Research Progress in the Application of Feed Protein Source in Aquaculture

Yan CHEN, Weikang WANG, Qi ZHOU, Bing CHEN

Abstract To replace fish meal for aquatic feed and develop new protein source are important requirements to ensure sustainable development of aquaculture industry and food security in China. This paper reviewed the application effects of common protein sources in aquatic animals and some new protein sources with promising application prospects in aquatic animals and the existing problems and solutions， and prospected the development direction of "non-food" new protein sources， hoping to provide reference for the research and technical personnel of aquaculture and aquatic feed production in the research and development of aquatic feed and protein source selection.

Key words Research progress; Protein source; Feed; Aquaculture

Received： March 23， 2022  Accepted： May 28， 2022

Supported by Basic and Applied Basic Research Program of Hainan Province （No.2019RC246）; the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province （No.20163074; No.20163071）.

Yan CHEN （1983-）， female， P. R. China， associate professor， devoted to research about aquaculture.

*Corresponding author. E-mail： cy969398hn@126.com.

According to the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture， total fish production will rise to 204 million tons by 2030， up 15% from 2018， and aquacultures share will also increase from the current 46 percent. This increase is about half of the increase over the past decade and translated into per capita fish consumption in 2030， which is projected to be 21.5 kg[1]. Chinas aquaculture industry develops rapidly， and in 1992 China became the worlds largest aquaculture producer， and has been firmly in the worlds first. Meanwhile， aquaculture industry is also playing an increasingly important role in Chinas large agricultural system. In some coastal areas， aquaculture has developed into a pillar industry in local rural areas and become an important driving force for economic development and improvement of fishermens living standards. In 2020， the total output of aquatic products was 65.49 million tons， an increase of 690 000 tons or 1.06 percent over the previous year. Among them， the aquaculture output was 52.24 million tons， up 2.86% year on year. The harvest was 13.25 million tons， down 5.46% year on year. The output of seawater products was 33.14 million tons， up 0.97% year on year. The output of fresh water products was 32.35 million tons， up 1.15 percent year on year. Studies predict a significant increase in aquaculture production by 2030， possibly reaching 100 million tons， with the increase largely dependent on support from the feed industry. According to the "National Feed Production Situation" released by China Feed Industry.

Until June 12， 2021， Chinas aquatic feed production scale has shown a rising trend of fluctuations， rising from 16.84 million tons in 2011 to 21.236 million tons in 2020， with a compound annual growth rate of 2.61%. Worldwide， if 60 million tons of production were farmed， nearly 20 million tons of protein raw materials would be needed， but the worlds protein raw materials are limited， especially high quality fish meal， and even less can be farmed. The declining trend of fish meal production and the growth of global fish meal demand led to the sharp rise of fish meal price and aquatic product price[2]. The commodity price of aquaculture animals also increased from $600/ton in 2005 to $2 000/ton， and is still in an upward trend[3]. Therefore， the acquisition of fish meal resources through capture fisheries poses a serious threat to marine fishery resources. The growth rate of fish meal demand is difficult to maintain the stable development of aquaculture industry with fish meal as the main protein source， and it is extremely urgent to develop fish meal substitutes.

This paper reviewed the application effects of common protein sources in aquatic animals and some new protein sources with promising application prospects in aquatic animals and the existing problems and solutions， and prospected the development direction of "non-food" new protein sources， hoping to provide reference for the research and technical personnel of aquaculture and aquatic feed production in the research and development of aquatic feed and protein source selection.

Research Progress on Application of Common Animal Protein Source in Aquatic Animal Feed

Common animal protein which is used to substitutes for fish meal mainly include meat and bone meal， chicken meal， blood meal[4]， animal-derived protein hydrolysates， silkworm chrysalis， fly maggots， earthworms， and some copepod zooplankton， etc. So far， relevant researches have made a series of achievements[5-7].

Some researchers have found that 50% fish meal can be replaced by meat and bone meal in the diets for Sparus Aurata and without affecting growth performance， feed utilization rate and nutrient retention rate. When the replacement level reaches 75%， digestibility and digestive function of fish are not affected[8]. Some authors have reported moderate levels of fish meal protein replacement inolive flounder （Paralichthys Olivaceus）， rainbow trout （Oncorhynchus mykiss）， and large yellow croaker （Pseudosciaena crocea）[9-11]， while in other species， fish meal protein replacement levels are higher. That is， African catfish （Clarias Gariepinus） accounted for 75%[12] and Nile tilapia accounted for 100%[13].

The spray-dried plasma used is mainly from pigs， and the promotion effect of spray dried pig plasma （SDPP） on growth performance of weaned piglets has been well proved[14]. The spray-dried chicken plasma can improve the growth performance and antioxidant capacity of some fishes， including African catfish Clarias gariepinus[15]， hybrid grouper （Epinephelus lanceolatu×E. Fuscoguttatus） and mice[16-18]. Studies have shown that spray-dried chicken plasma （SDCP） has similar chemical composition to spray-dried chicken plasma， and has similar effects in improving growth performance and health status of weaned piglets[19].

