116 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications
Nevertheless, the degree to which this resource can be used for direct human
consumption is difficult to determine. In Asia, trash fish/low-value fish are mostly
landed in areas where there are other suitable fish commodities for human consumption.
In order to make the trash fish/low-value fish suitable for human consumption, some
degree of processing, storage and transportation is needed. However, the costs involved
are unlikely to be commensurate to a price that is acceptable to consumers, particularly
in remote rural areas.
However, there are situations in Asian fisheries when the use of bycatch as
aquaculture feeds pre-empts the use of these fish as food, particularly by the poor. This
happens when fish are landed in densely populated areas and then purchased to be used
as feed. However, it should be noted that fishmeal is not the only competitor; in several
parts of Asia, trash fish/low-value is also a source of raw material for the production
of foods based on fish.
In many Asian countries (e.g. India, Bangladesh and part of China) trash fish/low-
value fish are sold for direct human consumption. Eating low-value fish caught from
the sea has been a tradition for centuries among coastal communities, particularly in
Hainan, Guangxi, Guagdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in China. In recent years,
increased demand for trash fish/low-value fish as feed in aquaculture has suppressed
the supply of seafish to local markets, resulting in higher prices. Furthermore, China
has a long history of making surimi-associated products based on trash fish/low-value
fish, and there is a wide range of such products in the country. In 2002, China produced
102 400 tonnes of surimi products. Along with technological advances, domestic and
overseas markets for surimi products are expected to expand gradually.
Perhaps this is an area that warrants detailed investigations that would generate
quantitative information, including data on the socio-economic aspects of the various
uses of trash fish/low-value fish. Such information may put an end to the current
debate, which is philosophical, moral and/or ethical in nature but rarely, if at all,
supported by relevant data^6.8.3.2 Employment
In parts of Asia, a significant number of artisanal fishers ensure their livelihood by
supplying fish as feed to mariculture operations. Moreover, in some remote areas in
Asia (e.g. North East Sulawesi, Indonesia), small-scale farmers catch low-value/trash
fish for their practices (Aslan et al., 2008). Here again, the quantitative data that would
allow an objective assessment of the issue of the use of trash fish/low-value fish in
aquaculture are lacking.
Fishmeal production plants provide both direct and indirect employment in
packaging, transportation and other ancillary inputs for the product. The possibility
that more personnel are employed in the reduction industry than would have been
the case if the raw material was marketed directly cannot be excluded. However,
quantitative information on the employment opportunities in the fishmeal production
sector is scant; such information needs to be sought as a matter of urgency.- LOOKING AHEAD
In the ensuing decades, fish as a human food source is bound to gain higher global
significance. In the developed world, this will occur primarily because of its nutritional
benefits (de Deckere et al., 1998; Horrocks and Yeo, 1999; Stickney, 2006), whilst in the
developing world it will be driven by the fact that fish is the most affordable animal
protein source for poorer, rural communities. Most importantly, Delgado et al. (2003)
have observed that fish consumption among rural, poor communities has increased
(^6) In this context, it may be worth recalling that tens of thousands of tonnes of fish are used for commercial
production of pet foods (Gooley, Gavine and Olsen, 2006).