soybean field

USSEC Plans New Location for FY16 Offshore Marine Fish Cage Culture Study Tour: Malta and Italy

In May, USSEC visited and investigated the offshore marine fish cage aquaculture industry in Malta to evaluate whether it would be a suitable replacement for the recently cancelled (due to ongoing security concerns) team tour to the offshore industry in Izmir, Turkey.
USSEC Aquaculture Program Lead Technical Consultant - SEA Lukas Manomaitis worked with a local expert, Dr. Carmelo Agius, to get an overview of Malta’s marine fish cage aquaculture industry. Based on this trip, USSEC is confident that it will be able to bring a team to Malta later in 2016 to replace the cancelled tour in Turkey. Because Malta lacks a large hatchery facility, a trip to a suitable hatchery in Sicily is also being planned.
Marine fish aquaculture is particularly attractive for U.S. Soy products because marine fish require ingredients that are of high quality and very consistent.

Harvest activity of European sea bream at P2M’s offshore site in Malta
Harvest activity of European sea bream at P2M’s offshore site in Malta
USSEC Aquaculture Program Lead Technical Consultant - SEA Lukas Manomaitis with offshore cages in background near Malta
USSEC Aquaculture Program Lead Technical Consultant - SEA Lukas Manomaitis poses with offshore cages in the background near Malta