WASHINGTON, DC, US — The US Grains Council (USGC) showcased US fermented corn protein (CFP) and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) at the Council’s third International Aquaculture Conference in Cairo, Egypt, sharing insights into enhanced production through optimal nutrition.

The USGC’s regional offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Tunis, Tunisia, hosted nearly 50 attendees from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEA&O) regions for the meeting and field visits.

“After the successes of the Council’s previous International Aquaculture Conferences, it became clear that hosting another meeting in Egypt, the third largest producer of tilapia in the world, would be hugely beneficial in sharing the nutritional qualities of US CFP and DDGS to stakeholders in this rapidly developing region,” said Mohamed Salah Bouthour, deputy regional director for Africa at the USGC.

The event opened with welcome remarks from the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Egypt and an outlook on global tilapia production given by the chairman of the Egyptian Lakes and Fisheries Resources. Other topics included overviews of production for several species and presentations from participants from various countries regarding the aquaculture industries in their regions.

Carlos Suárez, director of global sustainability for the USGC, also spoke to the audience about the renewable attributes of US corn co-products as ingredients for the aquaculture industry.

The conference continued with visits to key industry stakeholders in Egypt, including Skretting, a major aquaculture producer, and WorldFish, a nonprofit research organization, to observe modern production techniques and potential innovations.

The meeting culminated with Ronnie Tan, regional aquaculture consultant for the USGC, leading a session on global aquafeed supply and demand and the role of DDGS in supplementing aquaculture diets. Ayman Rostom, a USGC consultant, then moderated a panel of representatives from the Egyptian aquaculture feed sector who discussed their extensive experience in using CFP and DDGS in their feeds.

Later, Bouthour moderated a panel discussion featuring conversations around the challenges in sourcing ingredients for aquaculture feed.

USGC members in attendance, including The Andersons and TransGlobe, helped provide the audience with additional understanding of the nutritional benefits and sourcing considerations for CFPs and DDGS.