Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A question that surely will begin to be asked by the green movement. Are we moulding production on an unsustainable footing if the primary feedstock is largely derived from wild harvested fish stock ie fish meal?

I ask this question trying to understand the opportunities inherent in solving aquaculture's inconvenient truth.

For what type of fish?

In case of Tilapia, you also can use Chicken feed, instead of fish food. Sometimes, I feed the the same thing I feed my chickens. They like it and there is no fish meal in it.

Also, you can make it yourself. I have made fish food few times so far, whenever I have too much un-alocated time on my hand!

Unfortunately the fish police have tilapia on the illegal fish list here in Australia. It's ironic that those fish with the ability to leave the smallest environmental footprint (read cheapest to produce) are legislated against in Australia.

You are pretty lucky there in the States in that respect.

It's a worthwhile topic... and worth serious replies...

But lets establish the base facts first...

The vast proportion of fish feeds are not direct harvesting of wild fish stock.... the fish meal component is primarily by-product catch... which would otherwise just be dumped back (dead) into the ocean...

I'm not suggesting that this alters the "sustainability" question... just correcting the possible suggestion that the feed industry deliberately targets wild stock as a basis of obtaining the fish meal...

It doesn't... it uses what would otherwise be a dumped waste product....

There are very good reasons as to why Tilapia are prohibited in Australia.. but from an aquaculture point of view... they're not totally illegal.

I'm not sure what you mean by "leave the smallest environmental footprint (read cheapest to produce)"...

Environmental footprint in terms of what????

And on what evidence do you base the claim to "cheapest to produce"???

Very probably true... as an aside you can essentially feed Tilpaia a vegetarian based diet anyway...

But most aquaculture pellet feeds have been specifically amino acid profiled to specific species...'

Homemade feeds may well suffice, and be acceptable for backyard systems... but wouldn't cut it in a commercial aquaculture context...

This then leaves us with a choice of producing our own feeds, that might not be optimal for fish growth or health... or using an admittedly currently unsustainable fish meal based feed that has been formulated to achieve both optimal growth and health in fish....

The seems to be a hint of implied criticism of aquaculture in the original post....

Australia, and many other countries with aquauclture industries... are, and have been for some time... not only aware of the issue of sustainabilty... but are actively working towards solutions...

They have to... otherwise the industry has no future... possible even no feed... if they don't...

Now as to the actual thread question.... Any fish feeds out there without fish meal in them?

Yes and no.... there was an "organic" non fish meal feed developed in Australia several years ago...

But for all sorts of reasons.... minimum production quantities, novelty, lack of demand, withdrawn orders, and the fact that the feed did not contain any preservatives... a large quantity of the feed eventually spoiled....

Michael is still around, but reluctant to invest in another effort to bring the product to market...

FYI... the product was evaluate by Stuart Rowland of DPI at Grafton... with regards to suitability as a Silver Perch feed... and given a tick of approval...

And I myself used it for about a year... (as did a few members)... and found it to be completely adequate as a feed...

You can't make up the facts as you go Rupert. The fact is fish are being harvested specifically for their omega 3 oils for both aqucultural feeds and nutraceutical markets, in this casse anchovies:

http://www.fish2fork.com/news-index/Fis ... evels.aspx

Environmental footprint = ability to produce fish meat without other fish oil inputs. Fish requiring no fish meal derived omega 3s leave the smallest environmental footprint and by default are also the cheapest to produce.eg silver perch.

I don't see any fish feeds on the market for carnivorous species carrying omega 3's derived from omega 3 rich grains such as flaxseed or pearl lupins. The global aquaculture industry is running out of time to find alternative sources to fish meal.

The article certainly references omega-3 oils as being an essential part of fish feeds.. and fish feed requirements....

But most Australian feeds contain fish meal from by-product catch....


I don't know where you got your information that Silver Perch don't have an omega-3 requirement...

While not at the same scale of Omega-3 content as Jde Perch are when harvest... the Jade Perch being the highest Omega-3 fish worldwide...

The Silver Perch still has a very high omega-3 rating.... it has to come from somewhere???