The utilization of insect protein in aquaculture has reached a considerable level， among which many silkworm pupae， fly maggot and yellow mealworm are mainly processed and applied[20-21]. The research of Rawski et al.[5] showed the high potential of BSFL full-fat meal application of up to 20% in a brown trout diet. The experiments conducted by Hoffmann et al.[22] on sea trout （Salmo trutta） showed that adding hydrolyzed mealworm meal had no significant effect on feed conversion rate and protein efficiency. However， Miko ajczak et al.[6] reported that the addition of mealworms and Zophobas morio diets resulted in a decrease in the protein efficiency ratio compared to the control group. According to Rimoldi et al.[7]， rainbow trout fed BSF showed a decrease in the microbiota of potential pathogen genera such as Aeromonas and Citrobacter. However， there were no effects on lactobacillus and enterococcus concentrations.

Research Progress on Application of Common Plant Protein Source in Aquatic Animal Feed

Since the 1970s， many domestic and foreign studies have focused on the utilization of cheap plant protein sources in aquatic compound feed[23-25]， among which soybean meal， rapeseed meal， cottonseed meal and peanut meal have become the research and focus of many nutrition experts in recent years. Studies on the effects of different replacement levels of plant protein sources on growth performance and body composition of aquatic animals have been focused on. There are three kinds of effects of plant protein sources on the growth of aquatic animals： ① when the amount of plant protein in feed is within a certain range， it does not affect the growth and feed efficiency of aquatic animals[26-30]. ② When the amount of plant protein in the feed reaches an appropriate proportion， the growth and feed conversion rate of aquatic animals reach the best effect， and the feed cost performance is the best[31-35]. ③ When the amount of plant protein in the feed exceeds the appropriate proportion， the growth of aquatic animals decreases sharply with the increase of the proportion of plant protein sources in the feed[36-39]. Lim & Lee[40] studied the effects of partially replacing fish meal with cottonseed meal and soybean meal on the growth of Oplegnathus fasciatus. The results showed that replacing 20% fish meal protein with soybean meal had no adverse effects on the growth of juvenile O. fasciatus at 3-22 g. Replacing 30% fish meal protein with soybean meal had no adverse effect on the growth of 55-120 g.

Research Progress on Application of Single Cell Protein Source in Aquatic Animal Feed

Single cell protein （SCP）， also known as microbial protein， refers to the proteins produced by bacteria， fungi and microalgae using various substrates during their growth[41-42]. SCP mainly includes algal powder， yeast protein and thallus protein. Single-celled organisms （such as bacteria and yeast） can rapidly provide many high-quality proteins due to their short propagation time and easy reproduction， which has the potential to replace fish meal and meet the demand for protein sources in the feed industry， and has higher nutritional value than conventional plant protein sources. The results showed that dietary Chlorella powder （11.85% to 47.45%） significantly improved pigmentation of piglets. Total replacement of fish meal by Chlorella powder （40%） could inhibit the growth and development of largemouth bass， and total replacement of fish meal by Chlorella powder （47.45%） could inhibit the growth of largemouth bass[42].

Expectation

In most aquatic animal feeds， adding various protein sources has little effect on growth performance and health within the appropriate range， but beyond the appropriate range， it will have a great negative effect on aquatic animals. Because aquaculture animals need nutrients and energy， not feed materials. From the perspective of nutritional needs， whatever is provided can meet the growth and development needs of animals if sufficient and balanced nutrients and sufficient energy are provided. If the supply of nutrients and energy is in excess， it is certainly a burden on the animal.

Nutritional requirements are the basis of feed formulation， feed and feeding. From the perspective of nutritional needs， people used to only consider the maintenance and maximum growth of animals， however， now people need to consider the health of animals， animal resistance and animal quality. In addition， when assessing requirements， researchers can use different indicators and use them as a basis for selecting raw materials for feed formulation. Before 2010， the research of aquatic animal nutrition focused on the research of nutrient requirements， mainly taking the demand of seedling in the optimal experimental environment as the experimental object， and the research on the actual application of aquaculture and the demand of fish and shrimp in the adult stage was very little. Great progress has been made in the past， such as greatly improving the feed efficiency of bait. From 2010 to 2020， research on aquatic animal nutrition focused on the alternative application of fish meal and fish oil， which promoted the demand for new feed additives. Meanwhile， it was found that the bait coefficient of aquaculture in this period did not decline significantly， indicating that feed conversion efficiency could not be improved without limit. At present， the most important problem in feed protein source is to study the difference between fish meal and fish oil and non-fish meal and non-fish oil. From existing studies， it is found that there are a series of problems due to the use of fish meal and fish oil substitutes. Therefore， we need to re-introduce nutritional and non-nutritional additives to feed to compensate for the effects of using fish meal and fish oil substitutes. In future （post-2020）， we need to focus on： monitoring and control of farming processes to improve production sustainability， yield， quality and animal welfare， rigorous data monitoring to reduce waste， nutrient loss， environmental pollution and overall carbon footprint and improve feed efficiency， and in-depth understanding of animal feed intake and physiological regulatory points， as well as the effects of abiotic factors of production system series on feed intake and physiological regulatory points[43-44].

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