STIM licenses smoltification feed for China
Norwegian fish health company STIM has signed an agreement licensing Danish feed producer Aller Aqua to produce SuperSmolt FeedOnly for salmon producers in Denmark and China.
STIM said SuperSmolt FeedOnly differs from traditional “salt feeds” and other acclimatation strategies by offering a true smoltification before sea transfer. The fish will not desmoltify but can rather be fixed in the smolt window almost indefinitely. This makes it easy to synchronise the fish group so that every fish has solid seawater tolerance at the time of transfer.
The company added that since its launch in 2015, SuperSmolt FeedOnly has contributed to significant improvement of fish welfare and growth performance and a similar reduction in mortality during the critical first period after sea transfer.
Closed systems
“This technology will be equally beneficial in salmon production anywhere in the world, also as part of the ongoing shift towards the fish spending more of its life in closed freshwater systems,” said STIM chief executive Jim-Roger Nordly.
“The combination of stimulating the brain through the amino acid tryptophane and added ions in our feed, enables the production of much larger smolt either completely without or with only minimal amounts of added seawater. This is a huge advantage.”
STIM is now working on similar licensing agreements for other markets.
A new flexibility
Aller Aqua has feed factories around the globe, including one in Qingdao, China. The company’s group vice president, Anders Carøe Bylling, said: “This is a ground-breaking and well documented feeding concept that we together with STIM are immensely proud to offer to our customers. It provides salmon producers around the world a new flexibility.”
Aller Aqua’s Chinese Sales director, Wang Xiaojie, said the Chinese market had an urgent need for functional feeds and technical guidance to overcome the obstacles with large quantity production of smolts.
“The rapidly growing demand for salmonids culture in China requires the right solutions that can also support the transition to a more efficient smoltification,” added Wang.
“With the SuperSmolt FeedOnly we have a flexible solution that fits both large- and small-scale productions.”
In Norway, SuperSmolt FeedOnly is produced by STIM sister company Polarfeed.
