Sustainability Analysis of Fish Feed Derived from Aquatic Plant and Insect

Abstract

Fish and meat production and processing will grow drastically in the coming decades. In aquacultural systems, insects are gaining interest as feed to provide a sustainable alternative to the fishmeal paradox, whose production leads to high consumption of resources and negative environmental impacts. Within the scope of this study, the production of fish feed from Hermetia illucens larvae and Lemna minor in an inline recirculating aquaponics model for urban sites was developed and optimized, which efficiently combines waste and environmental service concepts in one production system. At the same time, the value chain produces high-quality, market-accessible raw materials for the fish feed industry. All investigations were accompanied by a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure and compare ecological effects to finally result in sustainable alternatives. The results achieved in this research show that fish feed based on Hermetia illucens and Lemna minor can have the potential to be ecologically competitive or more sustainable than standard feed. It should be noted that the comparison here represents the results of the project on a pilot scale. Various optimization potentials were shown, which are essential for the large-scale implementation of the breeding of both species as well as their processing up to the fish feed pellets.

LCA as decision support tool in the food and feed sector: evidence from R&D case studies

“…Different improvement possibilities were shown, which are fundamental for the wide scope execution of the two species rearing just as their processing up to the fish feed pellets. A more detailed explanation could be found in (Goyal et al 2021).…”

“…At the same time, the value chain produces high-quality, market-accessible raw materials for the food and feed industry. All research activities were accompanied by LCA as well as cost analyses to measure and compare ecological and economic effects to finally result in sustainable alternatives (Goyal et al 2021). The analysis of aquafeed was carried out cradle-to-gate, i.e., from the cradle (exploration of the raw materials) to the production of the individual components for the manufacture and use of the compound feed.…”

“…To give an example, in the context of the production of alternative feed, land use, primary energy demand, and water footprint could be of particular importance. The results to other impact categories can be found in (Goyal et al 2021). Results are shown relatively, i.e., normalized to the worst-case value, which represents the starting point of the investigation.…”

“…The methodology of LCA offers a well-established and standardized approach to dealing with the quantification of impacts through the entire life cycle of a product/service in various industrial domains, not just in the food and feed sector. For instance, Smetana et al 2019, and Goyal et al 2021 focused on the implementation of LCA for quantifying the ecological impacts of food and feed products, Ott et al 2014 used LCA methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of pharmaceutical production process. Other examples when researchers highlighted the use of LCA for designing a sustainable product and process are Kralisch et al 2018, Nielsen andWenzel 2002 (used washing machine as a case study), Kralisch and Ott 2017 (for the chemical process).…”

Optimal control of fish-feeding in a three-dimensional calm freshwater pond considering environmental concern

“…Introduction. The environmental impacts of aqua-cultures, such as fish-feeding, have been widely studied in [1], [2], [3], [4], [6], [7], [12], [19], [18], and [23]. Mathematical models on the interactions between aqua-cultures and water pollution have been developed in [4] and [12].…”