EAS gives highest award to Sachi Kaushik

At the opening plenary session of the Aquaculture Europe 2017 event - organised by the European Aquaculture Society in Dubrovnik, Croatia - Sadisivam (Sachi) Kaushik, founder and director of the Fish Nutrition Joint research units of the Hydrobiology Station at St Pee sur Nivelle, was presented with an Honorary Life Membership of EAS.

Honorary Life Membership of EAS is an award given to those persons that have had a marked impact on the development of European aquaculture. Since 1981, EAS has bestowed this award on only 12 persons, including such names as Eric Edwards, Peter Hjul, Colin Nash, Courtney Hough, Pascal Divanach, Patrick Sorgeloos and Michael New.

The award was presented by the EAS 2016-2018 President Bjorn Myrseth, who introduced the awardee as a very well-known name in aquaculture – not only in Europe – but throughout the world. His name is synonymous with the word ‘nutrition’ – and it was therefore fitting that the award was made just after a very thought-provoking plenary presentation on the evolution of the human brain and the pivotal role of marine DHA and trace elements, entitled “Is substitution compromising our omega 3 (DHA) position?” by Professor Michael A Crawford of Imperial College, London.

Bjorn Myrseth described how, over a period of 30 years, Sachi Kaushik founded and directed the Fish Nutrition Joint research units of the Hydrobiology Station at St Pee sur Nivelle, France and many of his PhD and other students have gone on to become respected scientists in this field.

He has continuously supported the development of the EAS and has tirelessly supported aquaculture expansion through the FAO, UNDP, World Bank and other organisations. In 2015, he was made an Officer of the ‘Ordre du Mérite Agricole’ by the French government for his services to nutrition and to aquaculture.

He has published more than 300 papers and given countless presentations, expert consultations, articles and interviews on the issues of replacement of fish meal and fish oil, fish in/fish out ratios, human nutrition. Now retired from INRA, he is currently leading a migratory life between his home in the French Basque country and the University of Las Palmas in Grand Canaria, where he is the European Research Area chair on ecosystem approaches to sustainable aquaculture development in the eco-aqua initiative.

On calling Sachi to receive his award, Bjorn spoke of his pleasure and personal honour to make the presentation of Honorary Life Membership to him on behalf of the European Aquaculture Society. Judging from the appreciation showed by the audience, Sachi was a very popular awardee.

Photo caption:
New EAS Honorary Life Member Sachi Kaushik. Photo courtesy of MisPeces.com

AQUI Impact once again above 1

The 2016 Impact Factor of our peer-reviewed scientific journal Aquaculture International was 1.095 in 2016, hence rising above 1 for the first time since 2012. We very much hope that you will continue to submit quality papers and reviews to the journal and especially arising from presentations made at our Aquaculture Europe events. EAS members have access to all recent papers published online, by logging in and then going to the menu item 'Members' and clicking on 'AQUI online' on the drop down sub-menu.

UPDATED abstract guidelines for our AE events

We have update our abstracts for our Aquaculture Europe events! So please make sure that you follow our new  abstract guidelines on quality and on format when you submit.
Abstracts need to reflect the quality of the science, in terms of its rigour, its contribution to knowledge and its impact to end-users. EAS strongly supports good knowledge management. Please therefore clearly show the impact and implications of your research for the sector and how you will/have communicated the knowledge derived for the potential users of your results. We recognise that ongoing analysis and interpretation of results may hinder early submission, and it is therefore possible to amend/update your abstract before a second (final print) deadline (usually early July). Naturally, updates and amendments can only be made to abstracts that have been submitted before the initial deadline, so this is not an opportunity to make a late initial submission Please kindly pass on this message to your colleagues and contacts that would still like to submit.

DSM and Evonik establish joint venture for omega-3 fatty acids from natural marine algae

Royal DSM and Evonik today announced their intention to establish a joint venture for omega-3 fatty acid products from natural marine algae for animal nutrition. This breakthrough innovation will, for the first time, enable the production of omega-3 fatty acids for animal nutrition without using fish oil from wild caught fish, a finite resource. Evonik and DSM’s alternative omega-3 source is the first to offer both EPA and DHA and will be aimed at initial applications in salmon aquaculture and pet food. The companies will together build a commercial-scale production facility in the United States. See film summary

EAS Reduced Membership fees

EAS offers reduced fees for Individual and Institutional membership. The reduced fee for Individual Membership is available for students, retired persons and for individuals residing in certian countries around Europe. Institutes based in those countries may benefit from the reduced rate for Institutional Membership The country list has now been expanded, following the update of the World Bank GNI listing, which is the basis for eligibility. So if you reside in those countries, then you can join us at reduced rates.

ARRAINA: Understanding Biomarkers in Fish Nutrition

This booklet is the final in a series of three technical booklets on the nutrition and feeding of fish farmed in Europe. The species focussed on by the ARRAINA project are: Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, common carp, European sea bass and gilthead sea bream.

It provides a reliable set of biomarkers and associated methodologies to assess the nutritionally mediated effects on growth performance, metabolic homeostasis, stress responsiveness and health condition of fish which are fed new diet formulations from early life stages to completion of production cycle and sexual maturation.

http://www.arraina.eu/results/arraina-technical-booklets

IDREEM Final Report: Beyond Fish Monoculture

Over the last four years IDREEM (Increasing Industrial Resource Efficiency in European Mariculture) has supported fish-farmers across Europe, in developing different systems to introduce Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) in their farming facilities. IMTA has the potential to deliver greater productivity and reduced environmental impact for the European aquaculture industry and this is the principal message of the FINAL REPORT of the project, that finished in September.

FOOD 2030 - Aquatic Food Products & New Marine Value Chains

As part of the FOOD 2030 high-level conference held in Brussels in October, four parallel workshops were organised to provide ideas and needs towards building the future of EU research and innovation policy for Food and Nutrition Security. One of these - Aquatic food products and new marine value chains - was organised by the Marine Resources Unit of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission and looked at three thematic areas of aquaculture and fisheries: Underused fish biomass, new algae value chains for food and consumer acceptability of aquaculture products. Here are the presentations and report.