RESEARCH F&A Alternative Proteins Edition October 2023 57 sect meal in the feed, the fish also grew just as well as fish that received the control feed. “The trial shows that there is no problem in salmon having at least 10% insect meal in their feed. Based on the positive effects of the stickwater fraction from fish meal, we cannot rule out that this fraction from insects would have had a positive effect under other conditions. In any case, it is an important side stream to safeguard for the optimal utilisation of insects as feed for fish”, says Nofima’s Andre Sture Bogevik. In the project, the level of the mineral manganese was also investigated. The EU has threshold values for the content of manganese in the finished feed for farmed fish, and insects contain naturally high levels of this. The trial showed that the fish excrete the mineral and do not absorb more in the body than if the meal did not contain high levels of manganese. Nor did the mineral lead to any deformities or have a negative impact on growth. Aqua director at Innovafeed, Elin Kvamme, is satisfied with the result: “We are delighted to observe results aligned with the internal research we have carried for the past years at Innovafeed. The growth results pave the way for the widespread use of insect protein in the salmon industry, as a sustainable, traceable, and performing ingredient”. RESEARCH ON LOW-TROPHIC RAW MATERIALS The research was conducted in the Millennial Salmon project, which is funded by the Research Council of Norway. The research is published in the master’s thesis of Erika Marie Hanson at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) from 2022 entitled ‘Effects on growth and welfare of Atlantic salmon parr, feed diets with 10% BSFL meal, with different inclusions of BSFL stickwater.” Nofima senior scientist Katerina Kousoulaki is the project manager for the Millennial Salmon project, which focuses on optimising and using heterotrophic microalgae and insect meal as replacements for large parts of fish oil and soy in salmon feed. Larvae from black soldier fly (Hermetia Illucens) is produced at the factory of the insect producer Innovafeed in France and processed for use in feed. Photo: ©Innovafeed Nofima’s trials show that salmon parr like feed that contains insect meal, and grow just as well with stickwater in the feed as without. Parr is the stage between fry and smolt. Photo: Terje Aamodt © Nofima. Senior Scientist André Sture Bogevik at Nofima. Photo: Helge Skodvin © Nofima.
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