South African abalone feed being trialled in Chile

摘要

CHILE has the fastest growing abalone industry in the world, producing around 250 tons of live (wet) abalone a year. This is expected to reach 900 tons over the next two years. The main feed currently used by the Chilean abalone industry is kelp (mostly Macrocystis pyrifera), but experience in South Africa and Chile has made it clear that kelp resources are insufficient to sustain the projected future growth in abalone production in these countries and it is only through the use of formulated feeds that both these industries will develop and prosper. Because of this, a formulated commercial abalone feed, developed in South Africa, is now being trialled in Chile on the Californian red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). The Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science (DIFS) at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa is leading the research into formulated feeds for shellfish and finfish in South Africa.