Aquaculture may not be on your investing radar, but several partnerships are eyeing the 30 million metric ton per year fish feed market as a source of long-term growth.
The emergence of obstacles to aquaculture are hardly surprising. The amount of fish and shrimp captured from the world's wild fisheries has essentially plateaued since the mid-1990s, but we've kept pace with growing consumer demand by turning to aquaculture,
Farmed fish require a long list of nutrients that result in a 30 million metric ton per year global fish feed industry. Depending on species, these nutrients are primarily provided by agricultural proteins (corn, soy) and/or fishmeal and fish oils (byproducts from harvesting fish
according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), catch volumes are heavily regulated and dependent on the replenishment of wild stocks. These factors have limited supply at exactly the wrong time: when demand is soaring.
one pound of farmed salmon uses the fish oil from about five pounds of wild fish" and "fish meal from 1.3 pounds of fish".
soldier flies
The larvae eat organic waste, and become high-density protein for the fish, creating an efficient food production system that can also clean the environment. A Nexus Media production for Scientific American.
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