TARS 2019 Ends on a High Note for Asia’s Aquafeeds Sector

The ninth Aquaculture Roundtable Series (TARS 2019) successfully hosted 247 delegates from the Asia Pacific region, UK, USA, Canada and Latin America at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia from August 14-15 2019. This year’s focus on Aquafeeds: Fit for Future marked the third time the series addressed Asia’s aquafeed sector.

Featuring 16 presentations under 5 distinct plenary sessions, TARS 2019 covered industry updates, from aquaculture nutrition for shrimp, freshwater fish, and marine fish to nutritional requirements (new protein meals and oils to replace fish meal/oil), functional feeds, precision feed management practices, as well as growing the aquafeed business in Asia.

Mr Mimid Abdul Hamid, Director of Feed and Drug, Directorate General of Aquaculture, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), Indonesia, in his opening address, emphasized the value of partnerships and support needed from feed producers towards developing efficient and eco-friendly feeds to sustain the continued growth of Indonesia’s aquaculture.

During the state-of-industry session, Haris Muhtadi (Indonesia), Ravikumar Bangarusamy (India), Jarin Sawanboonchun (Thailand), and Marc Campet (Vietnam) reported on the unique and shared challenges in their respective countries. The shared concerns across these countries were culture-specific feed needs, over capacity, raw materials alternatives to replace fish meal and fish oil, new formulations to overcome disease challenges, and lower feed prices to match lower ex-farm prices for fish and shrimp. To ensure the future of Asia’s aquafeed sector, there needs to be better collaboration within the industry, academia and government.

Delegates benefited greatly from the Hard Talk with C-suite Executives session with Henrik Aarestrup, BioMar Group, Denmark; Palanisamy Ravi, The Waterbase Limited, India; and Christopher Co, Oversea Feeds Corporation, Philippines. They provided interesting insights into their business models for success and strategies to meet local demands within the current competitive aquafeed landscape.

From the farmer’s perspective, Rizky Darmawan gave his wish list on feeds to achieve the key performance indicators at his shrimp farm in Sumbawa. Troy Keast shared his views on the feed supply chain and operational experiences at his integrated Asian seabass farm in Bali, Indonesia.

The three breakout roundtable and panel report sessions on shrimp, freshwater fish and marine fish feeds ended the two-day meeting on a high note, with enthusiastic discussions from delegates on current issues, areas for improvement, and solutions to take Asia’s aquafeed industry forward.

Organized by Aqua Culture Asia Pacific and Corporate Media Services PL, TARS 2019 was supported by the Directorate General for Aquaculture, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia. Sponsors included Inve Aquaculture & Benchmark Holdings, DSM, Corbion, Biomin, BASF, Adisseo, BioMar, Calysta, Jefo Nutrition, Veramaris, Phibro Aqua and Skretting.

A big shout-out to each and everyone of you for your participation and invaluable contributions to the success of TARS 2019!

TARS 2020 with the focus on Shrimp Aquaculture will be held August 19-20, 2020. Mark Your Calendars!

Source : TARS