USSEC visited several aqua feed millers in the Philippines to discuss concerns and issues in the production of extruded aqua floating feed and provide information on the use of alternative ingredients as replacement to fish meal in fish nutrition.  Levy Loreto Manalac, Philippines USSEC Technical Manager-Aquacultur;, Mr. Lukas Manomaitis, Technical Director-Aquaculture, USSEC Southeast Asia; and Mr. Mark Newman, USSEC Feed Mill and Nutrition Consultant, attended the visits.

Mr. Newman conducted feed mill in-house seminars and meetings, presenting the following topics:  “Extrusion Principles and Equipment in Aquaculture Feed Production,” “Cost-Effective Feed Formulations in Challenging Economic Times,” “The Utilization of Soybean Products to Reduce the Amount of Fishmeal and Fish Oil in Aquaculture Feeds,” “The Combined Use of Soy and Rendered Animal Products for Fishmeal and Fish Oil Replacement in Aquaculture Feeds” and “Milkfish: Nutrition and Feeds.”  These seminars and meetings were attended by production and quality assurance specialists and laboratory personnel from USSEC soy business partners Texicon Agriventures Inc., San Miguel Pure Foods Co., Philippine Foremost Milling, Hoc Po Feeds, Marcela Farms, and Alsons Aquaculture.