Sustainable aquaculture implies adequate knowledge of fish nutritional requirements to formulate diets that promote the best growth performance of the animals. Traditional formulas for carnivorous fish usually relied on fish meal and oil as major protein and lipid sources. Fish meal has a balanced amino acid profile. Also, it has a high content of taurine, which is essential for several marine fish. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential for marine fish. Besides this balanced macronutrient profile, fish meal and oil also provide many other nutrients that contribute to the growth and health of aquaculture fish.
However, fish meal and oil no longer make up the bulk of feeds but are used as strategic ingredients. This led to the use of plant ingredients as the primary compound in fish feeds. Nonetheless, plant ingredients’ nutritional composition is not well balanced, lacks or has low levels of some critical nutrients, has anti-nutritional compounds, and has low palatability. This introduces new challenges in formulating diets that are well accepted by fish, meet all nutrient requirements, and boost animals’ health.
This presentation will focus on the new strategies for optimizing nutritional requirements of fish and on nutritional strategies to boost the health of aquaculture fish, which is particularly defiant in an era of global warming.