Insect-Based Feed Ingredients for Aquaculture: A Case Study for Their Acceptance in Greece

Abstract

Although the inclusion of insects in fish diets is officially allowed in the EU since 2017, insect-based aquafeeds have not been widely adopted by the European aquaculture sector. In order to investigate the perceptions related with adoption trends, it is critical to explore the beliefs of people associated with the aquaculture sector on the use of insects in farmed fish diets. A survey was conducted among 228 participants of an aquaculture conference to explore their perceptions on the inclusion of insect meal in fish diets. Additionally, we investigated the attitudes of nine companies operating in the aquaculture and aquafeed sector in Greece that attended the conference towards this direction. The findings of the conference survey provide evidence that there is a wide-range awareness and acceptance regarding the use of insect-based feeds in farmed fish diets among the respondents. This is mainly driven by the expectations for the decline in fishing pressure on wild fish stocks, the reduction of the ecological footprint and the enhancement of the sustainability of the aquaculture sector. The results of the stakeholder survey show that six out of the nine companies that participated in the survey are favorably disposed towards the use of insect-based feeds. Specifically, four of them stated that they would produce or use aquafeeds based on insects. However, the results highlight the need for further research on the implementation of the wider adoption of insect-based feeds in aquaculture. The present study provides some first insights into the use of insect-based aquafeeds in Greece, for which there are no data available.

Consumer attitude and acceptance toward fish fed with insects: a focus on the new generations

“…A part from consumer acceptability and preferences, other analyses based on contingent valuation have retrieved consumers' willingness to pay for insects as food or feed: the analysis conducted by Giotis and Drichoutis (2021) on Greek consumers a negative Willingness to Pay for direct entomophagy, implying that consumers require a discount in order to purchase the product, and a higher acceptance for indirect consumption of insects; willingness to pay for insects as feed is also higher in the analysis of Ferrer Llagostera et al (2019), even though taste expectations are low. Interestingly enough, the Greek survey conducted by Rumbos et al (2021) considered both demand and supplyside perspectives. Their analysis shows that individuals are indeed aware of the environmental spillovers of insectbased feed, and display a positive attitude and willingness to consume fish fed with insects.…”

Recent advances in the utilization of insects as an ingredient in aquafeeds: A review

“…However, the wider adoption of insect utilization in aquafeed will likely depend, to a larger extent, on aquaculture producers and consumer acceptance. Despite few existing studies investigating people's perception concerning the use of insects as feed ingredients, the majority of the aquatic animal product consumers have shown favourable responses for various reasons, including risk-free ( Popoff et al., 2017 ; Szendrő et al., 2020 ), sustainability considerations ( Verbeke et al., 2015 ; Rumbos et al., 2021 ), as well as availability and access to information about the products ( Baldi et al., 2021 ; Rumbos et al., 2021 ). Product awareness and information availability are considered the most important factors that could accelerate the acceptance and positive perception of aquatic products produced on insects-based feeds ( Baldi et al., 2021 ; Rumbos et al., 2021 ).…”

Introducing the special issue ‘Application of insect ingredients in sustainable aquaculture’

“…Researchers investigating the consumer attitude toward products obtained using insect meals in fish diets showed that consumers are willing to accept these products (Arru et al, 2022;Mancuso et al, 2016) and are sometimes even willing to pay a premium, in particular when they are aware of the positive impact on footprint and sustainability of aquaculture (Ferrer Llagostera et al, 2019;Rumbos et al, 2021). In this special issue, Baldi et al (2022) used psychometric variables to study the acceptability of fish fed insect meals and focused their investigation on new generations as they are often more likely to accept these products.…”