Overpopulation and the pressure on land-based resources have driven the aquaculture sector to increase its production since the 1980s. To address such demands, new aquafeed technologies have been developed relying on natural and artificial ingredients that are commercially viable. In addition, current global sustainable initiatives require feed technologies to reduce the pressure on limited wild fisheries

Abalone, locally called pāua, is a valuable export product in New Zealand, contributing between NZD $50-60 million annually towards the country’s export economy [1]. Generally, one of the most significant bottlenecks of land-based abalone aquaculture is the high cost of the feed, which can be up to 50% of the production cost [2]. The high price has been attributed to fish meal, which is a key ingredient used in aquaculture feeds due to its excellent amino acid profile and palatability. However, fish meal use has been questioned due to the utilisation of wild fish to feed farmed fish and the exacerbation of overfishing marine resources [3]. Alternative ingredients, such as insects and winery waste products, are potential candidates as protein replacements due to their suitable nutritional profile and more sustainable production. This study aims to 1) develop and characterise alternative formulated feed for pāua (Haliotis iris) using insect meal and grape pomace and 2) evaluate the nutritional and growth alterations in juvenile pāua receiving different formulated feeds for 6 months. Proximate analysis is used to identify nutritional variations in body and faecal matter, and liquid/gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/GC–MS) analyses are utilised to characterise amino acid and fatty acid profiles in tissue samples. Results show a high animal survival rate of 95% and increased seawater stability of experimental diets compared to a commercial feed. Nutritional analyses show no significant variations in animal tissues in terms of protein proportions and amino acid profiles, but differences were found in the lipid proportions and fatty acid profiles. This research will present the evidence to support the potential use of insect meal and grape marc as fishmeal replacements in abalone feeds, leading to a more sustainable aquaculture.

Welcome to AUT's Graduate Review Rangahau Aranga Editorial TeamIt is with profound pride and genuine excitement that we welcome you to the inaugural issue of Rangahau Aranga, Auckland University of Technology's first postgraduate student-run, peerreviewed open access journal. This initiative has come about through a combination of inspiration, perseverance, and an overwhelming desire to create a safe, dynamic and open platform for academic expression at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau.Rangahau Aranga will run a rolling publication schedule, which means this first volume will incorporate all submissions accepted for publication by the editors until submissions close towards the end of 2022. Being multi-disciplinary, each volume will be made up of a diverse range of subjects presented in a variety of formats; we invite you to submit something of your own, be it commentary or review, creative work, short -or long -form research article. Help to shape the publication in a way which is reflective of, and which celebrates, the richness and diversity of postgraduate scholarship alive and growing within our institution.We are launching this issue with the publication of a set of abstracts from AUT's 2021 Postgraduate Research Symposium. Each of these abstract authors gave an oral or poster presentation at the Symposium, which was held online for the first time ever due to COVID-19.These authors capably communicated their research in a time of great challenges. Their abstracts as collected here represent not only the incredible breadth of postgraduate research at AUT, but also the resilience of our postgraduate students, who have persevered despite immense disruptions to their research plans. Some have not been able to collect data; others have had to change topics completely. Some are not even in the same country as their supervisors. And yet, this cohort of authors has continued the urgent work of performing and communicating their research at a time when research has never been more sorely needed. We are proud to launch Rangahau Aranga by celebrating the work (and perseverance) of these authors, and the stunning variety of research they conduct here at AUT.

Almost 60% of the fish meal produced globally is used in aquaculture feeds. Fish meal production relies on finite wild-marine resources and is considered as an unsustainable ingredient. Insect meal (IM) is considered a sustainable source with high levels of protein suitable for growth promotion. Grape marc (GM) is a waste byproduct of the winery industry rich in pigments with antioxidant capacity. However, the inclusion of both ingredients can affect the flavor of the meat of abalone and the color of the shell due to different nutritional profiles. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the dietary inclusion of IM and GM on the flavor volatile compounds and shell color of the juvenile Haliotis iris in a 165-days feeding trial. Abalone were offered four experimental diets with different levels of IM and GM inclusion and a commercial diet (no IM or GM). Soft bodies of abalone were used to characterize volatile compounds using solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and color changes were analyzed in ground powder of abalone shells using color spectrophotometry 400–700 nm (visible). The results showed 18 volatile compounds significantly different among the dietary treatments. The inclusion of IM did not significantly affect the flavor volatile compounds detected, whereas the inclusion of GM reduced volatile compounds associated with lipid-peroxidation in abalone meat. The inclusion of IM and GM did not significantly affect the lightness nor the yellowness, blueness, redness, and greenness of the ground shells. The supplementation of abalone feeds with GM can help to reduce off-flavour compounds which may extend shelf-life of raw abalone meat.