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Insects as a protein source in the diet of European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax

Aquaculture depends significantly on the nature and quality of the fish feed used. One of the main criticisms of aquaculture is the need to use significant amounts of fish meal, and other marine protein sources, in such feed. To cope with the economic and environmental sustainability, search for efficient fishmeal substitutes is a primary priority for the aquaculture industry as far as the sustainability of wild fish stocks used as fishmeal source, is concerned. In recent years, new protein sources include other ingredients such as fish by- products, poultry by-products, insects and algae, which showed promising results toward optimal fish growth. After adaptation of the European Commission Regulation (2017/893/EU) in which use of insect processed animal proteins in feed for aquaculture animals is allowed, several important EU research projects increased knowledge on the potential of new insect species as aquafeed. They are easily digestible, rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and leave small ecological footprint. Up to now, utilisation of insect meal in the Mediterranean mariculture is still in the early development stage. In present study, partial inclusion of Hermetia illucens at the larval stage as insect meal and/or poultry by- products meal in the seabass diet was tested versus vegetable and fish based diet, evaluating fish growth performance and protein utilization during the six month feeding trial in the controlled conditions. The results obtained showed a significant positive effect of diet containing insect and poultry by-products meal on the growth of the fish, pointing that alternative protein sources can partially replace fishmeal without negative effects on the growth efficiency. This work has been financed through the Interreg AdriAquaNet project.

Mariculture, alternative protein sources, growth, European seabass, sustainability

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