Award for sustainable fish feed
Published on: Monday, August 05, 2024
From left: Susan, Jonathan, Wenessa and Dr Rafidah in a group photo after the award presentation ceremony.
Kota Kinabalu: Wong Aquaculture Sdn Bhd won the Most Outstanding Commercial Collaboration Award in Eskpo Kecemerlangan Reka Cipta (Excocipta) 2024 for its joint research with Borneo Marine Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on culturing duckweed and producing more sustainable fish feed from the aquatic plant.
Wong Aquaculture Sdn Bhd Managing Director Jonathan Wong received the award from Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Abidin Madingkir, who represented the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor at the closing ceremony and award presentation of Excocipta 2024 held at UMS.
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Also present were Jonathan’s mother, Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, the Managing Director of WSG Group, and the former’s spouse, Wenessa Fong.
Jonathan said his company’s collaboration with UMS started in September 2023 as he sought for a more sustainable, and less costly ingredient as fish feed in his aquaculture farm, Champ Quality Seafood, in Tuaran.
The farm spans 100 acres and produces 50 tonnes of white shrimp and 100 tonnes of milkfish annually.
“During the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, the price of fish feed kept increasing globally by more than 40 per cent. And the Russian-Ukraine conflict further exacerbated the situation,” he said.
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That was when he recalled reading about duckweed and after doing some research on the internet, he was confident of the plant’s potential.
Jonathan said the amount of protein is important in fish or shrimp feed and the source of protein mainly come from fish meal and soy meal, which are not sustainable and prone to price fluctuation.
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He said the fish feed used at the farm are mainly imported from Vietnam and West Malaysia.
“We use about 12 tonnes of fish feed a month and, thus, the cost is very high.
“Duckweed, on the other hand, can be grown locally and contains high level of protein and nutrients,” he said.
In September 2023, Wong Aquaculture Sdn Bhd began its collaboration with UMS, focusing on the research on the best way to grow duckweed; how to dry duckweed whilst preserving the plant’s nutrients and grind to powder form; and to compare duckweed against commercial feed.
Jonathan said he currently cultures the duckweed, specifically the Lemna minor and Wolffia globose species, in 10 water tanks and two raceway ponds in his farm.
The weekly yield is about five kilogrammes (kg).
So far, he said the ongoing research found that the nutritional level of duckweed meet his expectations and a consistent supply has been achieved.
“We have tried feeding our fish and shrimp with fresh duckweed and they prefer it over commercial feed.
“The next step is to produce duckweed at a larger scale in powder form was raw ingredient to be mixed with fish feed in order to reduce the amount of fish meal or soy meal,” Jonathan said.
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