Marine Related Analyses (ANIMALAB)
Quality control is an important element in the constant pursuit of integrated and sustainable quality assurance in animal and human nutrition. This covers several aspects:
- Monitoring of the biological and chemical quality of the marine environment and habitat.
- Determination of contaminants within the framework of fisheries-related environmental management.
- Composition and product quality of fish
- Composition of fisheries and aquaculture products.
Accurate and reliable analyses are extremely important for the governmental bodies in charge of policy as well as the fish and cattle feed industry, private aquaculturists and animal farmers. For this reason, the ILVO Animal Sciences Unit has grouped all its testing laboratories into the ANIMALAB, short for the Animal Marine Laboratory. Each of these laboratories works according to the criteria of the NBN EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard. This standard, and the more general Belgian accreditation system (‘BELAC’), gives laboratories, certification institutions and the inspecting organisation the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise and gain credibility at the national and international levels. The scope of these accredited analyses can be consulted on the BELAC website under certificate number T-315.
- Contact person: Daphné Deloof
- BELAC scope T-315
| Analyses | Details | Contactpersoon |
|---|---|---|
Fish (fish quality, authenticity, fish characteristics, and age determination) | Quality parameters such as fat, protein, fatty acids as well as authenticity, etc.; includes storage parameters such as TVB, DMA, TMA, etc. Fish characteristics such as length, weight, sex and age are also determined, among others. See the overview here. | Daphné Deloof (fish quality and authenticity), Karen Bekaert/Els Torreele (fish characteristics and age determination) |
Marine environment (fishing gear, seawater) | Parameters such as geosmine, algae density, digital uptake, etc. In addition, tests on (micro)plastics are performed.
| Daan Delbare (seawater) & Daphné Deloof (plastic) |
Fishing gear | Parameters such as mesh size, pulling force, etc. See the overview here. | Mattias Van Opstal |
Sediment | Parameters such as particle size PAK, PCB, etc.
See the overview here. | Daphné Deloof |
Epibenthos | Parameters such as number, length, weight, sex, species, authenticity, etc.
See the overview here. | Annelies De Backer |
Macrobenthos | Parameters such as number, length, weight, sex, species, authenticity, etc.
See the overview here. | Jan Wittoeck |
Biota | Parameters such as PAK, PCB, total lipids, etc.
See the overview here. | Daphné Deloof |
| Plankton | Parameters such as number, species, authenticity, etc.
See the overview here. | Daan Delbare |
Your ILVO guarantee
- Scientifically-based solutions
- Individual and/or co-creative guidance for innovation trajectories
- Confidential treatment of your question
- Clear and easy-to-interpret results that are applicable to day-to-day operations
- Technological support for various farm processes
Transparency regarding animal trials
In order to increase the transparency of the animal experiments carried out, ILVO, together with the "European Animal Research Association" (EARA) and 23 other Belgian public and private research institutions, drew up and signed the "Statement in support of animal research in Belgium and a transparent approach" in April 2016.
> See also the list of animal related analyses
> Back to fishing industry sector