Researchers in Hawaii are examining how best to use fish byproducts to develop fish feeds that are nutritionally balanced, cost effective and environmentally safe.
Scientists at the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii, and a U.S. Department of Agriculture food technologist are working to develop the new feeds by taking fish parts that would normally be discarded — such as the head, tail, bone, skin and internal organs — and fashioning them into feeds for shrimp and finfish.
The researchers then characterize the nutrient composition of the feeds, evaluate their ability to attract the fish, estimate the food’s digestibility and assess the animals’ growth. Recent tests show that many of Alaska fish parts work well as feeding stimulants, which entice the shrimp to eat the plant protein-based feed to which fish byproducts has been added.
The feeds are currently being tested on Pacific threadfin, or moi, and Pacific white shrimp.
In an earlier study with moi, scientists found that the nutritional quality of feeds made with discarded portions of Alaska pollock and cod was equivalent to that of feed made from Norwegian fishmeal, generally regarded as the highest standard in the fish feed industry. The same results were found when feeds were tested on shrimp.
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