The Introduction of Insect Meal into Fish Diet: The First Economic Analysis on European Sea Bass Farming
Open Access
- 21 March 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Sustainability
- Vol. 11 (6), 1697
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061697
Abstract
The economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture depends significantly on the nature and quality of the fish feed used. One of the main criticisms of aquaculture is the need to use significant amounts of fish meal, and other marine protein sources, in such feed. Unfortunately, the availability of the oceanic resources, typically used to produce fish feed, cannot be utilized indefinitely to cover the worldwide feed demand caused by ever-increasing aquaculture production. In light of these considerations, this study estimates how aquaculture farm economic outcomes can change by introducing insect meal into the diet of cultivated fish. Several possible economic effects are simulated, based on various scenarios, with different percentages of insect flour in the feed and varying meal prices using a case study of a specialized off-shore sea bass farm in Italy. The findings indicate that the introduction of insect meal—composed of Tenebrio molitor—would increase feeding costs due to the high market prices of this flour and its less convenient feed conversion ratio than that of fish meal. Therefore, the expected environmental benefits of using this highly promising insect meal in fish feed do not align with the current economic interests of the aquaculture industry. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this theme, and it must be noted that our findings cannot be generalized widely because a specific case study was used. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that efforts should be made—at least at the farm level—to find profitable ways to encourage the introduction of this attractive alternative to guarantee both economic and environmental sustainability in the near future.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Consumer purchasing behaviour towards fish and seafood products. Patterns and insights from a sample of international studiesAppetite, 2015
- State-of-the-art on use of insects as animal feedAnimal Feed Science and Technology, 2014
- Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI): The First Global Environmental Assessment of Marine Fish FarmingSustainability, 2013
- Consumer preferences regarding the introduction of new organic products. The case of the Mediterranean sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in ItalyAppetite, 2013
- Financial services for small and medium-scale aquaculture and fisheries producersMarine Policy, 2013
- Potential of Insects as Food and Feed in Assuring Food SecurityAnnual Review of Entomology, 2013
- Potential and challenges of insects as an innovative source for food and feed productionInnovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 2013
- Consumer preferences for sea fish using conjoint analysis: Exploratory study of the importance of country of origin, obtaining method, storage conditions and purchasing priceFood Quality and Preference, 2012
- Enzymatic and Histological Evaluations of Gut and Liver in Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Fed with Rice Protein Concentrate‐based DietsJournal of the World Aquaculture Society, 2012
- Exploring consumer’s preferences for farmed sea breamAquaculture International, 2012