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Soy in aquaculture Lukas Manomaitis, Zhou (Joe) En Hua, U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC)
Photo credit: US Soybean Export Council.
Introduction In the early days of feed-based aquaculture, farmers felt that they had an easy way to gauge the quality of their feeds. If it was dark in color and smelled like fish, then the feed was good. However, as we know now, the days of feed heavy on fishmeal and fish oil (and generally aquatic animal proteins and oils) are over. Fortunately, alternative and effective formulation approaches exist, and the industry is seeing more ingredients for aquaculture become available seemingly every day. Having said that, one ingredient has already taken a central role in aquaculture diets, and that ingredient is soy. The idea of soy in aquaculture diets is something that the United States soy industry has taken seriously for over 35 years, and through their international marketing arm, the U.S. Soybean
Export Council (USSEC, www.ussec.org), they have conducted research, demonstrations and transferred the technical knowledge to make soy a central part of aquaculture today.
Soy, not just soybean meal While soy is not the only ingredient needed to create aquaculture feeds, the unique properties of soy have made it a critical part of formulations today. Soy has a good amino acid profile, one of the highest protein densities for a row crop, and is available internationally year-round as it is grown in many locations. While many are familiar with soybean meal, soy also provides high protein substitutes (soybean protein concentrate and soy isolates), a lipid source (soy oil), a phospholipid source (soy lecithin), as well as other unique products
Aquafeed: Advances in Processing & Formulation Vol 13 Issue 3 2021
