Seafood, wild-catch and aquaculture is the largest and the fastest growing animal protein industry in the world . Wild-catch tonnage has been stable since 1990 thus, aquaculture accounts for all growth. Aquaculture´s annual growth rate is ~ 6 %.
In many cases Land-use change (LUC) is responsible for the lion’s share of the fish feeds’ carbon footprint. The expanding area under soybean cultivation raises environmental and LUC concerns because much of this is in tropical areas where it is a major driver of deforestation. Especially in the Amazon and Cerrado regions in Brazil.
Thus, there is a growing demand for more sustainable protein ingredients that maintain feed performance , use less land, and stabilize supply and economics during industry expansion.
Pekilo protein produced from nonfood resources such as corn ethanol thin stillage can serve as a high-quality protein source for farmed fish which need high protein feed.
One 10 kT Pekilo protein plant has a footprint of 0,001 km2. To produce the same amount of soy protein, an area of land about the size of Manhattan (~60km2) is needed. Soy protein production requires 60 000 times more land than Pekilo protein production.
Recently, the d igestibility of Pekilo protein in Atlantic Salmon was found to be the same as in fishmeal protein. The digestibility trial was performed by Skretting, world´s largest aquafeed producer.
Figure 0 . Digestibility of Pekilo protein in Atlantic salmon compared to fishmeal protein. Picture provided by Gunv or Baardsen, Skretting ARC.