Reduced reliance on fish meal and oil in the formulations of diets for farmed fish is a priority to sustain the unparalleled growth of aquaculture, which led the feed industry to explore alternative protein and oil sources. Aquaculture intensification and global changes also contribute as another major challenge to feed the blue revolution, since there is a need to develop diets that enhance fish robustness.
Recent research on farmed fish species resulted in the identification of a range of innovative novel ingredients that are able to sustain fish growth performance, increase fish welfare and resilience, and still assure a safe, nutritious and tasty product for human consumption. Since the suitability of vegetable ingredients in diets for carnivorous fish has often been questioned, other land based resources need to be explored. Insects and agrofood byproducts have great nutritional value and may contribute towards a circular economy concept. Biotechnology also proposes a wide range of solutions, including microbial biomass and single cell products, but scale-up is still required. Micro and macroalge are also receiving attention, not only as sources of macronutrients, but also for their richness in bioactive compounds.
The potential of each new feed ingredient has to be thoroughly evaluated before their wide acceptance by the feed industry. Unravelling the physiological impacts of those ingredients is the first step towards the development of a sustainable blue growth. Such evaluation relies on classical methodological approaches, but also on some cutting edge tools associated with the use of omics to unravel the impact of nutritional clues on the physiology of farmed fish species.
Please note that abstract submission is not mandatory. Interested individuals and research groups are welcome to submit their manuscript to this Research Topic without submitting an abstract beforehand.
Reduced reliance on fish meal and oil in the formulations of diets for farmed fish is a priority to sustain the unparalleled growth of aquaculture, which led the feed industry to explore alternative protein and oil sources. Aquaculture intensification and global changes also contribute as another major challenge to feed the blue revolution, since there is a need to develop diets that enhance fish robustness.
Recent research on farmed fish species resulted in the identification of a range of innovative novel ingredients that are able to sustain fish growth performance, increase fish welfare and resilience, and still assure a safe, nutritious and tasty product for human consumption. Since the suitability of vegetable ingredients in diets for carnivorous fish has often been questioned, other land based resources need to be explored. Insects and agrofood byproducts have great nutritional value and may contribute towards a circular economy concept. Biotechnology also proposes a wide range of solutions, including microbial biomass and single cell products, but scale-up is still required. Micro and macroalge are also receiving attention, not only as sources of macronutrients, but also for their richness in bioactive compounds.
The potential of each new feed ingredient has to be thoroughly evaluated before their wide acceptance by the feed industry. Unravelling the physiological impacts of those ingredients is the first step towards the development of a sustainable blue growth. Such evaluation relies on classical methodological approaches, but also on some cutting edge tools associated with the use of omics to unravel the impact of nutritional clues on the physiology of farmed fish species.
Please note that abstract submission is not mandatory. Interested individuals and research groups are welcome to submit their manuscript to this Research Topic without submitting an abstract beforehand.
