The transition from fishmeal to insect-based ingredients in aquaculture nutrition represent a huge shift in the industry. The availability of fishmeal has reached its limit and cannot support this rate of overfishing, positively leading to much more sustainable solutions such as BSF meal.
Entomologist
Flylab
Black Soldier Flies (BSF), a fast-growing industry, has caught the attention of all major aquaculture producers globally, and for a good reason, including BSF meal in many species of fish seems to increase performance and is becoming more available with companies producing at larger scales.
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE
BSF or Hermetia illucens are bio-accumulators, this means they will absorb and store substances such as amino acids, fatty acids and micronutrients from their feed source. This also implies that they will accumulate pollutants or toxins if present in their feed. The quality and nutritional profile of BSF meal is thus largely based on the rearing substrate. This underlines that the feed intake for the insects will directly affect the nutritional profile of the products fed to fish. At Flylab, we have chosen a naturally complete diet in order to maintain our clients’ quality standards, and have a nutritional profile to fit the needs of the aquaculture industry.
CASE STUDIES
The performance of BSF meal directly compared to fishmeal has been studied in a number of animal species. We have chosen to analyse 4 species in this article; Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), Koi Carp (Cyprinus carpio var. koi), Siberian Sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) and Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). For further information, these studies are available at the end.
Performance on Pacific White Shrimp (1):
Kasetsart University in Thailand made an experiment designed to assess the effects of partial replacement of fishmeal in Pacific White Shrimp diets. The insects were sourced from Flylab in Thailand. A total of 5 treatments were analysed, gradually replacing fishmeal by BSF meal by up to 60%.
Over the course of 8 weeks, the Pacific White Shrimp showed distinct differences in weight, survival rate, feed conversion ratio and even colour.
• Average weight gain went from 6.55 to 7.98g, underlining a 22% gain.
• Survival rate went from 75.56 to 91.11%, another gain of more than 20%.
• Feed conversion ratio went from 1.12 to 1.67, a staggering 49% difference.
This unpublished study shows that BSF meal is not only a potential replacement for fishmeal in Pacific White Shrimp diets, but it also completely outperforms it.
Performance on Siberian Sturgeon (2):
Poznań University of Life Sciences in Poland made an experiment designed to compare the sustainability, economy and GIT development of BSF ingredients in comparison with fishmeal and oil. The insects were produced at HiProMine in Poland. A total of 7 treatments were analysed, also gradually replacing fishmeal by BSF meal to include a total of 30% in the end recipe.
Over the course of this experiment, many factors were considered, the key numbers to extract from the performance on Siberian Sturgeon were the following:
• The fish-in fish-out ratio decreased from 1.04 to 0.26. This decrease of 75% in potential feed usage is not necessarily the best economic choice when further analysing the results, however it is best in sustainability.
• The feed conversion efficiency went from 1.13 to 1.47, thus potentially needing less feed for the same output.
• The profit per kg of live fish was increased from 6.48€ to 6.70€ in the best treatments, a potential increase of 0.22€ per kg of fish.
This study does show that, at current prices, all treatments containing insect ingredients are favoured considering environmental sustainability and economic profitability in Siberian Sturgeon production.
Performance on Atlantic Salmon (3):
Institute of Marine Research in Norway made an experiment designed to assess the potential of insect-based diets in fresh-water Atlantic salmon. The insect ingredients were produced by Protix in the Netherlands. A total of 6 treatments were analysed testing different formulations with inclusions of BSF meal and BSF Oil.
The results of this experiment show very similar results between diets and underline that it is possible to add insect meal in combination with insect oil in the diets of fresh-water Atlantic Salmon up to 600g/kg without any adverse effects on growth performances, feed utilization, apparent digestibility and whole-body composition.
Performance on Koi Carp (4):
Chiang Mai University in Thailand made an experiment designed to gradually totally replace fishmeal by BSF meal in Koi Carp diets. The black soldier flies were produced locally by Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Agriculture. A total of 5 treatments were analysed over the course of 8 weeks.
The results of this experiment show benefits in immune-related gene expression after incorporating higher amounts of BSFLM (Black soldier fly larvae meal) into the diet. This could also explain the significant trends in growth parameters, resulting in bigger and healthier Koi Carp.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS FROM ACADEMIC RESEARCH
These studies demonstrate that incorporating black soldier fly larvae into different fish diets can lead to improved overall performance, or at worst, no significant changes. These findings, and many more, are supported by quantitative data and statistical analysis that is available online should anyone want to read more about the different experimental protocols and results.
The transition from fishmeal to insect-based ingredients in aquaculture nutrition represent a huge shift in the industry. The availability of fishmeal has reached its limit and cannot support this rate of overfishing, positively leading to much more sustainable solutions such as BSF meal. Insects additionally offer enhanced performance leaving them as one of the top choices to meet consumer demand for sustainable protein sources.
UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES IN MARKET OFFERINGS
As mentioned above, the nutritional profile and quality of BSF meal will vary depending on feed source and supplier, and can even be tailored for specific markets and individual species’ needs.
For example, BSF meal can range in crude protein content from 37 to over 60%, each of which will have different amino-acid composition depending on the initial diet of the insects. The performance of insect-based ingredients will need to be further tested and compared between different key industry stakeholders in order to offer consistent products over time.
At Flylab, we see premium insect-based ingredients in aquaculture nutrition being a key factor in improving performance in the coming years, while also bringing more sustainable products to impact our future. Usually, nature comes at a cost, we believe that we can achieve both increasing performance in aquaculture and reducing overfishing, offering a win-win solution for all parties, including our planet.
References:
1. Internal test results by Kasetsart University, 2023
2. Rawski, M.; Mazurkiewicz, J.; Kierończyk, B.; Józefiak, D. Black Soldier Fly Full-Fat Larvae Meal Is More Profitable Than Fish Meal and Fish Oil in Siberian Sturgeon Farming: The Effects on Aquaculture Sustainability, Economy and Fish GIT Development. Animals 2021, 11, 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030604
3. Ikram Belghit, Nina S. Liland, Rune Waagbø, Irene Biancarosa, Nicole Pelusio, Yanxian Li, Åshild Krogdahl, Erik-Jan Lock. Potential of insect-based diets for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Aquaculture, Volume 491, 2018, Pages 72-81, ISSN 0044-8486, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.03.016.
4. Linh, N.V.; Wannavijit, S.; Tayyamath, K.; Dinh-Hung, N.; Nititanarapee, T.; Sumon, M.A.A.; Srinual, O.; Permpoonpattana, P.; Doan, H.V.; Brown, C.L. Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal: A Sustainable Alternative to Fish Meal Proven to Promote Growth and Immunity in Koi Carp (Cyprinus carpiovar. koi). Fishes 2024, 9, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9020053
About Aubin Bernard
With more than 5 years of insect rearing experience in laboratories and industrial set-ups, Aubin is passionate about insects and nature conservation. Having kept over 200 total different species, Aubin Bernard now focuses solely on black soldier flies. Currently based in Bangkok, Aubin is a French self-taught entomologist who chose hands-on experience over academia.
