A revisit to fishmeal usage and associated consequences in Chinese aquaculture

Abstract

China has dominated global aquaculture production for more than two decades. Aquaculture production in China increased from 24.6 million metric tons (mmt) in 2000 to 47.5 mmt in 2014, an increment of 93.1%. Along with the fast‐growing aquaculture industry, aquafeed production in China increased from 5.1 mmt in 2000 to 19.0 mmt in 2014, an increment of 272.5%. However, despite the rapid increase in aquafeed production, the fishmeal usage in aquafeeds in China has remained stable over the years. Fishmeal imports into China remained relatively steady at 1.0–1.5 mmt per annum from 2000 to 2014. An often unacknowledged fact is that China contributes more than 60% to the world aquaculture production at a cost of only 25–30% of the world fishmeal output. This review attempts to explain why the fishmeal usage has not increased proportionately with the increasing aquafeed production in China from several angles: (i) the current status of fishmeal usage in Chinese aquaculture; (ii) the relationship between the decreasing dietary inclusions of fishmeal and improved feed techniques, especially the use of alternative protein sources for fishmeal; (iii) the dominance of Chinese aquaculture by low trophic level species of plants, filter feeders, herbivores and omnivores and consequent low demands for fishmeal; and (iv) the increasing price of fishmeal and the management of exploitation of wild fisheries in the main fishmeal exporting countries to China. The trends and prospects of fishmeal usage in the future in Chinese aquaculture and the associated consequences are also addressed. Like other countries, China is now actively developing both resource conservation‐based capture fisheries and environment‐friendly freshwater and marine aquaculture systems. Aquaculture will be the main source of aquatic food in the future and will also indirectly contribute to save the world wild fisheries, and China will be main player that will continue to contribute towards this end.

Fishmeal availability in the scenarios of climate change: Inevitability of fishmeal replacement in aquafeeds and approaches for the utilization of plant protein sources

“…The inclusion level of fishmeal is decreased year by year for all the species mentioned in Figure except catfish and was increased from 5% in 1995 to 11% in 2005, while the reduction was found in 2010 (5%). But in contrast, Han et al () reported an increased value of fishmeal inclusion in Yellow catfish (25%), Eels (55%) and shrimp (27%) for the year of 2014. The decreased availability and higher demand of fishmeal make a shift in the nutrient composition of aquafeeds in recent times for cost‐effective aquaculture production.…”

“…Notwithstanding, feed technology is also one of the important factors, influencing fishmeal usage in aquafeed. Han et al () stated that the output of the recent research in the past few decades, not only increase the knowledge on digestibility and nutritional requirements of the candidate species and also gave a clear vision on the processing technology, which has led to a significant reduction in the usage of fishmeal in aquafeed formulation. FAO () reported that as the contribution of capture fisheries is relatively stable, the inclusion of fishery by‐products to global fishmeal supply is increased but this could affect the nutritional value of final products.…”

Growth Performance of Bluntnose Black Bream, Channel Catfish, Yellow Catfish, and Largemouth Bass Reared in the In‐Pond Raceway Recirculating Culture System

“…Freshwater aquaculture in China has been viewed as one of the two main contributions of the nation to world aquaculture in the modern era (Han et al. ). Overall, pond aquaculture is likely to dominate aquatic food production; the pond freshwater culture area was 2.76 × 10 6 ha in 2016 (accounting for 44.71% of freshwater culture area), and pond culture production increased from 1.74 million metric tons in the early 1990s to 22.86 million metric tons in 2016 (Wang et al.…”

Chinese Trader Perceptions on Sourcing and Consumption of Endangered Seafood

“…We also emphasize that these perceptions are not time-bound characteristics of a certain culture or society, and we do not intend to imply that the Chinese market cannot be concerned with environmental sustainability at all. Chinese consumer preferences for lower-trophic level freshwater fish such as carp, for example, is a perception that arguably has more positive effects for the sustainability of fisheries (Han et al, 2016b). We also note that while we did not directly interview consumers themselves in this study, our assertions about consumer preferences are based not only on responses from traders but also earlier research conducted with consumers and restaurant operators (Fabinyi and Liu, 2014;.…”