USSEC continued on-site consultations on the benefits of soy to targeted flounder growers in Korea.  These target audiences consisted of eight flounder growers in Uljin and Youngduk, Gyeongsangbuk-do province who are participating in the Korean government’s “Feed Extruded Feed (EP) Feed” program.  In this program, EP feed is fed for fish’s entire, one year life cycle from fingerling to market size.
USSEC’s objective, in working with the flounder growers, is to deliver the message that soy has more advantages than fish meal in fish production.  The information provided emphasized that plant-derived feed ingredients are lower in heavy metals, bacteria and dioxin, known to be harmful to both fish and humans, than fish- and animal-derived feed ingredients.  The Korean government anticipates that by 2016, the percentage of EP feed in the aquafeed market will increase to 60 percent from the current 20 percent.  The “Feed EP Feed” program is a critical component of speeding up the shift to protein meal-based EP feed from fish-based moist pellet (MP) feed.  This is an opportunity to create/expand demand of U.S. soybean meal or soy protein concentrate in Korea’s expanding EP feed market.  USSEC’s mission in Korea is to inspire target audiences to accept the expanded use of soy in aquafeed by increasing their understanding about the benefits of soy in terms of food safety, sustainable supply and consistency in quality compared to fish meal.