided a review on Vietnamese fishmeal and fish oil, with an annual production of 300,000MT.   

He focused on the fishmeal and fish oil annual production of pangasius (IFFO RS certified), which reaches 160,000mt/year and 180,000mt/year and then shared a few figures on the fishmeal and fish oil annual production of sea fish (140,000mt/year and 3,000mt/year).

 

Dr. Fan Xia, researcher of Institute for Agricultural Quality Standards and Testing Technology at the China Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS), focused on the inspection status of fishmeal.

She noted that high quality fishmeal used in China mainly comes from import.

In China Feed Ingredients Catalogue, fishmeal is categorized as single feed material and is required to register in the China’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOARA) if they have been imported.

As for the fishmeal inspection status, two standards are referred to: the China Fishmeal Standard GB/T 19164-2003 and the Hygienical Standard for Feed GB13078-2017.

 

A more detailed presentation is available for members in the Members' area.

Photos: Weimin Wang