Tilapia tend to be one of the more common fish raised in aquaculture systems, which prompts interest in improving production practices.
Throughout the year, we’ve heard from researchers looking to improve fish response to cold temperatures by adding DHA to the diet and others adding peppermint essential oil to fish feed in an attempt to improve fish survival when facing a disease challenge.
In Egypt, tilapia received supplemental sodium butyrate to improve growth and feed utilization along with boosting fish growth.
While in Brazil, fish saw their diets amended with supplemental vegetable choline. Scientists explored the feed ingredients as a way to support fish performance and track the interaction between antioxidant/oxidant status and fish growth.
Some of the novel feed ingredients that found their way into trial fish feeds this year include a wine by-product and grape pomace.
Wine remnants were evaluated for their role in potentially improve the health and immune response in grass carp. While grape pomace flour was added to feed for fish facing a disease challenge.
Some fish were more interested in dinner than drinking, and pizza by-product meal found its way into tilapia feed. The prospective ingredient was explored as a way to lower feed costs.
Researchers have been exploring how feed can boost fish health.
Researchers with the University of California, Davis have been testing fish feed covered with bacteriophage and an edible coating as an alternative to using antibiotics.
Similarly, researchers in the UK are looking at adding a bioactive premix to feed in a bid to help defend fish from sea lice.
Scientists based at Nofima have been exploring the role of zinc and omega-3 fatty acids in feeds to improve barrier tissues in fish – like the skin, gills and intestinal tract.
This year has seen several developments in research and production for salmon including the development of an artificial salmon gut.
SalmoSim was created to provide a quicker and cheaper way to test novel feed ingredients at the lab scale and explore the efficacy of potential prebiotic and probiotic products.
Several feed ingredients intended for the aquaculture industry saw regulatory approval and protections this year.
Cargill was awarded an approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to grow its biotech, omega-3 producing canola. The oil is intended for use in aqua feeds.
Insect producers had a regulatory win in Canada this year when black soldier fly-based feed ingredients were approved for use in salmonids, trout, tilapia and poultry.
Massachusetts-based KnipBio received GRAS or generally recognized as safe standing for its single-cell protein feed ingredient from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company also earned a patent on the intellectual property related to the protein’s production from the EU Patent Office.
Novel feed ingredients are starting to find their way to store shelves courtesy of the fish raised on diets with alternative ingredients.
The German retail chain, Kaufland, has started selling salmon raised on algal oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Similarly, English retail chain, Tesco, is working to scale-up the use of non-fish-based omega-3 oils in the fish it sells as part of an effort to increase the use of what it terms more sustainable feed ingredients.
