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In this newsletter:

EDITORIAL
HIGH PRESSURE PROCESSING CONTINUES TO SHOW INCREDIBLE PROMISE
WHAT'S AQUACULTURE'S FUTURE
GOAL PROJECTION
SURGE DEMAND TO CHALLENGE AQUACULTURE CAPACITY
FARMED COBIA A HIT AT KING'S SEAFOOD
BRAND NAMES TO BE REMEMBERED

Over the holidays I was given an excellent book to read “Four Fish” by Paul Greenberg, a must read for anybody involved in Aquaculture. In essence it is the story of Salmon, Sea Bass, Cod and Tuna and how these fish have been decimated in the wild, then domesticated for farming. Much of the science, the trials and tribulations of getting to that point makes for great reading. There are salutary lessons for all participants in the trawl sector. Equally fascinating was the mention made of both New Zealand and Australia. Did you know that Thanasis Frantzos, the father of the European Sea Bass industry did his PhD at the University of Otago on New Zealand’s southern island? Did you also appreciate that the farming of a Tuna substitutes for the Sushi trade has been the work of Neil Sims, an Australian, and his company Kona Blue in Hawaii. The fish has been called Kona Kampachi. Our last two newsletters focussed on AQUASCAN counters and our VSA oxygen generation system from PCI. Both have been the subject of a lot more interest. In the case of the latter very attractive pay–back compared to liquid or bottled oxygen. While it will have reference for only some of our customer base we are touching on High Pressure Processing (HPP). This technology which can be described as Cold Pasteurization allows us to substantially improve chilled shelf life of pre-packed fish and shellfish. It can also be used for shucking of molluscs and flesh removal from lobsters and crabs. The article included describes a Toll Processing operation, but will allow you to see the major developments in the food processing industry. Installations are operational in both Australia and New Zealand. Tony Rumbold

1. High Pressure Processing Continues to Show Incredible Promise
High Pressure Processing Continues to Show Incredible Promise Two years ago, we lauded High Pressure Processing (“HPP”) as “one of the most promising food safety technologies.” As it turns out, we were right. In 2005, the American Pasteurization Company (“APC”) became the first company in the country to offer HPP on a commercial tolling basis. Just five years after the company opened its doors, we are excited to report that APC has been embraced by industry and the company is expanding. As we wrote previously, HPP is a post-packaging pasteurization technique. The technology can be applied to food products with high water content, such a ready-to-eat meals and poultry products, seafood, fruits, vegetables and soft cheeses. HPP works by uniformly applying up to 87,000 psi of hydrostatic pressure to foods, often in their final packaging, for up to three minutes and beyond. The hydrostatic pressure does not compress the food product, but it does destroy food-borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. APC ‘s first processing facility in Milwaukee started with just two employees processing about 5,000 pounds of food each week. Today, the company’s staff numbers over 50 and is processing more than 700,000 pounds per week. In order to meet the growing demand, APC just opened a second processing facility in Evansville, Indiana. The company hopes to open even more locations across the United States in the future. The benefits of HPP are especially significant given its proven ability to eliminate food-borne pathogens in certain products. The emotional and financial toll of a food-borne illness outbreak and product recall can devastate a manufacturer. The average cost of a recall to companies is $10 million, in addition to brand damage and lost sales. Thus, by removing pathogens from treated products, and by extension all associated risk, the long term benefits can be substantial. HPP can also double a product’s shelf life while simultaneously removing the manufacturer’s need to add chemical preservatives. Longer shelf life means longer production runs and fewer markdowns. The business of one APC customer went from static to growing when, with an extended shelf life, it was able to switch its product from frozen to fresh. These feats are accomplished without the use of chemicals or irradiation, and amazingly, without affecting product quality, thus satisfying some of the most significant consumer issues right now: (1) safe; and (2) natural. While irradiation has remained controversial for many years, HPP is quickly gaining a much wider acceptance. With regard to regulatory compliance, HPP is USDA and FDA approved and helps processors comply with current Listeria regulations. So is there any downside to HPP? Well, yes. While HPP makes our ready-to-eat meats, raw shellfish and salsa safer, the process cannot yet be applied to all foods. The good news is that APC is diligently working to expand HPP’s portfolio of products, which will hopefully someday include ground beef.

