260 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications
- Researching Alternatives to Fish Oil in Aquaculture (RAFOA): an EU-funded
project studying the effect of substitution of fish oils with plant oils on growth
performance, fish health and product quality during the entire life cycle of salmon,
rainbow trout, seabream and seabass. - The Directorate of the Fisheries Institute of Food and Nutrition in Norway has also
conducted research similar to that of the RAFOA project. In addition, a second
project, “Fish Oil Substitution in Salmonids” (FOSIS), is currently investigating
whether fish oil can be replaced by vegetable oils in the diet without reducing
the nutritional value or the growth performance of the fish, while minimizing fat
deposition in the flesh. - Two EU research projects are studying the effects of plant oils on fish digestion
and metabolism, “GLUTINTEGRITY” and “FPPARS”. In addition to vegetable
oils, an EU research project “PUFAFEED” is investigating the use of cultivated
marine micro-organisms as an alternative to fish oil in feed for aquatic animals.
- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
8.1 Conclusions
European aquaculture differs from aquaculture in other parts of the world in that it is
a maturing industry focusing on a limited number of high-value, mainly carnivorous
species. As such, the dynamic growth seen over the 1980s and 1990s has slowed, and
European aquaculture is now going through a period of consolidation. This said, while
growth in salmon and trout farming has slowed, the farming of seabass and seabream, as
well as temperate marine species such as cod and turbot, has expanded to take advantage
of the strong market as technological barriers are broken. This study considers that,
based on recent trends, a cautious growth in production of around 2–5 percent per
year is likely, mainly in the production of these “new” marine species.
In Europe, the intensive production of mainly carnivorous species requires a high
demand for fishmeal and fish oil. With typical grow-out diets containing between 30
and 50 percent protein and 10 and 25 percent oil, European aquaculture currently
uses around 615 000 tonnes of fishmeal and 317 000 tonnes of fish oil per year, thus
requiring around 1.9 million tonnes of feedfish^12. The main sources of these feedfish
are the small pelagic stocks of northern Europe, as well as the Peruvian anchovy and
jack mackerel of South America. In addition, approximately a third of fishmeal is
produced from trimmings and the bycatch of food fisheries. The utilization of fishmeal
for aquaculture is likely to fall on a per unit basis as inclusion rates drop through the
use of alternative vegetable-based substitutes and greater efficiencies in feeding and
nutrition. With the conservative rise of European aquaculture production of 2 percent
per year, the use of fishmeal and fish oil is likely to rise to 629 000 tonnes and 343 000
tonnes, respectively, by 2015.
The feed fisheries make a low economic contribution to the fisheries sector as a
whole, providing an estimated 0.5 percent of the EU’s fisheries-related employment
and 2.1 percent of the sector’s value added. Nearly half (45 percent) of this employment
is in the catching sector, with the remainder in feed-fish processing (19 percent) and fish
trimming (35 percent). The adoption of technically advanced catching and processing
methods has ensured that feed fisheries-related employment remains low. However,
this low level of dependency hides localized relatively high levels of dependency in the
fleets of Denmark and Sweden, where feed fisheries are interwoven into a substantive
part of the fisheries sector as a whole.
The main impacts of this demand for fishmeal and fishoil are on the feed-fish stocks
and linked elements of the food chain. Feedfish are mainly bony small pelagic fish with
(^12) This assumes that 66 percent of fishmeal is derived from feed fisheries and that it takes 4.8 tonnes of
feedfish to produce 1 tonne of fishmeal.