by Dr Elisabete Matos, Assistant Professor, Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, Portugal
In the enduring pursuit of advancing aquaculture practices rooted in sustainability and circular economy principles, decades of research have propelled us to explore innovative, environmentally conscious ingredients for aquafeeds. Our unified objective is to replace fish meal and fish oil derived from reduction fisheries in aquaculture diets. The journey began with the exploration of vegetable ingredients several decades ago, followed by the incorporation of land animal ingredients such as poultry meal. More recently, our focus has shifted to ingredients that have minimal impact on soil occupation, including microalgae, bacterial biomasses, and insect production. As we anticipate the emergence of new alternatives in the coming years, we acknowledge the value of a diversified mix of ingredients tailored to ensure the ideal nutrient profile for each aquaculture species.
Presently, aquaculture feed formulations incorporate fishmeal, fish oil, soybean, land animal by-products, and various seeds and grains. These ingredients collectively represent 60-70 percent of feed production costs. With the anticipated growth in production, the prices of fishmeal and soybean meal have surged in recent years, and these ingredients present significant challenges to sustainability. Notably, around 70 percent of fishmeal and fish oil production still relies on directed reduction fisheries, which, though relatively stable due to competent biomass management, may struggle to support the expected expansion of aquaculture. Vegetable ingredients, such as soybean meal and oil, pose their own challenges, including deforestation and competition with other human uses. The quest for sustainable alternatives to traditional nutritional sources is imperative for supporting the continued growth of the aquaculture sector.
In the case of Portugal, the situation is particularly concerning due to the heavy dependence on imported ingredients, especially soybeans, resulting in elevated CO2 emissions from global transportation. The development of locally sourced nutritional alternatives would not only be economically advantageous for aquaculture feed producers but also contribute to addressing these environmental concerns.
Introduction of insects in human diet
In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) proposed the inclusion of insects in human diets to alleviate the world’s food crisis. Since then, insect production has emerged as a viable alternative protein source, with the global insect industry experiencing a thirtyfold increase between 2015 and 2018, projected to be worth 3350 million euros by 2027. Life Cycle Analysis has demonstrated that insect meals, particularly when agri-food by-products are used as substrates, offer more significant benefits than traditional sources like fishmeal and soybean. The growing market traction of the insect industry holds the potential to reduce the reliance on less sustainable ingredients, providing a stable protein supply across Europe through circular economy principles, given that insects feed on agricultural by-products.
Beyond their nutritional quality, insect production boasts substantial environmental benefits, including high feed conversion efficiency, the ability to feed on vegetable by-products and lower water and land use compared to conventional livestock. Life Cycle Analysis studies has shown that industrialized black soldier fly production substantially reduces environmental impact, especially in water-scarce regions like Portugal. These factors present new avenues for growth in the feed ingredients market in the years to come. Various insect species, with black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) and yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) being the most used, have demonstrated suitability as feed ingredients in aquaculture.
Revolutionising research
Despite all the positive impacts, the aquafeed industry has been slow in adopting these ingredients, mostly due to two relevant and interconnected facts: the production is still small, not sufficient to replace more traditional ingredients, and the production costs are still high. Although with increasing demand, as long as traditional fish meal is much cheaper than insect meal, we cannot expect the industry to fully adopt these changes, since this would compromise the economic sustainability of the sector. At Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, we are currently engaged in two significant projects in collaboration with Portuguese insect producers, EntoGreen and Thunder Foods. The InFishMix1 Project aims to develop a new ingredient for aquaculture feeds by formulating a protein mix from three different insect species. This innovative approach seeks to optimize both the amino acid profile of the insect protein mix to better match the fish’s needs and the insect production process to reduce costs and enhance sustainability. The InsectERA2 Project, involving 42 partners from industry, research, and government administrative services, aims to provide alternative foods and nutritional solutions aligned with environmental sustainability, climate change, and food waste challenges. These projects are expected to contribute significantly to the Portuguese economy by scaling up the industry and lowering production costs.
