Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture: practices, sustainability and implications

86 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications

TABLE 4

Estimations of trash fish/low-value fish production in the Asia-Pacific region

Country Low-value/trash fish (tonnes) % of total catch Dominant gear (%) Year of estimation

Bangladesh 71 000 17 Gillnets (48) 2001–2002

Set bags (42)

China 5 316 000 38 Trawl 2001

India 271 000 10–20 Trawl 2003

Philippines 78 000 4 Trawl (41), Danish seine (22) purse-seine (12) 2003

Thailand 765 000 31 Trawl (95) 1999

Viet Nam 933 183 36 Trawl 2001

Source: Funge-Smith, Lindebo and Staples (2005)

than 0.5 million tonnes of fishmeal per annum. In 2004, 1.6 million tonnes of fishmeal

were imported into mainland China, accounting for 20 percent of the world’s total

fishmeal production or more than 25 percent of its traded volume. Fishmeal accounts

for 45 percent of the total importation of fisheries products by China. These figures

demonstrate the Chinese feed industry’s pressing need for animal protein. In China,

locally produced fishmeal is of low grade and low price because of the lack of raw

materials and the use of poor and out-dated processing technology. China still relies

heavily on the importation of quality fishmeal for the manufacture of feeds for marine

shrimp and soft-shell turtles.

4.2.1 Localized (non-industrial) fishmeal production

Apart from major fishmeal manufacturing plants, in some Asian countries (e.g.

Indonesia, India and Viet Nam) local, small-scale fishmeal plants and fish drying

and powdering operations are often located near major landing sites. The produce

of these plants caters mostly to the local animal husbandry sector, primarily poultry

farming (also see Funge-Smith, Lindebo and Staples, 2005) and to a lesser extent, the

aquaculture sector, for inclusion in farm-made feeds.

Locally prepared fishmeal (in essence, a fish powder) is typically manufactured

manually in small-scale operations by drying and powdering trash fish/low-value fish.

In Viet Nam, the raw material used for fish powder is of poorer grade, as indicated by

the price, than that used in fishmeal production and/or for direct feeding to aquaculture

stocks. The quantity of fish powder produced is estimated at 185 000 tonnes per year

(Edwards, Le and Allan, 2004; Dao, Dang and Nguyen, 2005). In addition, in Viet Nam

there are significant quantities of low-value fish of freshwater origin, primarily fished

during the flood season in the Mekong Delta, that are sun dried and used for direct

human consumption, for making fish sauce and as a substitute for fishmeal (powdered

on site) in farm-made feeds in catfish culture (De Silva, 2008).

There is a paucity of data on fishmeal production in India, even though it is the

world’s second most important aquaculture-producing nation; however, it is common

knowledge that production of fish powder in the traditional manner supersedes the

industrial production of fishmeal. As early as 1995, Ali et al. (1995) estimated that

the marine protein sources available for reduction amounted to 335 191 tonnes by

dry weight, and consisted of finfish, crustaceans such as mantis shrimp (Squilla spp.),

cephalopods and molluscs. Ali et al. (1995) also acknowledged that the fishmeal

produced was of low quality, being mostly pulverized dried fish. Currently, the price

of trash fish/low-value fish appears to range from INR2 to 10 per kg (US$1=INR43).