The global population is rapidly growing. The rising middle classes in many countries are changing culinary habits, with a rising appetite for high-quality protein products such as fish, meat and poultry. The traditional meat and fish industries are already struggling to provide for this extra demand, creating the so-called “animal protein gap”.
To fill this gap, aquaculture has already overtaken the traditional wild-caught fisheries and is predicted to double its output over the next 30 years. This rapid growth of global aquaculture creates another underlying “animal protein gap” at the livestock feed level. Most aquaculture (and other livestock production) requires high quality animal-protein feed products.
Fishmeal is the main source of animal protein for animal feed. Fishmeal is generally produced from wild-caught, small marine fish that are not suitable for direct human consumption. Global supply, mainly from Peru, is around 6 million tonnes annually, with the catch influenced by El Niño-fluctuations.
For species such as salmon and trout, and for the booming shrimp farming industry, fishmeal remains crucial. The level of inclusion[1] of fishmeal in fish diets is difficult to lower further without negative effects on productivity. There is simply not enough fish meal available to satisfy the growing demand.
This so-called “fishmeal gap” can be closed only if innovative feed ingredients can be produced at scale to complement or substitute fishmeal.
Insect protein from the black soldier fly (BSF) (and several other species) is comparable to fishmeal, in terms of nutritional value and digestibility.[2]
In feeding trials with our partners Omegabaars, the jade perch (Scortum barcoo) was fed 50% of live larvae as a substitute for their regular pellets: these fish reached their commercial weight 25% faster than the control group (see graph).[3] A positive effect on mortality was also observed.
Through better food palatability, insects also increase feed efficiency and growth.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations have long been promoting insects as a sustainable source of proteins and lipids. The 2013 report “Edible Insects: Prospects for Food and Feed Security”[4] painted a positive picture for insect farming as part of the solution to “feed the 10 billion”.
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