Author: Dibaq Aquaculture

FOR OUR PLANET

There is no doubt that the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector is the highest priority of all those involved in this process.

 

Raw materials are not inexhaustible and obviously their use requires rationality and best practices.

 

While the need for marine proteins is constantly increasing, targeted actions are needed that result in a real saving of raw materials.

 

Dibaq’s research and development department, aims to create products that will result in maximum performance with the smallest environmental footprint. It is with great pride, excitement and optimism we share our achievement for 2022 target, that 93% of marine ingredients used, come from trimmings – by products and not from wild fisheries.

 

Customers are provided with technical advice and support so as to achieve the best possible result.

 

It is clear that achieving as low as possible feed conversion rates entails apart from the beneficial use of raw materials and significant improvement of financial results, which also means sustainable business management.

 

However, we must not overlook that the good management of raw materials also implies the best practices of production management. 

 

So it seems that in order to form an essential condition where the environment will have a primary role, all participants of fish farming  should be possessed by the same concept of saving resources and substantial protection of the environment.

 

It is not enough to produce correctly and in sustainable terms, but to be able to transport and distribute products on the basis of perfect management conditions. 

 

The environment concerns all of us and the end result is the responsibility of all of us. So we should be talking much more about environmental culture and less about individual actions of everyone.

 

At Dibaq, we support initiatives and strategies in the direction of creating a culture of environmental management. We want to be part of a large chain of partners who embrace our own priorities and needs. At the end of the day it’s not a choice, it’s our obligation. Let’s blue revolution have the green future it deserves.

 

THE EMERGING RISK OF PFA’S

European and therefore Spanish legislation is reviewing maximum content limits and intensifying the control of certain undesirable substances in food, to increase and improve the food safety of the products we consume.

 

           One of the substances that is being focused on is PFA’s (PerFluoroAlquilated substances). Clear examples of this interest are Recommendation (EU) 2022/1431 of the commission of August 24, 2022 on the monitoring of perfluoroalkyl substances in food (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2022/1431/oj),

 

Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2388 of December 7, 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 with regard to the maximum content of perfluoroalkyl substances in certain food products (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2388/oj)

 

  and in Spanish legislation with Royal Decree 3/2023, of January 10, which establishes the technical-sanitary criteria for the quality of drinking water, its control and supply (https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2023/01/10/3).

 

           At Dibaq, aware of the importance and awareness that our clients have of their products in the eyes of final consumers, people, we want to help them control this emerging risk. For this reason, and although it is not applicable to animal feed, we anticipate and have implemented a PFA control plan in our food risk management. In order to eliminate animal feed as one of the risk sources of PFA’s in their products.

 

Picture of: https://www.researchgate.net

 

EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS AND PERSPECTIVES FOR THE PORTUGESE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

We are pleased to share our participation in the recent XXIII Aquaculture Seminar and in the OmegaPeixe WorkShop, an event that brought together experts from the Portuguese industry to discuss strategies that promote the sustainability, competitiveness and diversification of the sector.

 

Both meetings brought together professionals and creative minds from the country’s aquaculture, with the aim of addressing current and future challenges.

 

As fish feed manufacturers committed to quality and innovation, we believe that these platforms are essential to keep us informed and connected with the latest developments in the sector in Portugal. Sustainability, competitiveness and diversification are essential elements for the growth of aquaculture, and we are proud to contribute to these objectives.

 

During the seminar, we had the opportunity to interact with passionate colleagues and experts, and we shared our perspectives on how to move towards a brighter future for aquaculture. Rich conversations and inspiring ideas motivate us to continue to innovate and collaborate to address the challenges and seize the opportunities emerging in our industry.

 

We thank all the participants, organizers and collaborators of both the XXIII Aquaculture Seminar and the OmegaPeixe WorkShop for creating a space conducive to the exchange of knowledge and collaboration. We are excited to continue to be an active part of these efforts and work together towards a strong future for global aquaculture.

