Unsung hero wins aquaculture award

Alan Donkin helped drive significant innovations in fish nutrition for 40 years

By SeaWestNews

Alan Donkin’s significant innovations in fish nutrition has garnered him the 2018 Atlantic Canada Aquaculture Award.

“Alan Donkin is one of the unsung heroes of our region’s aquaculture industry. He’s helped drive significant innovations in fish nutrition since the industry began 40 years ago,” said Tom Taylor, Chair of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA).

“His professionalism, commitment, loyalty, integrity and passion for this industry truly deserve to be recognized and we’re proud that he is the 2018 recipient of this award.”

Originally from Truro, Donkin grew up in the family’s dairy business, and graduated from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and McGill University (animal science). He started with Shur-Gain in 1978 and was part of the team tasked with developing salmon feed in 1985 when the industry was just getting started. Donkin worked for Shur-Gain for 30 years. He joined Cooke Aquaculture in 2008 as Nutrition Manager at Northeast Nutrition.

“It’s such a pleasure and an honour to be part of such an impressive, vibrant and evolving industry,” said Donkin.

“Aquaculture industry is and continues to be the most exciting industry for me to work in with all the advancements in salmon feed, nutrition and production.

Like all other parts of our industry, progress in fish nutrition has been rapid and science-based. Our feed is sustainably sourced, nutritionally sound and widely diversified. We should take great pride in the wide variety of feed ingredients we use that are sourced from byproducts of other human food industries.”

Approximately 170 salmon farmers, industry stakeholders, scientists, researchers, provincial and federal government representatives, and community members gathered in St. Andrews recently for ACFFA’s 2018 Aquaculture, Research, Science and Technology Forum.

Salmon farming employs over 3000 people in the Atlantic region and has a value of over $350 million to provincial economies.

Related Links:

Salmon Farming Industry in BC: farmed and prosperous

Why the world needs more aquaculture

“I know that what we do is the right thing.”