Fish feed raw materials for sustainable Aquaculture

The contribution of aquaculture products to the global food supply is increasing. Therefore, promoting the consumption of aquatic foods can significantly contribute to addressing global nutritional challenges and enhancing overall well-being. Currently, efforts are taking place to adopt more eco-friendly practices to minimize the environmental footprint.

The European Commission has set the following challenges and opportunities for EU aquaculture:a) building resilience and competitiveness, b) participating in the green transition, c) ensuring social acceptance and consumer information, and d) increasing knowledge and innovation.

Fish feed is a crucial parameter in aquaculture. Feed ingredients should ensure animal welfare and health, be cost-effective, and respect the environment. Research is concentrated on discovering alternative feed ingredients sourced in a more sustainable manner. These include proteins and oils from yeast, insects, algae, and plants.

This course offers insight into current trends and good practices of fish feed research, as well as the initiatives developed to achieve social acceptance and provide information to consumers, with the aim of ensuring sustainable aquaculture

Some of the main scientific approaches to Fish feed raw materials for sustainable Aquaculture involve:

• How to set up a fish-rearing experiment in RAS and monitor rearing conditions.
• Introduction to aquafeed production methodology.
• Familiarization with the essential nutrients required by different aquatic species and how these nutrients can be sourced from various raw materials.
• Preparation of fish feed yeast additive formulation of feeds for fish.
• Production and incorporation of insect meals as protein sources in fish feed, a sustainable and protein-rich feed ingredient for aquaculture.
• Microalgae production in bioreactors, as a promising and sustainable approach to addressing various environmental and energy challenges.
• Research and Data Analysis: collecting and analyzing data, evaluating the results, conducting statistical analyses allows one to draw meaningful conclusions.
• Research and Development of sustainable aquaculture practices that include a better use of natural resources as well as the minimal production of effluent waters and wastes.

Learning outcomes:

• Acquire knowledge on basic techniques used in fish feed production
• Understanding Nutritional Requirements and knowledge on Feed Formulation
• Analyze and compare data
• Evaluate results
• Develop laboratory skills
• Current trends and good practices for sustainability in Aquaculture related to feed formulation, and waste utilization.