The rise of aquaculture is driving an increase in soy use for aquaculture fish feed, said Joe Meyer, United Soybean Board (USB) director.

 

The top demand for soy use in aquaculture is driven by China, which generates 63% of global aquaculture. The Chinese aquaculture industry uses as much as 6.5 million tonnes of soy, according to estimates.

 

Currently, 18 countries are using soy-based feeds and production technologies created in China as well as via collaborative research with the soybean checkoff, according to reports.

 

"The whole fish-feeding industry is in its infancy, and we're still determining soy inclusion levels in diets and market opportunities for many species," said Meyer.

 

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 leveling off or decreasing, so there is a large opportunity for aquaculture," he added.

 

Due to higher costs of fishmeal and other plant ingredients, like rapeseed meal and cottonseed meal, this year more soy products will be used in aquaculture.

 

The increased use of soy protein concentrate (SPC), which has higher protein levels than soymeal, will enable more feeding of soy to fish and shrimp. Estimated SPC production for 2010 is about 30,000 tonnes, according to the US Soybean Export Council.

 

"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," Meyer commented.

 

State soybean checkoff boards from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, South Dakota, Ohio and Minnesota have all joined USB to finance aquaculture-related research and international marketing initiatives.

 

"The work on soy in aquaculture has only begun," he noted. "We expect to see continued expansion of the aquaculture industry in South-east Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, India and other markets."