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

Use of wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific 87

4.2.2 Cost of production of fishmeal

Details on the cost and use of raw material in fishmeal production are not easily

accessible. However, some details on fishmeal production that are available for

Thailand are summarized in Table 5. The conversion rate of the raw material over

the years was consistent, averaging 3.85 over the eight-year period. The cost of Thai

fishmeal in 2004 was US$590 per tonne (US$1=Thai baht (THB) 38), considerably less

than the average world market price. Assuming that all three types of raw material

(Table 5) used in fishmeal production in Thailand result in similar conversion efficiency

(CE), in 2004, 771 723 tonnes of trash fish/low-value fish would have produced 207 694

tonnes of fishmeal. The average price of trash fish for fishmeal plants was US$121.5 per

tonne of fishmeal produced, accounting for only 20.6 percent of the raw material cost

of production of a tonne of fishmeal.

By contrast, in Viet Nam, based on an average price of trash fish/low-value fish

used for fishmeal production of VND1 300 per kg and a conversion rate of 3.5, the

total cost of the raw material needed to produce a tonne of fishmeal was approximately

US$314.

Sinh (2007) reported that fishmeal plants in the Mekong Delta bought about

29 916 tonnes/year of trash fish/low-value fish, of which 63.3 percent was from

wholesalers and/or other companies, 20 percent was directly from fishers and the

remainder was from collectors. The average price of trash fish/low-value fish bought by

the fishmeal plants was VND2 800 per kg (±100). The average production of fishmeal

was 7 479 tonnes/year and the average selling price was VND13 000 per kg (±500). The

average marketing costs were VND284 per kg of this raw material, which provided

an average marketing profit of VND166 per kg of raw material. It was reported

that 80.6 percent of the fishmeal produced was channelled to feed processing plants,

26.7 percent was distributed through a network of wholesalers and the remainder was

exported.

4.2.3 Quality of fishmeal produced in the Asia-Pacific region

The quality of fishmeal is crucial to diet formulation and is affected by the species

composition of the raw material, its freshness, the season, the presence of any

foreign material (e.g. sand and contaminants) and of course, the reduction techniques

employed. In essence, the quality of a fishmeal is partially determined by its protein

level (higher the better) and ash content (lower the better). A comparison of the

proximate composition of fishmeal of different origins is given in Table 6. It is seen that

Asian fishmeal has considerably lower fat content and a very high proportion of ash,

both traits that are less desired for formulation of fish feeds. It should be noted that

although most fishmeal plants in Asia do not extract fish oil, the fishmeal produced has

a significantly lower fat content compared to American and European fishmeals. The

TABLE 5
Summary of fishmeal production in Thailand
Year Raw materials used (tonnes) Fishmeal
Trash fish Others Processing waste Tonnes Conversion efficiency (CE)
1997 799 814 45 756 670 187 378 940 3.99
1998 758 465 53 841 511 581 342 438 3.87
1999 755 382 57 464 388 987 309 248 3.89
2000 725 489 62 675 358 927 299 073 3.83
2001 722 109 56 363 659 259 378 352 3.80
2002 679 640 59 908 768 096 391 583 3.85
2003 695 999 63 668 769 361 392 312 3.89
2004 771 723 112 586 671 641 423 866 3.67
Source: DOF (2006a)