Innovative Fish Feeds and Nutrient Input Systems for Small-Scale Aquaculture in Africa and Asia

The high cost and variable quality of fish feeds remains a barrier to profitability of small-scale aquaculture operations and is exacerbated by the common practice of overfeeding. The greatest production cost for farmers is feed, usually about 80% of total costs in grow-out systems. While high quality fish feeds are critical to optimal fish growth and production, feed ingredients such as fishmeal, soy, corn, and wheat are globally traded commodities vulnerable to price fluctuations that can negatively impact farmers. The AquaFish Innovation Lab has been researching innovative feed formulations, ingredients, and feed strategies on semi-intensive fish farms in Africa and Asia in order to reduce production costs and maximize profit for small-scale farmers.

Improved low-cost, alternative feeds that incorporate the use of locally produced, high quality protein sources are under development. Polyculture techniques and input practices, such as multi-trophic species cultivation with cage culture, reduced feeding regimes, and alternative pond fertilization techniques have also been developed in an effort to improve feed efficiency and increase production. Preliminary results indicate that these innovative techniques increase access to high quality feed at lower costs and improve feed efficiency, thereby increasing profits and production for farmers and improving the sustainability of small-scale aquaculture.