Charles Rodde, PhD

Elected member of the Executive Committee of the Asian Food & Feed Insect Association. Initially vice-treasurer from 2022 to 2024, then treasurer. Key responsibilities: -Ensuring the association's financial health by optimising the revenue-cost balance. -Participating in strategic decision-making for the association’s policy. -Leading the scientific program of the annual Asian Insect Industry and Research Forum, the association’s flagship event and key revenue-generating initiative.

My role focused on designing, managing, and deploying R&D projects related to nutrition and production performance of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, with a strong emphasis on industrial applicability and technology transfer to production facilities. On the nutrition side, I optimised larval diets to maximise growth performance, product quality, and farm profitability. This included the industrial validation of new ingredients, taking into account nutritional value, cost, regulatory compliance, and supply constraints. I also designed and deployed industrial-scale feed formulations adapted to different larval development stages, based on locally available raw materials. In parallel, I quantified nitrogen flows at farm level and developed operational solutions (ingredient selection, probiotics) to reduce gaseous nitrogen emissions, supporting environmental performance and occupational safety requirements. From a production perspective, I optimised key rearing parameters (feeding rate, larval density) to support data-driven operational decisions and improve overall production efficiency. Beyond insect production, I delivered technical analyses to support positioning and commercial strategy for insect-derived products in aquaculture. Key outcomes: -Increased larval growth by ~20%, improving throughput and unit production costs -Reduced gaseous nitrogen emissions by 30% through nutritional and process optimisation -Introduced new raw materials enabling a doubling of insect farm production capacity -Developed an automated feed formulation tool for BSF -Built a predictive model to forecast larval growth and proximate composition based on diet -Advanced the definition of mineral requirements in BSF larvae -Published an industry-facing article on the nutritional value and health benefits of BSF oil (https://www.feedandadditive.com/digital-magazines/Alternative_Proteins/April2023/48/) -Delivered technical presentations at interprofessional and scientific conferences

PhD -Selective breeding for individual feed efficiency in aquaculture. In partnership with CIRAD, Ifremer (France), and WorldFish (Malaysia) I focused on improving individual feed efficiency in European sea bass and Nile tilapia by developing selective breeding strategies applicable at industrial scale. Improving feed efficiency reduces feed costs and environmental impact in aquaculture, but is technically challenging due to the difficulty of measuring individual feed intake in group-reared fish. The research addressed this challenge through two complementary approaches: 1) Developing practical methods to estimate individual feed efficiency that can be implemented in large-scale breeding programs. 2) Identifying indirect phenotypic traits that reliably predict feed efficiency and are easier to measure and select for. The work was conducted on two biologically contrasting species to ensure that the proposed breeding strategies were robust and transferable across fish species. Experimental trials were carried out at Ifremer (France) for European sea bass and in Malaysia for Nile tilapia, with the support of WorldFish. This project also involved technology transfer in selective breeding from France to Malaysia and the management of a team of ten aquaculture workers during research trials. This work delivered practical solutions to drastically reduce the constraints associated with selective breeding for feed efficiency. In Nile tilapia, results enabled a reduction of approximately 85% in both the cost and duration of selective breeding programs, making the trait realistically improvable under commercial breeding conditions. In European sea bass, the project led to the identification of the most feed-efficient natural population, providing a strong basis for immediate genetic improvement strategies. The results were validated through peer-reviewed scientific publications, ensuring methodological robustness while supporting technology transfer and industry adoption.

L’objectif de ce stage était d’évaluer l’impact de sources alternatives de protéines et de lipides dans l’alimentation du bar européen sur les performances zootechniques. Ce travail s’inscrivait dans le programme NINAqua ("Nouveaux ingrédients pour de nouveaux aliments aquacoles"), un projet collaboratif réunissant Ifremer, INRAE, l’Institut Pasteur et des industriels producteurs de matières premières et d’aliments pour animaux, avec Le Gouessant Aquaculture comme leader du consortium industriel. L’objectif était d’identifier des ingrédients plus durables que les farines et huiles de poisson, en vue de leur remplacement total dans les aliments aquacoles. Les sources alternatives testées comprenaient des végétaux terrestres, des protéines animales transformées, de la spiruline, des extraits de levure et des hydrolysats d’insectes (mouche soldat noire). Les extraits de levure et les hydrolysats d’insectes se sont révélés les plus prometteurs, avec les meilleures croissances et indices de conversion alimentaire. The objective of this internship was to assess the impact of alternative protein and lipid sources in the diet of European sea bass on zootechnical performance. This work was conducted within the NINAqua program ("New Ingredients for New Aquaculture Feeds"), a collaborative project involving Ifremer, INRAE, the Institut Pasteur, and industrial partners producing raw materials and animal feeds, with Le Gouessant Aquaculture leading the industrial consortium. The aim was to identify more sustainable alternatives to fish meal and fish oil, with the goal of their complete replacement in aquaculture feeds. The alternative protein sources evaluated included terrestrial plant ingredients, processed animal proteins, spirulina, yeast extracts, and insect hydrolysates (black soldier fly). Yeast extracts and insect hydrolysates showed the most promising results, achieving the highest growth rates and best feed conversion ratios.

Le but de ce stage était d'étudier le fonctionnement global d'une exploitation piscicole produisant des salmonidés d'eau douce : truite arc-en-ciel, truite fario, omble de fontaine. The objective of this internship was to study the operations of a freshwater farm rearing salmonids: rainbow trouts, brown trouts, brook trouts.

Thématique de recherche : Etude de l'ontogenèse des aptitudes de plongée et de chasse des jeunes éléphants de mer, de leur survie lors de leur première migration, et des causes de mortalité précoce de ces derniers. Travail réalisé au sein de l'équipe "Prédateurs marins" du centre d'études biologiques de Chizé, encadré par Christophe Guinet, dans le cadre du programme de recherche européen "Early life" portant sur l'écologie des mammifères marins lors de leur première année de vie. Compétences développées : programmation de scripts de manipulation de plusieurs millions de données, analyse statistique et visualisation de ces dernières sur les logiciels R et Matlab. Research topic: Study of the ontogenesis of the diving and hunting skills of the young elephant seals, of their survival over their first migration, and of the causes of premature mortality. Work conducted within the team “Marine predators” at the Centre for biological studies of Chizé, supervised by Christophe Guinet, as part of the European research program “Early life” focused on the marine mammals ecology during the first year of their life. Improved skills: computer programming to develop scripts for big data management and curation (millions of data), statistical analysis and visualisation of these data using R and Matlab.

Participation au travail de gestion d'une réserve naturelle situé dans les Highlands en Ecosse. Conduite d’inventaires de la biodiversité locale : espèces d’insectes, essences d’arbres, et comptage par observation directe des populations de cerfs élaphes. Involvement in the management of a natural reserve located in the Highlands (Scotland). Monitoring of the local biodiversity by conducting inventories: insect species, tree species, and direct observation counting of the red deer populations.

Cursus "Agronome", spécialité "Sciences halieutiques et aquacoles", option "Aquaculture". Agronomy curriculum, with a specialisation in fisheries and aquaculture sciences.