Fish farming--or aquaculture--is a winning situation. It's a win for the economy, a win for the consumer, and a win for the planet.
Fish farming--or aquaculture--is a winning situation. It's a win for the economy, a win for the consumer, and a win for the planet. Seafood farmers along the nation's coasts are growing fish to help feed a growing population in an environmentally responsible way. And America's heartland is a key player.
American soybean and other grain crops are improving the ratio of fish needed to feed fish. In the early days of aquaculture, farmed salmon and other carnivorous fish required a mostly wild-capture diet--more than 50 percent of the feed. Today, that is down to about 20 percent.
"There is potential to reach zero percent, for multiple reasons," said Don Kent, President and CEO of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. "First, we can move toward smarter use of fish parts, harnessing what we currently throw away. We don't eat the head or trimmings left over from processing, for example, which can be recycled into feed instead. Second, advanced feed technology means fish that typically eat other fish in the wild really don't need to do that in captivity. It's all a matter of the right balance of the right nutrients."
In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a feed ingredient that Europe and Canada have been feeding fish for years. Add the nutrient to soy or other grain and you have a balanced diet for a carnivorous fish, like salmon, using only plant and algae ingredients.
Continue reading at NOAA Fisheries.
Image via NOAA Fisheries.
