US soymeal penetrates into growing aquaculture markets

 

 

US poultry and livestock consume nearly 98% of the soymeal used in the country, but more and more soymeal is finding its way into aquaculture.

 

Soymeal takes to the lakes, rivers and seas, as well as the barns and feedlots, as the prominent poultry and livestock feed grows in popularity in fish and shrimp diets as well.

 

The growing demand for commercially raised aquatic products presents significant opportunity for soy-based aquaculture feeds for fish and shrimp species.

 

Currently, the greatest demand for soy use in aquaculture rests in the China freshwater sector, which produces 63% of global aquaculture. Estimates show the Chinese aquaculture industry uses up to 6.5 million tonnes.

 

"The amount of soymeal used for aquaculture in China exceeds the soy production of Indiana," says Joe Meyer, United Soy Board (USB) director and a soy farmer from Williamsburg, Ind.

 

Meyer noted that the soy checkoff continues to work to expand the aquaculture industries in other areas, such as Southeast Asia, Central America and the Middle East.

 

The soy checkoff is supported entirely by soy farmers with individual contributions of 0.5% of the market price per bushel sold each season. The efforts of the checkoff are directed by the USB.

 

Soy-based feeds and production technologies developed in China and through collaborative research with the soy checkoff are currently being used in 18 countries. Some of the aquaculture technologies developed in China include: A pond production system that produces a single fed species, together in the same pond ecosystem as another species that lives off other organic matter in the ecosystem for maximum efficiency; a cage technology that is sustainable and environmentally friendly for lakes and rivers; an ocean cage technology that is storm resistant and allows fish to be raised in cleaner offshore environments.

 

Meanwhile, Meyer said that global demand for seafood continues to increase, with the US consuming about US$15 billion worth of seafood annually. At the same time, the wild catch of seafood is levelling off or decreasing, so there is a large opportunity for aquaculture, he noted.

 

The challenges of a reduced wild catch affect the cost and supply of fishmeal for aquatic diets. Increased costs of fishmeal, as well as other plant ingredients, like canola meal and cotton meal, mean more soy products will be used in aquaculture this year.

 

In addition, the increased use of soy protein concentrate (SPC), a product with higher protein levels than soymeal, will allow even more soy to be fed to fish and shrimp, as more fish and shrimp producers become aware of the advantages of using SPC to partially or completely replace fishmeal for different fish species and shrimp.

 

Estimated SPC production for 2010 will be about 30,000 tonnes, according to the US Soy Export Council, which carries out checkoff-funded aquaculture promotion efforts abroad.

 

"Protein levels for fish nutrition are much higher than what we would expect for poultry and livestock, so SPC allows us to develop aquafeeds that meet the nutrient requirements of a number of species of fish and shrimp that have a limited tolerance for soymeal," said Meyer.

 

"We expect to see continued expansion of the aquaculture industry in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, India and other markets," he noted.