Courtesy of the Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute Feb/Mar Program Research Report:
As reported in our May 2011 newsletter, a large portion of seafood caught for human consumption is discarded after the edible portion has been removed despite the fact that the “trimmings” are still an excellent source of high quality protein meal and oil. In order to make use of this underutilized resource and help relieve a burden on other exploited fisheries, such as sardine, HSWRI researchers recently completed a project seeking to use regionally sourced processing trimmings to replace industrial fish meal and fish oil in aquaculture feeds for marine finfish. This project was funded by NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Program in collaboration with Pete Nicklason of FishTek, Inc in Seattle, WA; Steve Foltz formerly of Chesapeake Fish Company in San Diego; and Dr. Mike Rust of NOAA Fisheries.
To meet one of our objectives, we tested feeds made from California halibut trim meal that contained different ash levels depending on the inclusion level of trim. We conducted an eight week feeding trial using juvenile California yellowtail as the test species and a commercial diet for comparison. The diet with the medium inclusion rate of halibut trim (50% of diet) yielded the best growth and food conversion rate (FCR; Table 1). Survival was not affected by feed type. All experimental feeds performed at least as well as the commercial diet. This included the high ash diet, which contained 85% halibut trim and no other source of fish meal.
The results of this work are extremely promising as the search for alternative protein and oil ingredients remains a high priority for the aquaculture industry, and seafood processors seek outlets for their trimmings byproducts to support a sustainable aquaculture industry.
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