Local agro-industrial by-products with potential use in Ghanaian aquaculture: a review

Abstract

The inability of Ghana's capture-based fisheries to meet national demand has placed aquaculture in an advantageous position to satisfy this supply deficit. The majority of fish farmers in Ghana, however, resort to local feed mixtures, occasionally in combination with commercial aquafeeds, demonstrating that the sector has not yet reached its full potential in terms of production volumes and efficiency. Fish meal is available in limited quantities and is prohibitively expensive in Ghana, making it essential to develop suitable complete and supplementary diets using low-cost and locally available plant by-products for use in fish grow-out facilities, particularly in tilapia production, which accounts for over 80 % of aquaculture production. This review thus identifies local agro-industrial byproducts with potential use in fish feeds based on their nutritional composition, total annual production, competition for and seasonal availability and dynamics of these products as well as prices. The effects of dietary inclusions of these by-products on fish growth and feed utilisation are also reviewed. Based on the published works and other practical information reviewed, these by-products represent huge potentials as alternative aquafeed protein sources because of their abundance, very affordable prices and healthy nutritional profiles for fish growth. Although this review focuses on Ghana, it can also be of direct benefit to fish farmers, feed manufacturers, researchers and the policy-makers in other regions of the world where these crops and their resulting by-products are produced in commercial quantities.

The response of pigs to diets containing varying levels of cocoa placenta meal (CPM) supplemented with an exogenous enzyme complex

“…Much consideration has been drawn to the use of cheaper and less demanded alternatives such as Agro-Industrial by-products and non-conventional feed resources (NCFRs) in the feeding of livestock (Obirikorang et al, 2015) as a result of high cost of conventional feed ingredients. Agro-industrial by-products such as dried brewers spent grains (DBSG), cocoa pod husk (CPH), rice bran, and other NCFRs have been evaluated in Ghana as potential feed ingredients for non-ruminant farm animals (Atuahene et al, 2000;Donkoh et al, 2013;Nortey et al, 2015).…”

Growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of advanced nursing Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed diets containing Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal

“…Importance of quality ingredients and artificial feeds, even for herbivorous species such as tilapia, makes perfect sense at critical stages (juveniles or broodstock) when fish are maintained under intensive clear‐water farming conditions and depend entirely on nutritionally complete diets (Tacon, ). Global research for the identification of cost‐effective substitutes to conventional materials continues (Ayoola, ; El‐Sayed, ; El‐Sayed & Tacon, ; Hasan et al, ; Karalazos, ; Obirikorang et al., ). Insect meals such as fly larvae or maggots meals (MM) have been identified as high protein and valuable feed ingredient for livestock in general (van Huis et al., ; Makkar, Tran, Heuzé, & Ankers, ; Veldkamp et al., ) and freshwater fish specifically, given their natural feeding habits (Bailey & Harrison, ; Barroso et al., ; Henry, Gasco, Piccolo, & Fountoulaki, ; Odesanya, Ajayi, Agbaogun, & Okuneye, ; Randall, ).…”

“…Conventional feed ingredients such as fish meal (FM), fish oil (FO) and plants protein sources (oilseed plants, grain legumes, etc. ), for which there is an increasing demand due to the intensification of farming methods relying on complete fish feeds (Tacon & Metian, ), are available in low‐income countries such as Ghana, consisting either of poor quality local products or high‐cost imported items (Gabriel et al., ; Obirikorang, Amisah, Fialor, & Skov, ). Importance of quality ingredients and artificial feeds, even for herbivorous species such as tilapia, makes perfect sense at critical stages (juveniles or broodstock) when fish are maintained under intensive clear‐water farming conditions and depend entirely on nutritionally complete diets (Tacon, ).…”

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“…To reach a sustainable aquaculture, new alternative ingredient sources including cheaper plant-derived materials is needed to be introduced for stable aquafeed production (Higgs et al, 1995). In this condition, it is necessary to develop appropriate complete and supplementary diets using locally available material especially, plant by-products for most of the fish farmers in the world for use in grow-out facilities due to the prohibitive cost and limited availability of fishmeal and other rare material in the world (Obirikorang, Amisah, Fialor & Skov, 2015). In addition, industrial ecology and circular economy are considered the leading principles for eco-innovation focusing on a "zero waste" society and economy where wastes can be used as raw materials (Kasapidou, Sossidou, & Mitlianga, 2015).…”