The aquaculture feed sector in Asia is made up of a multitude of larger and smaller feed manufacturers with very different scientific and technical capabilities, logistical and financial resources and constraints. The large of number of species cultivated, the differences in production systems used in the cultivation of the fish, the large number of feed ingredients used and the significant variability in their chemical and nutritional composition are all combining to create a challenging environment for aquaculture feed formulators in Asia.
The International Aquaculture Feed Formulation Database (IAFFD) is an open access database that answers some important needs of this industry. The IAFFD is developed by a consortium comprised of Veridis Aquatic Technologies Inc. (Cobourg, ON, Canada), the University of Guelph’s Fish Nutrition Research Laboratory (UG-FNRL Guelph, ON, Canada) and the Groupe de recherche en physiologie animale (Gripha) of Laval University (Quebec, Qc, Canada), with the support of the United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and the Maximizing Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge, Enterprise Development and Trade (MARKET) Project, an initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The IAFFD should contribute greatly to the intensive development of cost-effective aquaculture feeds in Asia. The purpose of this database is to provide stakeholders in International aquaculture with a functional understanding of the nutritional requirements of a large number of species at different life stages, as well as the accurate characterization of the nutritive value of different feed ingredients.
The IAFFD is comprised of two major modules: 1) Feed Ingredient Composition Database (FICD) containing detailed information on the chemical composition and nutritional value of about 300 ingredients, and 2) Aquaculture Species Nutritional Specifications Database (ASNS) including nutrient specifications for 24 species or groups of species that are commercially important in Asia.
Data in ASNS is derived largely from a nutritional modeling effort built on the standardized compilation, integration, and interpretation of available information. Data in the FICD comes from the compilation of information from a variety of documents and databases on the chemical composition and nutritive value of about 300 feed ingredients that can potentially be used in aquaculture feeds. All the data contained in this database are guidelines. These guidelines are intended to assist International aquaculture feed manufacturers in making informed decisions regarding the formulation of feeds for different species at different life stages or different weight ranges. The IAFFD is a reference tool and cannot substitute itself for the research, analyses and due diligence that a feed manufacturer should carry out.
The IAFFD is developed in a user-friendly cloud-based interface so that feed manufacturers, aquaculture producers and other industry stakeholders can more easily and effectively utilize these tools and work cooperatively to generate knowledge required to meet current and future challenges in the aquaculture industry.
Access to the IAFFD is free of charge. Feedback and cooperation from aquaculture industry stakeholders will be pursued with the goal of continuously improving the value and comprehensiveness of information offered by the IAFFD.
First-time users need to register for the IAFFD to provide the consortium with information about current users. After logging into the IAFFD, user are granted free access to the two databases. The information in the database can be easily exported exported as .csv documents, viewable through Microsoft Excel and available for import into various feed formulation software.