USSEC conducted an online seminar on shrimp nutrition and feeding management on August 17 and feeding management on August 17 and 18. The virtual event aimed to update participants’ knowledge of the most recent information and technology, thus increasing their productivity.

USSEC had originally planned to organize a series of shrimp nutrition seminars presented by Dr. Allen Davis, Auburn University professor and USSEC aquaculture nutrition and feeding consultant, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical seminars were not conducted in individual Southeast Asian countries, but instead were moved to an online platform for the target audiences. The webinars were conducted in four different countries:  Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. On August 17, 52 representatives from the general aquaculture industry, including nutritionists, feed formulators, feed ingredient companies, and researchers took part in the webinar, with 49 aquaculture representatives exclusive to crude protein joining on the 18th.

Dr. Davis gave two presentations, “Shrimp Nutrition” and “Feed Management and the Transition to Automated Feeding Systems for the Production of L. Vannamei.” He fielded many questions on the importance of soybean meal and provided suggestions.  Dr. Ramesh of Wenger, Inc. presented “Extruded Shrimp Feeds – The Future,” talking to participants about feed extrusion technology.

The Thai participants would like for USSEC to continue to provide this kind of technical support to help them determine how to best manufacture nutritious feed for their customers.

Currently, the inclusion of U.S. soybean meal in aquafeed is about 20 to 30%. U.S. soy usage in Thailand is projected to increase as aquaculture production increases.