Enrico Bachis has been the market research director at IFFO since 2017. He graduated from Cagliari University in Sardinia with a political science degree before obtaining an M.Sc. in financial economics and a Ph.D. in industrial economics from the University of Nottingham in the U.K.
Aquaculture continues to expand at a remarkable pace, reshaping how the world produces healthy protein. Its continued success, however, depends on feeds that deliver nutrient-dense benefits while demonstrating their environmental credentials. Drawing on the insights I shared at the recent Seafood Expo Asia, the path forward should rely on a strategy of complementarity, aiming to preserve the unique nutritional advantages of marine inputs while scaling credible novel ingredients.
Fishmeal and fish oil have been a cornerstone of aquaculture developments. Fishmeal’s highly digestible proteins offer a complete amino acid spectrum alongside essential vitamins and minerals that support growth, immunity, and product quality. Fish oil contributes concentrated energy and long-chain omega-3s (EPA and DHA). Together, they enhance palatability, helping fish keep eating under challenging conditions.
Yet, that foundation is built on limited resources. Science-based quotas and ecosystem-focused management rightly constrain supply, while competing demand from sectors like nutraceuticals and petfood intensifies pressure on availability and price. With aquaculture set to grow further, the industry will require millions of additional tons of feed inputs over the coming years. No single ingredient class – conventional or novel – can close that gap alone; success depends on using all tools more intelligently.
That imperative extends to how sustainability is measured. In a complex world where aquafeeds are made up of 40+ ingredients, it is critical to enable fair comparisons across ingredient categories. The sector is, therefore, adopting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and datasets like the Global Feed LCA Institute (GFLI) database, which are compliant with recent guidelines such as that of the European Union (PEFCR). The key message is simple: Every ingredient has a footprint, and every ingredient has trade-offs.
Certification helps make that data actionable. Schemes such as MarinTrust and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) now cover around half of global marine ingredient volumes in typical years, bringing traceability and responsible sourcing assurances into procurement. Crucially, certification is complementary to LCA. Together, they help buyers reward ingredients that are both responsibly sourced and demonstrate lower impacts. This nuance also addresses persistent misconceptions about marine inputs by separating well-managed, certified supply from outliers.
Meanwhile, innovation is widening the ingredient palette. Plant proteins, insect meals, single-cell proteins, and algae-derived oils are moving from pilot to commercial scale. Algal oils can supplement the EPA/DHA pool at a time when intakes of omega-6s outpace those of omega-3s; insects and microbials offer circularity and novel functionality.
Still, current volumes and cost curves do not allow them to replace marine inputs. The most resilient approach is precision nutrition, or using smaller, smarter amounts of fishmeal and fish oil exactly when they deliver the highest biological return. This includes optimizing blends across ingredient classes, integrating byproducts, whose volumes will keep increasing as aquaculture output keeps growing, and leveraging processing and biotech advances to improve digestibility and minimize waste.
In sum, aquaculture’s feed future will be built on complementarity rather than replacement through retaining the nutritional strengths of marine ingredients, capturing gains from alternatives, and orchestrating both through precision nutrition, responsible sourcing, and rigorous, standardized data. That is how the sector can meet rising demand while safeguarding the ecosystems on which it relies.
