Alternative Feeds Research at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

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