Speech by Mr Damian Chan, CEO of the Singapore Food Agency, at AquaTropics Forum

Peter Ho, AquaPolis Board Co-chair, CEO of HOPE Technik

Peter Chia, AquaPolis Board Member, CEO of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory

Ken Cheong, AquaPolis Board Member, CEO of SAFEF

Distinguished Guests

Colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the inaugural AquaTropics Forum. It is inspiring to see so many passionate individuals gathered here today to exchange knowledge and shape the future of our tropical aquaculture industry.


2. The theme of the forum, “How Science Meets the Industry”, encapsulates the essence of what we aim to achieve today – to showcase research innovations and to encourage the adoption of technologies in the industry. I would like to thank our co-organisers, namely, AquaPolis, Urban Solutions & Sustainability Innovation & Enterprise Office (USS IEO) and NUS Enterprise, for their dedication in putting this together.

Importance of local aquaculture for food security

3. Seafood is one of the commonly consumed sources of protein in Singapore and a vital part of our food security. As we diversify our import sources of seafood, it is also important to develop our local aquaculture sector so that we can mitigate the impact of overseas supply disruptions. 


4. Notwithstanding this, local production has had its share of challenges especially in the last few years. Farms have had to deal with construction delays, rising costs, and a more challenging and muted financing and investment environment. While these hurdles have made it more difficult to sustain operations and ensure economic viability, I would like to assure you that SFA will continue to push forward and work closely with all farms to support the agri-food industry and enhance the production capabilities of the sector. 

Government’s commitment to develop the aquaculture sector

5. The Government is committed to uplift and transform the local aquaculture sector, and we have been doing so through various ways. Today, I will focus on our investments in research and innovation. Under the Singapore Food Story R&D programme, over S$60 million has been allocated to aquaculture research innovation, driving advancements in crucial areas such as genetics, nutrition and health. This has catalysed the deepening of local capabilities and spurred innovation efforts to bolster local aquaculture productivity. Let me share some examples of these R&D initiatives in genetics, nutrition and health:

a. Firstly, the Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC) at SFA has forged collaborative partnership with The Fish Farmer, Republic Polytechnic and James Cook University Singapore. Together they are developing genomic tools for red snappers which can be used for future selective breeding program to enhance growth rates and colouration, and secure a reliable supply of high-quality of fingerlings for local farms. 

b. Secondly, researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are fine-tuning an innovative blend of probiotics and nutrient-encapsulated fish feed to improve growth rate of fingerlings by up to 25 per cent and enhance survivability against bacterial infection. This would help to improve the productivity of our local farms.

c. Thirdly, to improve the survivability of Asian seabass, A*STAR and UVAXX have developed an epitope-based vaccine against the Scale Drop Disease Virus (SDDV) which is endemic in the Southeast Asian region. The vaccine has shown an efficacy rate of 75 per cent to potentially defend against SDDV. This could lead to a transformative shift in aquaculture disease management. 

6. Significant progress has also been made in bio-innovations for sustainable aquaculture. A team led by the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering has developed a groundbreaking technology to produce single cell protein through microbial-community fermentation using safe food-processing wastewater. The resulting single cell protein has been validated as a suitable alternative protein source in Asian seabass and shrimp diets.

Research and innovation through AquaPolis 

7. Beyond individual projects, we are also building a vibrant ecosystem to foster collaboration between researchers and the industry, as well as facilitate knowledge exchange and co-development of industry-relevant solutions.


8. The AquaPolis programme envisions Singapore as a leading research and innovation cluster for tropical marine aquaculture. It brings together diverse expertise of various partners, including local and overseas research institutions, institutes of higher learning and industry players, to reap strategic synergies. This collaborative approach aims to accelerate the development of translational R&D outcomes, to ensure that research outcomes quickly evolve into practical applications, enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of our local aquaculture farms. 


9. The formalisation of the AquaPolis programme in November 2023 represents a major milestone in advancing Singapore’s aquaculture sector. Since then, AquaPolis has worked closely with the local industry to identify critical pain points and develop solutions to address these needs. 

a. For example, AquaPolis is developing a key research programme to optimise Asian seabass production, one of Singapore’s most farmed fish. The programme focuses on reducing production costs by developing a local supply of resilient fingerlings and various disease mitigation strategies, as well as raising the market value of our local produce by enhancing its nutritional quality, such as increasing Omega-3 levels. 

10. This month also marks the launch of the AquaPolis Aquaculture Technology Industry Consortium, or AquaTIC for short. The consortium serves as a platform to band researchers, farmers and solution providers together to address common productivity challenges, opening paths for swift test-bedding of research solutions and fast-tracking technology adoption by industry. Dr Mark Richards, Programme Director for AquaPolis, will share more about AquaTIC later. 


11. Finally, AquaPolis has also taken in stakeholder feedback and is strengthening its brand identity. For instance, its new logo embodies the programme’s commitment to innovation and sustainable aquaculture through collaboration and scientific rigour. I look forward to their continued progress in the months ahead.

Conclusion 

12. The formation of AquaPolis is just the beginning of an exciting transformative journey ahead. We look forward to welcoming more researchers and industry partners to join us in this important journey to develop a vibrant and innovative local aquaculture sector so that we can collectively strengthen Singapore’s food security and resiliency. 


13. I wish you a fruitful and productive discussion ahead. Thank you.