FEED AND FEED SYSTEMS

Around half of the day-to-day operating costs for a fish farmer are feed-related, so feed and feed systems are critically important in aquaculture.

The aquafeed industry faces several key challenges, however. These include the need to reduce dependence on marine ingredients, to alleviate pressure on wild stocks and also to ensure that using “forage fish” for fish and animal feed does not deprive local people.

Linked to this is the quest to develop alternative ingredients from a huge range of sources, from insect protein to algal oils.

Climate and other factors can significantly affect the price of feed materials, whether marine ingredients or agricultural produce such as soy.

The feed industry is also becoming ever more sophisticated in developing feed formulations to maximise both fish health and welfare, and sustainability.

We have also seen a growth in the number of specialist businesses providing feed supplements and “functional feeds” to support healthy growth and resistance to environmental stresses, diseases and parasites.

Meanwhile, feed specialists are also being called on to tailor feed mixes to new species, as aquaculture branches out to embrace species that have not so far been farmed on a large scale.