The transition of aquafeeds from fishmeal and fish oil to alternatives has been in progress since the early 2000s. A wide variety of products are being investigated including microbial proteins, fish and animal processing waste, insect meal, algae and terrestrial plants. Terrestrial plant products appear to be the most promising alternatives due primarily to the quantity of protein and oil required. Concurrent with the shift toward alternative feedstuffs, there has been a growing awareness of the potential environmental effects of both aquaculture and agriculture, and a desire to make aquaculture "sustainable." In 1990 the U.S. government passed a law (U.S. Code, title 7, Section 3103) that defined sustainable agriculture and aquaculture. Sustainability is site-specific and over the long-term is required to:
An excellent paper (Aquaculture Research 2007 38, 551-579) contains a review of some "sustainable" plant products that may provide potential feedstuffs and improve aquaculture sustainability. This paper did not contain a definition of sustainability, as there were no conventionally produced crops that were certified as sustainable in 2007. Constance (2010 Sustainability 2 (1) 48-72) wrote "because the concept of sustainability is deeply contested, agribusiness is able to exploit the ambiguity surrounding the definition of sustainable and exercise power in attempts to frame sustainable agriculture in their favor." It will be difficult to claim that intensive aquaculture is sustainable without sustainable feeds. Although numerous feedstuffs are being examined, soy appears to be the leading candidate to provide a majority of the protein in aquafeeds. In 2013 soybeans, grown in the USA, were certified as being sustainably produced. My presentation will examine the current U.S. stainability law, an ecological definition of sustainability, and the certification process in general.