Microalgae shows potential as part of salmon diet
January 25, 2018
By Ruby Gonzalez
Microalgae are promising alternatives to fishmeal but their limited availability and high price prevent feed industry from using them, according to a Norwegian study.
A research team led by Professors Kiron Viswanath and Mette Sørensen of Biosciences and Aquaculture at Nord University in Bodø, Norway conducted a number of studies to investigate the potential of microalgae in diets for salmon.
One of the studies found that defatted biomass from Nannochloropsis sp, a genus of microalga, can be included at modest volume in Atlantic salmon feed without negative effects on fish performance.
Growth and feed conversion ratio of fish fed 10-percent algae was not significantly different from those fed with control feed. Whole body and fillet proximate composition were not affected by dietary treatments. Alga feeding did not cause any inflammation in the distal intestine. But the fish fed 20 percent algae had a tendency of reduced specific growth rate compared with control fish.
“Microalgae are promising alternates to fishmeal. However, limited availability and high price prevent feed industry from using these ingredients.
“In the future, defatted biomass from biorefinery of microalgae will be made available for use in animal feeds, including aqua and poultry feeds,” the team told Aquaculture North America (ANA).
The team also included Professors Mark Huntley, Charles Green of the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and Yangyang Gong, faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture at Nord University.
