Insects as innovative protein source for fish feeds: a brief review

Global fish production has grown steadily over the last 5 decades reaching a total of 158 million tons in 2012 with more than 42% coming from aquaculture. From 1980 to 2012, the global aquaculture production grew at an average annual rate of 8.6% and this increasing trend is expected to continue. In order to feed the world population (9 billion in 2050), food production must increase by 70% and aquaculture production will need to increase by 133%. An increased availability of quality aqua feeds is required for sustaining such rates of increase in aquaculture production. Fish meal (FM) is the optimal protein ingredient in fish feeds and still widely used. However, aqua feed production is under increasing pressure due to limited supplies and increasing price of FM. This means that FM will likely continue to be an important ingredient, but it will increasingly be used in combination with other ingredients. Plants already deliver the majority of the protein to diets for farmed fish due to the abundance, potential for increased production and low cost. However, inclusion of vegetable meal in aqua feeds (mainly soybean meal – SBM) is limited since a number of adverse effects are observed. Furthermore, the massive utilization in animal feeding of vegetable meal poses severe environmental issues. Therefore, scientific research must focus on new protein sources able to save biodiversity and to guarantee the sustainability of aquaculture productions. FAO indicates insects as innovative source to be employed in feed, due to their high nutritional value, especially in terms of crude protein (CP) content. In aquaculture, trials have shown that their use is possible with good growth performances even if some amino acid limitations have been highlighted. Insect meal could thus make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of the aquaculture industry. In this scenario, the Committee on “Using innovative sources of protein in animal feed”, appointed by the ASPA, is studying and discussing recent advances in feed research towards innovative new high protein feedstuff to be included in feeds. Different topics are focusing on insect meal, microalgae and animal by-products processed with innovative techniques that can be more sustainable and available on a global basis.