Visitas: 168
Its subsidiary, UVAXX, participate in a project considered a potential game-changer for the Asian sea bass aquaculture sector
Aquaculture Magazine reports:
Barramundi Group (BGBN) announced that they have awarded Malta’s AquaBioTech Group (ABTG) a turnkey contract for the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of a state-of-the-art RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture System) broodstock, hatchery and live feed facility for barramundi (Lates calcarifer). The new RAS broodstock and hatchery facility is the second key milestone in the Company’s strategic development plan for its operations in Brunei Darussalam.
This new facility complements Barramundi Group’s earlier investment of its already-operational RAS nursery.
“This contract is significant not just for AquaBioTech, but also for Brunei. This project will be a significant catalyst for the development of barramundi and other land-based aquaculture initiatives in Brunei, strengthening food security and enabling the country to explore new export markets”, said AquaBioTech Group’s CEO, Shane Hunter.
Upon completion and commissioning of the new facility in the next 18 months, the Brunei operations will be fully self-sufficient; with broodstock, live-feed, larviculture, fry and fingerling production for its current stocking at sea.
6 million juveniles per year
With peak production capability of the new facility at over 6 million juveniles per year, the facility is future-proofed to cater for additional juvenile requirements for a new 3,000 MT land-based RAS grow-out facility (referred to in previous announcements as BG2.0). BGBN is also presently in the intermediate design phase of this facility, for its 17-hectare Mengsalut site, with AquaBioTech Group.
“Having this new RAS broodstock and hatchery facility integrated into our existing and operational RAS nursery is a game changer. When commissioned, we will be able to produce consistently, the highest-performance juveniles from our own pathogen-resilient and genetically-superior broodstock, unhindered by external constraints,” said James Kwan, CEO of Barramundi Group.
“For Brunei Darussalam, a second state-of-the-art RAS facility in the country enhances its overall food and biosecurity posture, and adds another cornerstone in its nascent but fast-growing aquaculture sector,” he added.
And finished, “AquaBioTech has proven to be particularly suited to designing a tropical RAS with their deep multidisciplinary bench and track record; and we are very pleased to be working with them beyond this RAS, but also our BG2.0 3,000MT grow out facility in Mengsalut.”
Novel epitope-based vaccine
In the other hand, Barramundi Group shared that its subsidiary UVAXX, together with Singapore’s A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs (ID Labs) have successfully developed a novel epitope-based vaccine that can defend against the Scale Drop Disease Virus (SDDV) infection in Asian sea bass, barramundi.
The vaccine is considered a potential game-changer for the Asian sea bass aquaculture sector, as SDDV has caused devastating losses to farmers. “We are grateful for the visionary leadership of professor Laurent Renia, A*STAR Senior Fellow (ID Labs) and support from the Singapore Food Agency and National Research Foundation Singapore to enable the success of this project. Our heartiest congratulations to project members Sunita Awate, Research Director (UVAXX), and Ken Loh Zhixuan, Senior Scientist (ID Labs),” they said after the announcement.
The epitope-based vaccine technology is novel in fish health applications and can be adapted to counter emerging viruses in other fish species. They look forward to UVAXX and A*STAR identifying more use cases of this technology and developing vaccine solutions that help farmers reduce stock losses and the use of antimicrobials.
SDDV is endemic in the Southeast Asian region, and causes the fish to shed scales, develop skin lesions, and suffer high mortality rates, sometimes up to 70% in both young and adult fish. The vaccine breakthrough aims to reduce disease-related losses and improve fish health, significantly benefiting local and regional fish farmers. Finally, this joint effort underscores the importance of scientific innovation in promoting food security and transforming aquaculture production in Singapore and the region.
Awate, Research Director of Uvaxx said for his part: “Through our 12 years of experience working with farmers to provide veterinary services and fish health solutions, we have witnessed first-hand the severity and devastation caused by SDDV. Asian sea bass farmers across the region need and want a solution. Having an efficacious SDDV vaccine can lead to a paradigm shift in aquaculture disease management, from a reactive to preventative approach, and transform farm production unit economics.”
