Research work at ATC Patagonia centre, of the BioMar group. (Photo: BioMar)

BioMar starts its R&D second year in ATC Patagonia

CHILE
Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 23:30 (GMT + 9)

BioMar has started its second year of operations at the centre ATC Patagonia, in Chile, after having achieved a 75 per cent in Research and Development (R&D) capacity during 2017.

Last year, the team reached a total of 12 projects in three species: Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and coho salmon at different life stages and in some cases reaching harvest size.

As part of the network of research in BioMar, the ATC Patagonia facility is used by researchers from the Group’s R&D base in Trondheim, Norway.

“BioMar has initiated its second year of operations in research and development from ATC Patagonia in Chile, with a full years plan with trials schedule for the rest of 2018. The facilities and resources available are already allocated, but not only with R&D activities, also with work from the Technical Area of BioMar Chile that will see activities in product validation, from the point of view of performance and digestibility,” expressed the general manager of BioMar Chile, Eduardo Hagedorn.

The research team pointed out that the work undertaken is in accordance to the technical requirements and protocols defined in each project, independently of the target market for the research. This flexibility of the centre enabled the Group in 2017 to unify under the same roof, research related to feed performance, fillet quality, development and control of raw materials, as well as research in the health area where the SRS and use of probiotics took up most of the activities.

Around 50 per cent of the trials were associated with improving performance while 20 per cent was dedicated to fillet quality and the last 30 per cent was distributed among the health and raw materials areas.

From a financing point of view, through the Law No. 20,241 of Tax Incentive for investment in R&D, in 2017 Corfo (Development Corporation) certified projects for a total of 740 million pesos.

BioMar stressed that the contribution of the ATC Patagonia was not only in research itself but also to the 'dialogue and scientific discussion' among different stakeholders linked to aquaculture production in Chile.

“Our Science On program saw 13 scientists participate and share knowledge within the salmon industry on aquaculture research topics in health, nutrition and other fields over the last year in Puerto Montt. Researchers belonging to global BioMar R&D presented, in four workshops their latest results and applications in diets for salmon and trout at various life stages in freshwater and seawater, as well as in the health area, creating an environment of open dialogue,” the Group said.

For his part, Michael Adler, Technical Director of BioMar in Chile highlighted that one of the positive externalities that they hoped to achieve by increasing investment in research in Chile was to bring their researchers closer to their customers.
 
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