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AOCS Protein and Co-Products Division
Newsletter April 2007Developing Plant Products for Aquafeeds
The aquaculture industry is the fastest-growing animal food-producing sector, increasing at an average rate of 8.9% per year since 1970. Although production from capture marine fisheries increased about five-fold from 1950 to1990, annual growth has become slow to stagnant over the past 15 years. Yet, due to population growth, urbanization, and rising per capita incomes, the global demand for fish and fishery products is predicted to continue increasing in the years to comeā??from 133 million tons in 1999 to 183 million metric tons by the year 2015 (Food and Agriculture Organization 2004, 2006). Considering that capture fisheries are close to or have already reached their potential, the world is looking toward aquaculture and its technologies to fulfill the expanding food demands.
For years, the aquaculture industry heavily replies on marine fishmeal and oils as the main feed protein and oil ingredients. Concerns about the environmental impacts of aquaculture, the growing trend toward more intensive production, and increasing demand for finite global supplies of marine proteins and oils are driving changes in fish feed formulation toward improvements in nutrient retention and higher inclusion levels of alternative proteins and oils from grains and oilseeds, bacterial proteins, and other non-traditional sources. However, the choice of ingredients from alternative sources, which can effectively substitute for fish protein and oil, and the level of inclusion are currently limited. Furthermore, fish performance is often compromised when higher inclusion levels are made. As a result, a primary task for world aquaculture has been developing alternative protein and oil ingredients and resulting feed products for aquafeeds that support fish growth and are economically feasible.
In line with this development, the Protein and Co-Products and Feed Microscopy Divisions are co-sponsoring a symposium entitled "Developing Plant Products for Aquafeeds" for this year's AOCS Annual Meeting at Québec, Canada. It is jointly organized by Gibson Gaylord, Keshun Liu, and Neil Vary. The symposium is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, May 15, and will bring eight leading scientists, most of them world-renewed fish nutritionists and physiologists, to discuss this critical topic, and provide the latest information on current efforts to develop plant-based aquafeeds, constraints associated with the development, and possible solutions to overcome them.
Click here to view all Protein and Co-Products technical sessions on the AOCS Annual Meeting website.
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AOCS, 2710 S. Boulder, Urbana, IL 61802-6996 USA
Chairperson
Keshun Liu
phone: 208-397-7000 ext. 161
fax: 208-397-4165
e-mail: keshunl@uidaho.edu
Vice Chairperson
Mike Dowd
phone: 504-286-4339
fax: 504-286-4367
e-mail: mkdowd@srrc.ars.usda.gov
Secretary/Treasurer
Nick Parris
phone: 215-233-6453
fax: 215-233-6559
e-mail: nparris@errc.ars.usda.gov
Member-at-Large (Academia)
Yilin Bian
phone: 515-294-3250
fax: 515-294-6261
e-mail: ybian@iastate.edu
Member-at-Large (Government)
Phoebe Qi
Member-at-Large (Industry)
Phil Kerr
phone: 314-982-1218
fax: 314-982-4677
e-mail: pkerr@protein.com
Imm. Past Chairperson
Mila Hojilla Evangelista
phone: 309-681-6350
fax: 309-681-6691
e-mail: hojillmp@ncaur.usda.gov