Aquaculture Innovafeed: a natural, sustainable and high-performance protein source to boost fish/shrimp growth and maintain health

More people than ever rely on aquaculture and fisheries for food and as a source of income according to the FAO. As a result, aquaculture is the fastest growing agro-business in the world. But to support this growth, securing quality and sustainable feed sources is key. Traditional protein sources for aquafeed are insufficient :

Fish stocks are currently exploited at their maximum (90-100%) and fish meal production will reach a stable production
Plant proteins are a good alternative but can impact performance and quality if included in higher proportions

At this pace, the FAO predicts a deficit in quality protein up to 30 to 40 MT for aquaculture by 2030. Insects are a natural and sustainable source of high quality protein for aquaculture. Over the last few years, insects have also demonstrated their performance in fish farms thereby cementing their role in enabling aquaculture to fulfill its potential and feed tomorrow’s world.

A natural, sustainable, and performant source of proteins

Innovafeed’s insect proteins derived from Black Soldier Fly are a unique set of nutrients for aquafeed. They are:

Performant – in both a research and commercial setting our Black soldier fly protein ingredients perform, allowing farmers to maximise productivity.
Sustainable – dual effect demonstrated by a recent Life Cyle Analysis performed by leading consultants Quantis: a low carbon footprint and a positive impact on biodiversity.
Natural – in the wild, up to 70% of the trout’s natural diet consists in insects.

Since 2016, Innovafeed has heavily invested to demonstrate and understand the performance of its Black Soldier Fly proteins on fish and shrimp. To adapt perfectly to each species nutritional needs, Innovafeed has developed two distinct product lines thereby ensuring the best performance of its feed ingredients.

Salmonids

- Zootechnical performance equivalent to premium fishmeal thanks to similar amino acids profile
- Upgraded organoleptic performance with improved fish color and texture and reduced concentration of pollutants in filets

Shrimp

- Improved growth with significant improvements in FCR and SGR due to high protein content and high digestibility
- Lauric acid plays an important role in pathogen resistance. One publication showed a reduction in mortality after standard bacterial and viral pathogen challenges in shrimp.

They work with us

It is very important to team up with suppliers than can bring us together into more sustainable business. Sustainable growth needs sustainable raw materials and insect meal is definitely one.

Harald Sveier

R&D Director, Lerøy

CASE STUDY

December 2018: launch of the 1st “fed with insect protein” trout in the world

In 2018, Innovafeed brought together an entire value chain to offer French consumers the first “fed with insect protein” trout in the world.

Innovafeed, fish farmer Truite Service, retailer Auchan, label Mister GoodFish and feed formulator Skretting combined their expertises to enable the success of this pioneering initiative.

50% of the fishmeal present in the trout feed were replaced by Innovafeed’s insect protein
“Insect-fed” trouts started to be available on the stalls of 50+ stores in the North of France
200+ fishmongers at Auchan were trained, a specific “insect-fed” label.

Spurred by the success of the “fed with insect protein” trout, the Team decided to go even further and launched the “sustainable trout” in February 2020:

50% of fishmeal replaced by insect protein
Part of fish oil replaced by micro-algae oil to boost Omega 3 content in fillets
Remaining of fishmeal and fish oil extracted from trimmings ensuring the trout has no impact on marine resources.