Wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in Europe 221
in tuna fattening in the Mediterranean Sea. This section examines the nature and source
of the raw materials used as well as the subsequent utilization of fishmeal and fish oils
in Europe.
3.1 Landing of fish and other aquatic species destined for reduction
Fish destined for reduction into fishmeal and fish oil for use by the European
aquaculture industry originate from either (i) the feed fisheries within European waters
themselves or (ii) external fisheries, such as the anchovy and chub mackerel fisheries of
South America or to a lesser extent, the Antarctic krill fisheries. The choice of where
aquafeed compounders purchase their fishmeal depends largely upon the following:
- Price: Fishmeal is a global commodity whose price is interlinked with that of
its main competitor, soybean meal. The level of substitution within fish feeds
is limited, however, and varies between different dietary formulations (i.e. for
starter, grower and finisher diets). Therefore, feed manufacturers can increase or
decrease fishmeal incorporation levels within predefined limits. - Quality: Quality is an important factor that also has an influence on price. The
quality of fishmeal depends upon its freshness (measured by its volatile nitrogen
content at conversion), the process used (e.g. processing temperature) and the
stabilization techniques used. - Specification: Fishmeal from North Atlantic stocks tends to be higher in protein
content (68–71 percent) than southern hemisphere fishmeal (65–68 percent),
reflecting the species used. Northern hemisphere fishmeal tends to have higher
levels of digestibility – for instance, an Icelandic 71 percent protein meal from
capelin/herring with a digestibility of 92 percent gives 65.2 percent digestible
protein (DP) as against only 58.8 percent DP from the best Chilean sardine meal.
Certain fishmeals (e.g. high performance feeds for some species/growth stages)
might be selected to achieve a particular amino acid profile. - Contamination levels: POPs accumulate in oily fish and have become a major
food safety issue in Europe. Fishmeal sources from oceanic pelagic stocks in South
America tend to have less POPs that those from the continental shelf stocks in the
northeastern Atlantic. Although the resultant meals have to be within legal limits- and the technology exists to reduce them further through filtration – this may
have an influence on purchasing.
- and the technology exists to reduce them further through filtration – this may
- Usability: Individual feed producers’ machinery characteristics can rule out the
use of fishmeal from some origins.
There are no published figures on the proportion of fishmeal used for European
aquaculture that is sourced from South America rather than from Europe’s own feed-
fish stocks. A recent report on the sustainability of feeds for the Scottish fish-farming
industry (Huntington, 2004) suggests that around 54 percent of feed fish-derived
fishmeal is currently derived from northern hemisphere sources, 28 percent from
southern hemisphere sources and the balance from whitefish trimmings and pelagic
offal (Table 8).
Table 8 examines the recent (2003) and predicted (2010) use of fishmeal and fish
oil by Scottish aquaculture. These figures, which have been produced by the industry,
indicate a number of interesting trends: - A small (5 percent) increase is predicted in the southern hemisphere proportion of
fishmeal by 2010. - The relative contribution of trimmings and offal to fishmeal and fish oil production
will remain around the same. - Oilseed and legume-derived meals will increase from 17 percent to 24 percent of
the total fishmeal protein source contribution, mostly at the expense of northern
hemisphere fishmeal.