with the high demand for fishmeal and oil, direct
human consumption would in many cases be a better
use of the limited fisheries resources. During the
last ten years the consumption of Peruvian anchoveta
has actually increased significantly, but is still less
than 5 percent of the total catches.
Feeding the aquaculture sector
It is anticipated that an additional 27 million tonnes
of aquatic food will be required by 2030 considering
the projected population growth and maintaining
the present per capita consumption. Availability of
feed will be one of the most important inputs if
aquaculture has to maintain its sustained growth to
meet the demands of aquatic foods. Total industrial
compound aquafeed production has increased
almost fourfold from 7.6 million tonnes in 199 5 to
29.3 million tonnes in 2008, representing an average
growth rate of 10.9 percent per year (Tacon et al.,
2011). Compound feeds are used both for the
production of lower-value (in marketing terms)
food-fish species such as non-filter feeding carps,
tilapia, catfish and milkfish, as well as higher-value
species such as marine finfish, salmonids, marine
shrimp, and freshwater eels and crustaceans.
The aquaculture sector is now the largest user of
fishmeal and fish oil (Tacon et al., 2011). However, it
is projected that over the next ten years or so, the
total use of fishmeal by the aquaculture sector will
decrease while the use of fish oil will probably
remain around the 2007 level (Taconet al., 2011).
The reason for this is due to decreased fishmeal and
fish oil supplies; tighter quota setting and better
enforced regulation of fisheries resources. It is
projected that over the next ten years, fishmeal
inclusion in diets for carnivororous species will be
reduced by 10–30 percent and replaced by cost-
effective alternatives to fishmeal (Rana et al., 2009 ;
Taconet al., 2011). Further, with increased feed
efficiency and better feed management, feed con-
version ratios for many aquaculture species will be
improved.
Although the current discussion about the use of
marine products as aquafeed ingredients focuses
on fishmeal and fish oil resources, the sustainability
of the aquaculture sector is more likely to be more
linked with the sustained supply of terrestrial feed
ingredients of animal and plant origin. Soybean
meal is currently the most common source of plant
proteins used in compound aquafeeds. Other plant
proteins deriving from pulses, oilseed meals, corn
products and other cereals are also being increas-
ingly used.
If the aquaculture sector is to maintain its current
average growth rate of 8 to 10 percent per year to
2025, the supply of nutrient and feed inputs will
have to grow at a similar rate. There are needs
for major producing countries to place particular
emphasis to maximize the use of locally available
feed-grade ingredient sources, particularly nutri-
tionally sound and safe feed ingredients whose pro-
duction and growth can keep pace with the growth
of the aquaculture sector.
Aquaculturists are optimistic that far more fish can
be produced, but there are issues of nutritional
quality using land-based feeds, particularly regard-
ing alternatives to fish oil. Long chained (LC)
omega-3 fatty acids are mainly found in fish oil, so
fish oil is an essential feed ingredient in order to
assure the nutritional quality of the end product.
Intensive research is therefore required in order to
find alternatives to fish oil, such as LC omega-3
production from hydrocarbons by yeast fermentation,
extraction from algal sources and/or genetic modi-
fication of plants to become LC omega-3 fatty acids
producers. However, for now and probably for the new
decade, the source of LC omega-3 fats will remain
marine capture fisheries.Trade and marketing
The share of fishery and aquaculture production
(live weight equivalent) entering international trade
as various food and feed products increased from
2 5 percent in 1976 to 39 percent in 2008, reflecting97