Fish Nutrition: An African Aquaculture Perspective

Abstract

Aquaculture production is an essential industry in many African countries as a source of protein, income, and employment. The industry is expected to grow because the demand for fish products is increasing while the supply from natural sources is decreasing or has stagnated. Therefore, aquaculture in Africa is required to increase production while ensuring industry sustainability. One of the most important aspects required to increase aquaculture production and ensure the sustainability of the industry in Africa is fish nutrition. Fish nutrition plays a critical role in the expansion of aquaculture because it influences not only production costs but also fish growth, health and waste production. Under current production economics, feed is the most expensive item in African fish production, frequently amounting to more than 50% of the total variable costs depending on the intensity of culture. Accordingly, the success of African aquaculture partly depends on formulating affordable feeds, which guarantee fast growth and survival of cultured fish without causing environmental pollution. Extensive research has been conducted on African aquaculture on various aspects of fish nutrition by using various feeding strategies and technologies, ingredients to replace expensive and limited availability fishmeal and soybean meal by using cheap alternatives, use of affordable locally available feed ingredients and supplementation by using different feed additives for various purposes. The effects of these approaches on growth performance, feed utilization, organ indices, water quality, immunity and economic benefits have been documented. However, information is currently scattered and unorganized. This chapter critically analyses and discusses the available information in the literature on fish nutrition in cultured fish species in Africa. The chapter findings pave the way towards aquaculture development in Africa through proper fish nutrition to meet the needs of the industry for increased production and environmental sustainability in the era of blue economy.