Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications: a global synthesis 17as expected, with, for example, a survival rate for grouper species that is at best, only
3 to 5 percent (Rimmer, McBride and Williams, 2004). De Silva and Turchini (2009)
suggest that trash/lower-value fish usage in aquaculture may almost halve by 2010
as there is a shift over to more intensive aquaculture and a greater dependence upon
formulated feeds. This has implications for both the fate of trash/low-value fish and an
increased demand for fishmeal, largely from South American sources, unless there is a
significant substitution with plant-based protein alternatives.
3.2 Fishmeal and fish oil production and trade
3.2.1 Production
Fishmeal is produced by cooking the fish, pressing them to remove water and body oil,
and finally drying them at temperatures of between 70 and 100 ºC, depending upon
the meal type being manufactured. After extraction from the fish, fish oils are purified
through centrifugation and represent around 5–6 percent of the total raw material body
weight.
Worldwide, annual production of about 400 dedicated fishmeal plants is about 6.3
million tonnes (it has fluctuated between 5.9 and 6.2 million tonnes over the last five
years) of fishmeal and 1 million tonnes of oil from about 33 million tonnes of whole
fish and trimmings (FIN, 2007). The main producing countries in 2005 were Peru,
Chile, China, Thailand, United States of America, Japan and Denmark (see Table 9).
South America provides the bulk (37 percent) of the global landings (21.5 million
tonnes) destined for fishmeal and fish oil; the Far East and Southeast Asia, which
provide 27 and 12 percent, respectively, are also major sources of raw material. In
Europe, Denmark, Iceland and Norway are all significant suppliers, each providing
around 5 percent of the global supply. The South American supply mostly consists of
anchovy (35 percent of the global supply), while capelin (6 percent of global supply) is
the main constituent of European supplies. Sand eel is used for around 4 percent of the
global supply and is the main EU feed fishery, largely from the Danish fleet.
Fish oils are largely a by-product of fishmeal production, with global supply at
around 1 million tonnes per annum, mainly supplied by Peru and Chile (47 percent)
and the EU (16 percent).
TABLE 9
Fishmeal production by country, 1996–2005 (thousands tonnes)
Country 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Peru 1 972 1 741 815 1 904 2 309 1 844 1 941 1 251 1 983 2 019
Chile 1 376 1 195 642 957 842 699 839 664 933 794
Thailand 382 386 410 398 387 381 387 397 403 410
China 359 534 693 707 806 723 460 420 400 305
United States of
America 329 394 294^355335342337 318 353 268
Japan 406 363 379 409 387 227 225 230 295 230
Denmark 297 341 324 311 318 299 311 246 259 213
Iceland 265 279 220 234 272 286 304 279 204 188
Norway 214 253 301 241 264 216 241 212 215 154
South Africa 65 55 94 84 109 111 93 113 114 108
Ecuador 110 44 72 51 78 89 59 79 85 87
Morocco 75 70 55 59 53 55 61 64 63 66
Russian Federation 207 177 163 155 126 98 95 68 70 60
Mexico 68 63 45 48 65 61 65 65 55 55
United Kingdom 55 51 52 53 50 47 48 52 51 53
Source: FIN (2007)