Legumes for Aquaculture Feed

Legumes contain many valuable proteins. Since these proteins are not only of high quantity but also have a very balanced amino acid profile, they might be suited to replace fishmeal, which is an unsustainable resource, and/or replace soybean (which is mostly imported and GMO) in the diets for fish in aquaculture.

We are carefully formulating diets for different aquaculture candidates (Shrimp, Salmon, Seabass), where we replace the fishmeal and/or soybean component partially or totally and test these diets in our recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Substantial analyses of feed and animals give us an overview about effects of legumes on growth, feed conversion and health status of our animals. These results allow us to give recommendations of inclusion rates of legumes in aquaculture feeds and we are able to present well-balanced, healthy aquaculture diets originating from organic, sustainable and local resources.

So far, we have conducted experiments with the White leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and fed them different amounts of lupine (Lupinus angustifolius Boregine). What we found is that 10 to 20% of the feed can consist of lupine, without any growth reduction. Interestingly, the 10% diet seems to activate the immune system (elevated haemocyte amounts) which would be a very interesting effect for intensive or semi-intensive culture systems.

Our next step is to rearrange the biggest RAS System in our facility. We will build up a system of 36 single tanks with the possibility to collect the faeces and feed leftover. The system then is perfectly equipped for feeding experiments with salmon (Salmo salar) in the post-smoult stage (totally seawater adapted). We will test 9 (already formulated) diets which contain different lupine and faba bean products in different portions.

As an important step to support the sustainability of aquaculture production, we are aiming to provide well-balanced, healthy feed formulations for regional aquaculture facilities that are mainly originating from organic, sustainable and local resources.