Fish meal: historical uses, production trends and future outlook for sustainable supplies.

Abstract

Abstract Fish meal in some form has been used as a component of animal feeds for centuries, but it is only in the past 50 years that fish meal production has become a global enterprise. Fish meal is typically produced from species of fish not used for direct human consumption, or from the byproducts of seafood processing. Fish meal is by far the most valuable non-edible commodity produced from fishing, and, over the past decade, annual global production has ranged between 5.5 and 7.5 million tonnes (Mt). ∼30% of annual global fisheries harvest is used to produce fish meal; yields from landed fish (wet) to fish meal (dry) and fish oil average 26%. The wet reduction method of processing is the most widely used production method, and improvements in production technology have led to a higher proportion of fish meal production being classified as premium grade. Although annual global production has been relatively constant over decades, during El Niño years, production in Peru and Chile is substantially reduced. Those countries account for about one-third of global production, but up to 65% of the fish meal traded internationally; thus changes in their production of fish meal greatly affect global supplies and prices. The largest single use of fish meal is as a constituent of poultry feeds. Aquaculture feeds utilized less than 10% of annual fish meal production until 1990, but the proportion of annual production used in fish feeds has tripled over the past decade. Increasing use of fish meal in fish feeds has come primarily at the expense of its use in poultry feeds. Fish meal is the protein source of choice in feeds for fry of many species, and in feeds for carnivorous fish species. The amino acid profile of fish meal combines favourably with plant protein concentrates to produce blended products that support rapid and economical fish growth. Increasing concerns over the presence of organic contaminants in fish meal from certain areas may result in restrictions in its use in some aquaculture applications. Nevertheless, for the foreseeable future, fish meal will be used as a constituent of feeds for many farmed fish species. Fish meal use is concentrated in a small proportion of global aquaculture production; nearly 70% of global use is in salmon, trout and shrimp feeds. Predictions of future use of fish meal in these sectors are for the amount to remain more or less constant, and for the proportion of fish meal used in feed formulations to decrease. Increasing efforts to reclaim protein from seafood processing byproduct will increase the supply of fish meal by as much as 10%, enough to offset decreases in production associated with natural variation in landings and with cessation of fishing for stocks that have been depleted by overharvesting.