DIBAQ AQUACULTURE VISITS THE WORLD AQUACULTURE FAIR IN AUSTRALIA

Dibaq was, one year more, to the Aquaculture Congress most important in Asia, WAS.

This congress was celebrated this year in Darwin, Australia, at the days 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June. Hand in hand of the director of Marine Aquaculture, the doctor Eloy Meseguer, Dibaq could check the status of the news species of the future, as well as confirm the good behavior of our products in the Asian zone, where cultivate more than 20 different species today and where Dibaq hopes, at short and medium term, to have one important part of its international market there.

FERMENTED VEGETABLE PROTEIN IN AQUACULTURE

proteinas-vegetales-nutricion-acuicuicola

A common goal in a short term in modern Aquaculture is to reduce the use of fish meal as a main ingredient on fish nutrition trying to find more sustainable ingredients, environmentally friendly, natural resource and with the aim to report several benefits on growth, immunity besides other benefits to the fish.

As a result of this global search, there are several ingredients that are being tested to replace part of the fish meal used on fish feed (seaweed, insect meal, etc.) but the ones that are showing better results are Fermented Vegetable Proteins (mainly fermented of some legumes).

Raw or not treated meal from these legumes have some anti-nutritional factors that can have negative effects not only in performance but also on fish health. Microbial fermentation is commonly used to avoid these negative effects and, also, to have other benefits as improving nutrient assimilation and palatability.

Recent research (Qin Zhang et al., 2023) carried out in Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) shows that diets replaced 10% fish meal protein with fermented vegetable meal protein improve nutritional performance, with better growth rates and a significant improvement of antioxidant and immunity capacity of the juveniles.

DIBAQ, as a company absolutely concern on how the R&D can help to improve its products and carry out new projects and new developments, does not stay out of this progress. That’s why DIBAQ has recently started several projects with the aim to first hand analyse the effects of introducing fermented vegetables protein at different replacement of fish meal levels, on diets of some important commercial Mediterranean species.

FEED FOR MULLET

mugil-cephalus-aquafeed

Mullet (Mugil cephalus) is a highly valued fish throughout the Mediterranean area, especially for its roe, which is marketed as a substitute for caviar or as botarga, although interest in its fresh consumption has also increased recently. Likewise, its cultivation would be more acceptable to an increasingly aware consuming public that demands sustainability and less environmental impact. Apart from the Mediterranean area, the species is very promising in Korea where it is highly appreciated at a culinary level.

Given the growing interest in this species, Grupo Dibaq, the Spanish manufacturer of feed for aquaculture, is developing a specific food for the species, both in the fingerling and fattening phases. New developments, as usual, will be backed by Dibaq’s experience in new foods for species of growing interest.

This species, which easily adapts to breeding in nurseries, could be incorporated in the near future into the Spanish catalog of fish species, since it is part of projects such as Diversify, at the same time that the FAO sees it as a promising protein source.

RAS AQUACULTURE, TOWARDS ZERO WASTE

ras-system-aquaculture

Zero Waste is a global movement that aims to stop generating waste or reduce it as much as possible. But beyond a social movement, it is also a concern and one of the main objectives of organizations like the FAO. FAO is particularly sensitive to food loss and waste. Food losses are defined as “the decrease in the quantity or quality of food”. Agricultural or fishery products intended for human consumption that are not ultimately consumed or that lose quality, nutritional value, economic value, or food safety. At Dibaq and Grupo Tejedor Lázaro (GTL) we are also committed to reducing waste and we believe that RAS (recirculating aquaculture systems) aquaculture farms can contribute to meeting the objective.

The implementation of RAS aquaculture systems facilitates the rationalization of aquaculture production making it more easily manageable and predictable, so that the product can be delivered to the market based on demand. In this way, massive productions dependent on weather conditions that saturate the market with overproduction that cannot always be absorbed by consumers and may end up wasted, are avoided.

