June 9, 2006

Nutreco renames aquaculture research centre
 

The Aquaculture Research Centre (ARC) in Stavanger, Norway, would be changing its name from Nutreco ARC to Skretting ARC to signify the research's centre dedication to Skretting, said Viggo Halseth, managing director of the research centre.

Skretting is the name for Nutreco's fish feed operations and following the divestment of Marine Harvest, the company is concentrating on the Skretting operations.

The research centre is known for its work in fish nutrition and feed formulation, including the search for alternatives to fish oil and fishmeal, Halseth said, adding that research into alternative raw materials would continue under the name change. 

Gaining acceptance throughout the value chain for supplemented feeds is a crucial step in improving the sustainability of raw materials for fish feeds, he said, adding Skretting ARC would be playing an active role in this aspect.

Skretting ARC would expand its range of feed-related businesses, including the areas of feed quality assurance, food safety and cost efficiency.

Plans to expand the range of species are also in the works.

For example, Skretting ARC recently began a three-year collaborative project with the University of Bologna in Italy to research the nutritional needs of sea bass and sea bream.

The project is being run in close cooperation with the Skretting businesses and is developing models to predict nutritional needs according to species across a range of different conditions.