Alternative to fish meal shows potential
According to doctoral research conducted by Turid Synnøve Aas of Akvaforsk, bacterial protein meal (BPM) shows great potential as a raw ingredient in fish feed. Its characteristics can make us less reliant on fish meal in the production of feed for the aquaculture industry.
Certain bacteria use methane gas as a carbon and energy source. This
characteristic has been used to produce a protein-rich bacterial meal
(BioProtein®) grown on natural gas from the North Sea.
Turid Synnøve Aas
investigated the use of BPM as a protein source in feed for salmon, rainbow
trout and halibut. She compared BPM with fish meal and documented different
tolerance levels for BPM in the three fish species. Based on growth rate, feed
intake and feed utilisation, BPM appeared to be an excellent protein source in
salmon feed when the feed contained up to 36% of this product. Growth rate and
feed utilisation in salmon was greater when the amount of BPM in the feed
increased, even though the digestibility of nutrients decreased. Satisfactory
results were also achieved in rainbow trout given feed containing up to 27% BPM.
For halibut, however, it appeared that the product should only be used at
moderate levels (9%).
BPM is rich in protein and can be produced in
large quantities if conditions are favourable.Because the availability of fish
meal is limited, BPM could therefore be a good alternative.
