In Pursuit of Fish-Free Feeds: A Multi-Species Evaluation

Abstract

The future growth and sustainability of fed aquaculture, and especially that for carnivorous species, will be highly dependent upon the industry stepping away from its reliance upon forage fishes as major feed ingredients. With this goal in mind, the F3 Feed Innovation Network—a consortium of researchers; businesses, including feed manufacturers and ingredient providers; NGOs; and others—energizes industry to adopt novel and promising aquafeed ingredients and formulations. All evaluated formulae are open-source and freely available on the F3 website. Moreover, the F3 diets can be readily retailored to suit user demands and/or local conditions (i.e., ingredient availability/restrictions). This presentation summarizes completed F3 trials undertaken with five species of cultured and candidate fishes. With reference to eight studies, findings are compared against conventional fishmeal (FM)/fish oil (FO)-based feeds. The described research documents the response of test animals to aquafeeds containing traditional FM/FO alternatives (e.g., soybean meal and poultry by-product meal) as well as innovative ingredients (e.g., microalgae and single-cell proteins). Depending on the species examined, account is given to the overall growth performance, health aspects, and product quality. The F3 trials demonstrate the feasibility of the complete removal of FM/FO from the diets of the tested animals.

Effects of Clostridium autoethanogenum protein on growth performance, intestine and liver health of turbot Scophthalmus maximus during grow-out phase

“…Turbot is one of the most important mariculture species in China and Europe (Guan et al 2018;Fernández-González et al 2023). Like other carnivorous sh production, turbot aquaculture traditionally relied on shmeal as primary protein source and hampered by its high price and short supply (Campbell et al 2022). Feed source diversi cation and new feed ingredient development are the key for turbot production sustainability.…”

Impact assessment of national grower trout mixed fodders on the condition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792) during its farming in cages

“…As early as the 1920s, there was a desire to develop more sustainable aquaculture. The concern was to reduce water pollution caused by raw meat and fish and by-products that were commonly used as feed [6]. In the late 1950s, Edward Grassl [7][8][9] evaluated the use of dry feeds.…”

“…He compared the growth of trout fed either wet minced meat or dry pellets and reported similar growth of fish when the amount of pelleted feed fed was 50% less than recommended for raw feed, provided chopped liver was given once a month. The introduction of granulated feeds resulted in a 60% increase in fish farm productivity and a reduction in fish feed costs [10].…”

Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology

“…In this respect, we turn to the contribution of Campbell et al [6] reporting on the initiative carried out by the F3 Consortium Feed Innovation Network (f3fin.org), which aims to tailor diets to suit user demands and the availability of local ingredients. This process is based on the acknowledgement that a proper diet does not need to be manufactured with specific ingredients, but rather it should provide a balanced variety of ingredients to meet the nutritional requirements of the targeted species.…”