Raw Material Bottlenecks in Aqua Feed Formulation: Fish Meal and Cholesterol as Test Cases

Abstract

In accordance with the expected growth of the aquaculture industry, global aqua feed
requirements are projected to grow from 15 MMT in 2000 to 27 MMT by 2010. This
will result in an increased demand for - and possibly shortage of – a number of raw
materials which are derived from finite natural resources. Severe increases of
formulation cost of aqua feeds can only be avoided by increasing the power of least cost
formulation, i.e. by offering a wider range of ingredients for which the selection is based
on a comprehensive knowledge of nutritional requirements, raw material characteristics
and cost. This bottleneck situation in aqua feed formulation is illustrated in this paper
with two examples: fish meal/fish oil in feeds for marine fish and cholesterol in feeds for
penaeid shrimp.