USSEC sponsored a soy utilization session at this year’s World Aquaculture Society Asian-Pacific Aquaculture 2013 Conference (APA13).  Nearly 2,300 participants attended this year’s conference, held for the first time ever in Vietnam.  The three day event took place from December 10-13 in Ho Chi Minh City, drawing more than 100 exhibitors from aquaculture feed ingredient and equipment companies around the world.  49 different scientific sessions were held, covering a wide range of topics related to all aspects of aquaculture.

USSEC, an APA13 sponsor, chaired a session titled “Economics and Management” and hosted another called “Soy Utilization in Aquaculture.”  USSEC staff gave several presentations during this session.  USSEC Deputy Regional Director – Southeast Asia Timothy Loh discussed “Understanding Soy Markets in Volatile Times.”  “Comparison on Production Performance of Grass Carp at Three Densities with USSEC Soy-Based Feed in Shanxi Province, China” was presented by Enhua Zhou from USSEC China’s aquaculture program.  USSEC Indonesia’s aquaculture coordinator Gede Sumiarsa talked about “Comparison of Feed Diets Using a Novel Soy Ingredient on the Performance of Sea Bass.”  Philippines USSEC Technical Manager - Aquaculture Levy Manalac lectured on “Application of the USSEC Program’s Low Volume High Density Cage Aquaculture Technologies and Soy Optimized Floating Feeds with Milkfish in the Philippines.”
USSEC Southeast Asia Regional Technical Director for Aquaculture, Lukas Manomaitis, chaired the workshop on Economics and Management and gave a presentation on “Investing in Southeast Asian Aquaculture: Where Can Targeted Investment Make a Difference for Industry and Profit for Investors.”  Mr. Manomaitis is also the current president of the Asian-Pacific branch of the World Aquaculture Society, the main organizer for this event.

Vietnam is the world’s fourth largest aquaculture producer and the largest producer of fresh water Pangasius catfish.  The country has a rapidly expanding aquaculture industry boasting a nearly 50% increase in the last five years in hectares in aquaculture production and an increase of over 100% per year in tons produced for the past 16 years.  In 2013, Vietnam also became the tenth largest customer for U.S. soybeans and thirteenth largest customer for U.S. soybean meal, importing almost 35 million bushels.