USSEC recently provided technical assistance to a major Mexican balanced feeds mill and its aquaculture customers.  USSEC consultant John Hargreaves traveled to Mexico to work with aquaculture producers who had participated in a 2013 fish RAPCO course held in Hacienda El Carmen.  Mr. Hargreaves visited four of the five largest tilapia farms in Mexico located in the states of Veracruz, Chiapas and Sonora and held one-on-one discussions with owners and technical managers.  These talks focused on assessing production practices, particularly those associated with feeding and site selection, and managing oxygen concentration during critical periods.

Mr. Hargreaves also gave four presentations at a one-day seminar including topics such as global tilapia market trends; water quality in earthen ponds and round tanks; nutrition, feeds and feeding of tilapia; and recent advances in catfish farming in the U.S.  Over 90 participants attended the seminar and were equally divided between producers and university students.