Report of the FAO workshop on the on-farm feeding and feed management in aquaculture

The FAO Expert Workshop on "On-farm feeding and feed management in aquaculture" was convened in Manila, the Philippines, from 13-15 September 2010. The workshop was attended by a wide range of aquaculture researchers, development specialists and industrial experts from around the world. The workshop was convened by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Aquaculture Service (FIRA) and was hosted by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) based in Iloilo, the Philippines. The workshop was organized with three objectives: a) to review and analyze the existing knowledge on the application of feed management as a tool for reducing feed costs in aquaculture, b) to identify the major issues and constraints of feed management and those that need to be addressed and c) to prepare a list of recommendations to define/suggest the future course of action, including the preparation of technical manuals/guidelines for dissemination to farmers.^ The workshop convened both in plenary and in working groups. In the plenary, participants heard technical presentations intended to orient them to the issues and constraints pertaining to on-farm feeding and feed management. These presentations included invited reviews, case studies and synthesis of the case studies.^ Following several working group deliberations and a general plenary discussion, the participants identified seven primary issues that currently constrain feed use and management in aquaculture, namely: 1) limited access to information on feed and feed ingredients (availability, prices and quality); 2) poor feed preparation, processing, handling and storage at the farm level; 3) inadequate monitoring of feed and farm performances; 4) low impact of current dissemination strategies on improved feeding and feed management; 5) gaps in the understanding of the economic aspects of feed management; 6) health aspects and their implications on feed management; and 7) feed quality - lack of regulatory mechanisms. A comprehensive set of recommendations was developed to overcome the constraints that were identified, and it is anticipated that these recommendations will guide FIRA's future work in this arena.^ The workshop proceedings and recommendations, invited reviews, case studies and syntheses will form the basis for an FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper entitled "On-farm feeding and feed management in aquaculture" which will be published in due course.