Funnily enough... the Jade Perch... with the highest omega-3 rating... is actually quite capable of a large herbivorous content in their diet...


Yes and no... there is an increasing amount of research being done to produce Australian fish feeds containing omega-3 grains of the type you mention... but not solely...

And there were very important studies conducted in WA.... sometime ago... as to Lupins as a replacement fish feed...

I think you need to expand your research of Australian aquaculture... and there genuine interest in developing sustainly feeds... alot more than you appear to have done...

This is fascinating stuff, fellas, so please keep it going: I am getting an education in a single thread.
I remember hearing about the lupin research - I wonder what happened to the idea?

Edit-re read...totally invalid response removed

"But most Australian feeds contain fish meal from by-product catch.... "

Which means when oil rich secondary species such as anchovies are caught as by-catch instead of returning them to the sea, fishermen keep them and by default they are overfished. Labelling as by-catch somehow implies the supply of these fish species is not a concern, which couldn't further from the truth. All these species form the basis of the supply chain of the larger carnivorous species we all know and love to eat. Remeber it will take many kilograms of 'by-catch' species in order to produce a single kilogram of the carnivorous species. So it is far worse removing the by-catch species from the food chain. It is like taking the rabbit away from the fox.

"And there were very important studies conducted in WA.... sometime ago... as to Lupins as a replacement fish feed..."

Yes there has been research but it was conducted on the wrong species of lupin. It was conducted on Lupinus angustifolius when it should really have been focussing on Lupinus mutabilis, the ancient Andean lupin. The Andean lupin is 50% protein and 17% oil, 3% of which is Omega 3 and nearly 50% as Omega 6 fatty acids. We are working hoping to get a trial of these lupins growing on the farm here next year and the goal is to move into the fish feed market. There are new variety trials down Pemberton way this year (fortunately) given the dry year in the Wheatbelt.

"The Silver Perch still has a very high omega-3 rating.... it has to come from somewhere???"

I am referring to the perch species (Jades and Silvers) as herbivorous when the reality is they are omnivorous and with the right plant species can still be produced without fish meal enriched diets. Duckweed for example is an excellent plant based source of omega 3s. Chia also which is an edible leaf species as well as an amazing oilseed is abundantly rich in omega 3 and 6 oils. You can even culture algaes which can be rich in omega 3. You couldn't raise Barramundi, trout, salmon or black bream on a purely plant based diet unless it had a well formulated mix of Andean lupin and other appetite attractant additivies making up the bulk of the feed. Which means a more expensive feeding base when compared to the omnivores.

Santalum, something I came across recently stated that Omega 6 oil/fatty acid is not good for one's health unless balanced out by Omega 3. I'm confused by your quoted percentages but it seems that Andean Lupin contains much more of the 6 and less of the 3.
I recall a news item from a couple of years ago announcing that we would soon be eating bread made from lupins but, like so may other bold and newsworthy announcements, it seems to have come to nothing.

PLJ you are spot on with the omega 6s. That's why breeders are looking to exploit the level of omega 3s in the Andean lupin. The problem with the angustifolius lupin commonly grown in the Wheatbelt is it has a very low oil content of around 4-5%. Now there is a high oil lupin species in the Andean lupin, breeders have set about to improve the oil quality. Invariably some breeders will look at transgenic technology. The majority of Canada's canola crop which is GM now produces omega 3 rich oil. A gene was inserted from algae. Its ironic that most aquaponicists would be against GM but the reality is the only source of omega 3 that will be reliable in a few years will be from GM oilseeds. We live in an imperfect world. Lets see where the anti GM crowds suggest we find alternative omega 3 sources that are affordable.

You can now buy bread with lupin flour in it. Google 'Irwin Valley lupin flour'. It has been set up by a small co-op of Mingenew farmers.

Whilst I generally agree with your sentiment that we need to be careful about the levels of fish we harvest, I'm not sure you can immediately claim that if fishermen keep bycatch it is 'by default' overfished. In the wise words of wikipedia - 'citation needed'