Extruder technology: Bridging the gap between industry and research in the production of aquafeeds

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Northeast Nutrition (NN) is a commercial feed mill that adheres to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations, which does not permit the use of ingredients not listed in their Schedule IV (Feeds Regulations). Their company-specific problem is that they are unable to test new ingredients of interest to them until this ingredient has been given full CFIA approval. This places NN at a competitive disadvantage. NN is also not capable of producing small batches of experimental diets, due the large-scale output of their extruder. This is expensive and at times, infeasible, as some novel feed ingredients are only available in small amounts in their initial stages of development. Additionally, it is not commercially or economically viable for NN to halt their production cycle to make test diets. To remedy this problem, a first time research relationship with Dr. Derek Anderson at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture (Dal AC) has been sought by NN. In this project: 1) The operating conditions required by the pilot-scale extruder at Dal AC to obtain a commercially acceptable feed will be determined. 2) Operating conditions required by the pilot-scale extruder to extrude ingredients of interest to NN will be determined to develop a production protocol for each of these test ingredients. 3) One or more test diets will be selected for further testing in a fish feeding trial to determine their effects on fish growth performance. This project will provide a way for NN to access commercial-quality experimental aquafeeds without halting their production cycle. This will also allow the production of feeds containing ingredients they hope to include in future feeds, such as those not yet approved by CFIA. This research will provide NN with a competitive advantage, with expected financial benefits, by providing them with the technology to quickly make test feeds they are currently incapable of producing. This study will also improve the existing knowledge base on how to use a pilot-scale extruder to make fish feeds with the qualities of those made with a commercial-scale extruder, which would benefit the Canadian aquafeed industry.