A limited supply of fishmeal: Impact on future increases in global aquaculture production

Abstract

The global farming of fish and shellfish has been the fastest growing food producing sector in the last few decades and has become an important industry in many countries. Fishmeal made from pelagic fish used to be the major dietary protein source in compounded feed for many important farmed species, but the limited amount available has resulted in massive research to identify alternative protein sources. The average levels of pelagic fishmeal in aquaculture feed have decreased substantially in the last decade and recent published results in the scientific literature show that it is possible to replace even more in diets both for carnivorous and herbivorous/omnivorous species. If the predicted low inclusion levels are reached in the next decade, there may be room for a relatively large increase in the total production of farmed fish and shellfish without any increased use of fishmeal.