Animal Feed Quality at the Vancouver Aquarium – Optimization of Incoming Feed Quality and Maintenance of Feed Quality throughout Storage

The project will be focusing on the safety issues and quality control of the feed in Vancouver Aquarium. By applying a survey at the very beginning, a general knowledge of the whole handling chain procedure will be generated. The survey will be carried out by means of questionnaire, field investigation and sampling and will be concentrated on feed purchasing, receiving, handling, preparing through to feeding the animal. Based on the information gained, the critical points with respect to maintaining optimal feed quality will be identified and feed handling procedures will be altered as appropriate. Some laboratory tests will be performed to objectively measure the impact of altering procedures at these critical points. The tests will likely include measuring rancidity and one or two relevant vitamins. Finally, a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be written and Aquarium personnel will be trained to both perform the procedures and write new SOPs as needed once the project is complete.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. David Kitts

Student:

Weijia Bo

Partner:

Vancouver Aquarium

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

University of British Columbia