USSEC Southeast Asia Technical Director – Aquaculture Lukas Manomaitis worked with USSEC’s Southeast Asia (SEA) team to complete the first aquaculture formulation workshop series in SEA at seven locations in five nations: Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. The series marked the rollout of the new Asian Aquaculture Formulation Database (AAFFD), the first time that USSEC worked with its new formulation program cooperator (Adifo’s Bestmix), and the first time that USSEC held workshops for aquaculture formulators using an aquaculture specific database.
The formulations done at the workshop covered nine species, some at several life stages, including tilapia, carp, African catfish, Pangasius, white shrimp, Asian sea bass, milkfish, grouper, and pompano. Formulations were done using local ingredient prices and qualities, and USSEC worked with the audience to get formulation applicable to local conditions.
Participation feedback was very positive with attendees showing that they found the information presented valuable and that they increased their understanding of USSEC’s activities in the feedmill industry such as discussing the value, utility and use of U.S. Soy products.
The “Stage I Final AAFFD Database” is available online and can be accessed at www.tinyurl.com/AAFFD.
USSEC plans to make these formulation workshops a yearly event, with three to four per year, as the AAFFD incorporates the issues, suggestions and lessons learned from site use. The AAFFD will be one of USSEC’s key programs moving forward to directly target the use of U.S. Soy products in SEA aquaculture.