April 28, 2008

Soy to significantly take part in aquaculture diet

Thanks in part to checkoff research and marketing efforts, soymeal has increasingly become a key ingredient in fish feeds as the aquaculture industry strives to meet global demand for its products.

Ohio soy farmer and director for the United Soy Board Bill Coppess says opportunity for soymeal as protein source have widened in fish and shrimp diets as fishmeal supply is getting scarce.  and a soy farmer from

Ansonia, Ohio. Soy diets, he said, can also decrease the mercury levels in seafood, helping to alleviate some health concerns.

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector, consuming soy meal from over 250 million bushels of soy, representing a great potential for the feed. .

In the US, each person eats about 16.5 pounds of fish and shellfish each year, including about 4.4 pounds of shrimp. The US consumes about 1.4 billion pounds of shrimp annually.

The soy checkoff also works to incorporate soy into all species of farmed fish.