Use of wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific 91
From a global perspective, the above lower estimate approximates the use of 30
to 33 percent of the raw material used in fishmeal manufacture in Asian aquaculture.
However, given that Asian fishmeal manufacturing increasingly tends to use by-
products from the fish food industry, it may be that the dependence on trash fish/low-
value fish for fishmeal production could decrease further.
A case in point is the example of Myanmar, a newly emerging aquaculture nation
where there are 14 fish reduction plants and 28 fish-feed production plants of varying
capacity dedicated to producing aquafeeds. Three of these fish-feed plants have their
own fishmeal production plants supplying their fishmeal requirements. The aquafeed
industry caters to both the shrimp and carp farming sectors. One feed plant that
produces 200 tonnes/day of fish feed employed 104 persons ( Htoo Thit Fish Feed
Plant, personal communication, 2007). Another enterprise, Ayeyarwardy Fisheries Ltd.,
which specializes in catfish cage culture and the export of fillets, has its own fishmeal
plant with a production capacity of 1 tonne/day and employs 18 persons; its output,
in turn, is used for fish-feed production (70 tonnes/day), employing 36 persons. The
raw material for fishmeal production comes solely from the catfish processing, which
in turn employs 400 persons, and the feed is solely used for its own catfish production.
As noted earlier, additional data similar to that given above are needed to objectively
assess the debate on the use of trash fish/low-value fish in Asian aquaculture.
- DIRECT USE OF FISH AS FEED IN ASIAN AQUACULTURE
Although trash fish/low-value fish are used for the feeding of finfish cultured in fresh-,
-brackish- and marine waters, as well as for the rearing of crustaceans (such as mud
crabs and lobsters) and a few molluscs, the highest usage is in marine finfish culture.
Allan (2004) suggested that globally about 5 million tonnes of trash fish/low-value
fish are used directly (i.e. as raw ingredients not previously reduced to fishmeal) as
feed in aquaculture. D’Abramo, May and Deng (2002) estimated that in 2001 about
4 million tonnes were produced and used in China alone. As the epicenter of all forms
of aquaculture, the Asia-Pacific region undoubtedly accounts for the greatest usage of
trash fish as a direct feed source. Funge-Smith, Lindebo and Staples, (2005) estimated
that while 9.8 million tonnes of trash fish/low-value fish are produced in the Asia-
Pacific region, only a part of this volume is being directed for use in animal feeds. It
is likely that a significant proportion of the remainder is processed into products such
as fish sauce. For example, Edwards, Le and Allan (2004) estimated that the current
production of fish sauce in Viet Nam is 80 million litres and is expected to double in
ten years.
TABLE 9
Estimated use of fishmeal and raw materials in Asian aquaculture, 1990-2010
Year* Fishmeal (tonnes) CE1** CE2
Raw material (tonnes)
CE1 CE21990 675 307 (^5) – 3 376 535 –
2000 1 427 939 4.5 – 6 425 725 –
2004 2 388 058 4.3 – 10 270 894 –
2010 a 1 999 866 4 3.5 7 999 464 6 999 531
2010 b 2 096 561 4 3.5 8 386 244 7 337 963
2010 c 2 190 729 4 3.5 8 762 916 7 667 551
*Three estimates (denoted by the superscripts a, b and c) for use of fishmeal have been derived for 2010. They are
based on a projected production increase from 2004 to 2010 of 10, 15 and 20 percent.
**Two estimates of conversion efficiency (CE1 and CE2) were used to calculate 2010 projections of fishmeal use. CE
= conversion efficiency of raw material to fishmeal (kg of raw material required to produce 1 kg of fishmeal).
Source: Data from Table 8