When studying and designing the production farms, a holistic vision is used, which includes the location of the facilities, assessing the distance from suppliers and the market to minimize the CO2 footprint derived from transport. Regarding the design, it should be noted that the RAS farms designed by Derwent Engineering (also part of GTL) are projected from the point of view of sustainability and the circular economy since we managed to minimize the use of water due to the filtering (mechanical, biological and UV) that allow us to reuse up to 95% of water and with a subsequent treatment of effluents. The water consumption of the closed circuit only occurs by evaporation, and this is the only quantity that must be replaced in the process. At Dibaq we have diets specially formulated for RAS systems that facilitate the maintenance of the system in perfect condition due to its high assimilation by the fish and less degradation in the water, reducing waste.

The aquaculture sector is presented as one of those exceptional cases in which sustainability is directly linked to greater economic profitability. Since, even if a producer does not care about the environment, the main cost is the feed, and for carnivorous species, specifically, ingredients such as oil or fishmeal and, currently, the industry is really interested in reducing their use in aquaculture feed. At Dibaq we have specially formulated diets for RAS systems that reduce this waste generation, at the same time, the aquaculture feed industry is constantly researching to incorporate by-products from other primary industries in their formulations to help reduce waste.

Therefore, minimizing the release of nutrients into the environment is not only a necessity, but a common good practice associated with RAS systems and aquaculture in general. In addition to this, RAS systems allow efficient treatment of effluents and waste, reducing the impact of the activity on the environment.

DIBAQ AQUACULTURE RECEIVES THE VISIT OF A GROUP OF ESTONIAN ENTREPRENEURS

Last month, Dibaq Aquaculture received the visit of an Estonian delegation made up of farmers, specialists, scientists and researchers from the world of aquaculture. In total, a group of 15 people who were able to learn, enjoy and contact our facilities to make an ambitious aquaculture growth plan a reality in their country, where Dibaq Aquaculture intends to play a privileged role both in the marketing of food and in consultancy and advice to Estonian entrepreneurs.

WE PARTICIPATE IN THE ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF MARINE PRODUCERS IN KOREA, BEXCO

The Dibaq Group was at the annual exhibition of marine producers in Korea, BEXCO, one more year bringing the best of its products and R+D+i focusing this year on new species of the future as the Seriola quinquerradiata and new products for RAS culture.

For this, DIBAQ, with the help of the Director of Marine Products Eloy Meseguer and our local partner Otti Rim, gave a conference to demonstrate the potential of our new products in local aquaculture.

ACUACULTURE IN THE AESAN

Global aquaculture production of farmed aquatic animals has been dominated by Asia, with a 89% of the production in the last two decades. Dibaq Aquaculture has set as one of its main objectives the ASEAN area (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which is responsible for 25% of world production with a total of approximately 30 million tons.

In the ASEAN area, Indonesia is the main producer with 50% of the production of Southeast Asia, with the largest cultivation in sea waters in the region and having shrimp as the most important. The following countries that stand out in production are Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.
The main species grown in the region are shrimp, followed by freshwater species such as tilapia, carp and catfish. Although it is true that in recent years high-value crops such as Barramundi (Lates calcalifer) or Asian sea bass and Grouper are being developed, for which Dibaq Aquaculture develops specific formulas.

Currently, the industry in the ASEAN zone confronts important challenges related to the nutritional quality of feed for aquaculture and the digestive health of animals in which Dibaq Aquaculture is constantly working on developing new formulations and investigating the possible inclusion of new ingredients to improve digestibility. and intestinal health, maximizing the efficiency of animal growth and maintaining competitiveness in the market.

In the medium term, growth in the sector is expected, driven by changes in consumer preferences and the demand for increasingly sustainable products. According to the FAO Asia will continue to dominate the aquaculture sector and will be responsible for more than 89% of the increase in production in 2030 and it is expected that most of the fish exports will originate in Asia, which will account for approximately 73 % of additional volumes exported in 2030.


Sources: ICEX, Veterinaria Digital, FAO, IPAC.