Alternative Feeds Research at National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)
Ronald Johnson
Marine Aquaculture ProgramNorthwest Fisheries Science Center
NOAA FisheriesSeattle, WA, USA
World Fisheries -Capture vs. Aquaculture
Rising demand for fishmeal
• World demand for seafood is increasing.• Aquaculture can meet demand.
• Worldwide aquaculture use- 2008*• Fish meal, 3.7 mmt, 61% of world
supply• Fish oil, 0.7 mmt, 74% of world supply
*Source: Tacon A G J, Hasan M R, Metian M (2011) Demand and supply of feed ingredients for farmed fish and crustaceans: trends and prospects. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper 564. Rome, FAO. 87pp.
Rising cost of fishmeal
Goals• Alternative feed
ingredients• cost effective• maintain fish
growth• Maintain human
health benefits• Low environmental
impact
NOAA/ USDA Alternative Feeds Initiative
Triple Bottom Line Approach
Feeds for Healthy Sustainable Aquaculture
Human Health
Economic
Environment
Fishmeal vs. soybean meal prices
Change is already taking place
Torrissen et. al. 2011
Plant proteins and oils-advantages
• Economic• Low cost• Biotechnology can keep costs down and improve
nutrient composition• Largest quantity of proteins and oils
• Environmental• Low trophic level; primary producers• Co-product provides use of waste material for
another industry (e.g., starch)• Sequesters CO2 on the earth
• Human healthPhyto-chemicals
Plant proteins and oils-disadvantages
• Economical• Nutritionally incomplete• Highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs)• Amino acids and dipeptides
• Met, Lys, Tau• Anti-nutritional factors• High in carbohydrates
• Environmental• Issues associated with increased agriculture
• Human Health• Naturally low in n-3HUFAs
Byproducts of ethanol production -advantages• Economic
• Low cost• Use of carbohydrate fraction for ethanol production
may increase availability of the protein and bring costs down
• Environmental• Co-product provides use of waste material from
another industry• Sequesters CO2
• Human healthPhyto-chemicals
Byproducts of ethanol production -disadvantages• Economical
• Nutritionally incomplete• Quality of protein sometimes low due to ethanol
production process• Lipid competes with biodiesel
• Environmental• Issues associated with increased agriculture
• Human health• May have contamination loads from farming
practices or processing for fuels• Naturally low in n-3 HUFAs
Animal byproducts -advantages
• Economic• Well utilized by a variety of fish species• Meals are often similar to fishmeal in nutrient
composition • Increases revenue to animal processing• Lower cost?
• Environmental• Recycles animal processing wastes back to fish
• Human health• May be a source of CLA
Animal byproducts -disadvantages
• Economical• Public concerns over BSE have resulted in
restrictions on use in feeds• Environmental
• Issues associated with animal production• Human health
• Some markets do not allow terrestrial animal proteins
• BSE issue is unclear• Low in n-3 HUFAs and high in saturated fats
Fish byproducts -advantages
• Economic• High palatability• Easy to replace fish meal and oil with high quality
meal• Environmental
• Uses waste which is now discarded• Reduces nutrient pollution
• Human health• High in n-3 HUFAs and other nutrients
Fish byproducts-disadvantages
• Economical• Expensive to capture fish• Located in small quantities from diverse sources• Highly perishable until dried
• Environmental• No serious issues
• Human health• May have the same contaminants as conventional
fish meal and oil
Other potential alternatives
• Algae products• Krill• Insect products• Single cell protein• Marine invertebrates• Invasive fish species
Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Seattle, WA, USA
Fisheries byproduct research at NWFSC
Fisheries byproduct research at NWFSC
• Whitefish meal• Pollock bone meal• Salmon processing
• Head meal• Frame and trim meal
Northwest Fisheries Science CenterManchester, WA, USA
Going forward-Alternative feeds research at NWFSC• Fishmeal replacement
• Fisheries byproducts meals• Plant meals
• Taurine • Pollock bone meal
• Fish oil replacement• Viscera oils• Specialty oils
• Finishing feeds • Pacific salmon• Pre-harvest feeds intervals
Thank you