2. What's aquaculture's future by Nicki Holmyard, SeafoodSource contributing editor 07 September, 2010
We are well acquainted with the efforts of aquaculture feed companies to use less fishmeal by substituting it with soy and grain proteins and oils. This is an economic strategy that is fine while grain and soy prices are stable and low and seafood prices are high, but it is also vulnerable to sudden rises in commodity prices. Questions are also asked about whether it is right to feed soy and grain meal to fish when humans can eat it themselves. The extreme weather over the summer months, together with widespread fires in the Russian grain belt, have led the country’s authorities to place a ban on wheat exports. This has caused a sharp rise in the world price of wheat, and it is certain that this will have a knock-on effect on other commodity grains, as substitution takes place and speculators move in to make a quick buck. As reported by SeafoodSource last week, the FAQ warned that it is “highly unlikely that commodity prices will fall to pre-2000 levels in the foreseeable future.” Such events bring home the reality that a large part of aquaculture is just another branch of agriculture and relies on much the same ingredients as poultry, pork, beef and dairy production. In some ways it can be seen that fed aquaculture is even less of a farming activity than some of these land based examples. After all, when did a salmon farmer rely on natural grazing to provide part of his livestock’s diet? All this leads to speculation about just what is true aquaculture. At one end of the scale the culture of carnivorous fish requires that all food is supplied by the farmer, while at the other end there is culture of seaweeds and filter feeding molluscs that require no inputs of any kind. In between are a range of activities such as semi-intensive shrimp farming, pond culture of carp and tilapia, and tank culture of abalone and sea urchin. In all these systems the fish or shellfish feed on naturally available food, but also rely to some extent on an artificial diet being provided for them. This range of activities is no different from those we find in land based agriculture, with the great majority of meat coming from animals that are entirely reliant on an artificial diet. At the other end of the scale is the harvest of free range meat and organic, zero input vegetables. Everything else in between requires either an artificial diet or a high input of fertilizers and energy. Why then, do the environmental organizations reserve special criticism for those who do their farming in the sea, rivers or lakes? Why is it OK to put half a continent under the plough to produce bread, beef, beer and biofuel, yet it is somehow immoral to feed soy protein to a salmon? The world has a growing population, and it is widely accepted that people should eat more seafood to promote good health. However, if this is to happen, then the gap between supply and demand will continue to grow and can only be filled by aquaculture, given the static or declining nature of fish stocks. For aquaculture to meet the demand in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, it needs to free itself from reliance on land-based agriculture products. This means finding ways of producing fish and shrimp diets from within the aquaculture industry itself by massive cultivation of organisms further down the food chain such as seaweeds, bivalves and other filter feeders. Only then will aquaculture truly distinguish itself as bein something separate, different and perhaps better than agriculture? It will be interesting to see how and when this happens.

3. Goal Projection: Surging Demand to Challenge Aquaculture Capacity
Expert presenters at GAA’s October 17-20 2010 meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said that rising global demand for seafood, driven mainly by a rapidly growing middle class in Asia, is pressuring the aquaculture industry to find sustainable ways to increase productivity. Keynote economist Albert Zeufack of the World Bank said that by 2030, 90% of the expected three billion new consumers in the global middle class will live in the Asia Pacific region. Economist Ragnar Tveteras said China will shift from a net seafood exporter to a net seafood importer by 2011, and its per-capita seafood consumption will likely double by 2020.

4. Farmed Cobra a hit at King's Seafood 05 November, 2010
Last week, King’s Seafood restaurants in Southern California became the world’s first chain to feature farmed cobia from Vietnam. The cobia, produced by Norway-based Marine Farms, is sold under the akvacobia brand and will be featured on menus as part of the Farm to Table promotion at 12 King’s Seafood locations through the remainder of the year. The idea for the promotion originated three years ago when King’s CEO Sam King and Marine Farms CEO Bjorn Myrseth met at an investment conference. In July, King’s launched the product at one location, and customer feedback was positive. According to Harvey Lipman, director of new business development for the Nordic Group, which markets the Vietnam product for Marine Farms, King was eager to feature the farmed cobia, calling it the most innovative new product he’d seen in months. “King’s is a very innovative chain, very consumer oriented and a leading-edge operation,” said Lipman. “There’s no spontaneous demand for cobia other an when people try it they’re delighted by it. King’s followed careful product development to understand cooking times and cooking platforms.” King’s is now serving akvacobia both grilled and blackened and according to King, the response has been good so far. “It’s a very fatty whitefish; it’s a really interesting product,” said King, who likened the fish to Chilean sea bass and black cod. “It’s like eating four or five different fish in one.” Marine Farms Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of farmed cobia and expects 2011 output to exceed 1,500 metric tons.

5. Brand names to be remembered
Aqualife, Biostream, TMC, Atlantium, PCI, Arvotec, Faivre, Refamed, IAA, Aquascan, Prawnfresh Click here