POTENTIAL OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE Hermetia illucens FOR ARCTIC CHAR Salvelinus alpinus DIETS IN AQUACULTURE

Aquaculture continues to be the fastest growing animal food sector and accounts for over 50% of the world's fish consumption (FAO, 2014). This rapidly growing aquaculture sector requires increasing amounts of protein and lipids.  Fishmeal, fish oils, and other land-based options are the current source of proteins and lipids in fish feeds for aquaculture, but to maintain the sustainable growth, the industry needs access to other options for protein and lipids. Ingredients made from insects are being considered as alternatives for use in fish feeds. However, the insect rearing industry is still in its infancy and it is uncertain how these novel ingredients will affect fish growth and survival. The aims of this study were to: 1) investigate the use of black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens) larvae meal as an ingredient to partially replace fishmeal in diets for Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) aquaculture and, 2) assess the impacts of optimized diet and fertilization on the early-rearing performance of Arctic char. We fertilized 23 crosses of Arctic char eggs from broodstock that had received either a control diet made from fishmeal protein (40% protein, 20% fat) or a test diet formulated with 20% BSF larvae (i.e., 24% of the protein and 12% of the fat were supplied by BSF). At ponding, the progeny from the crosses were split into groups of 30 fish, with half receiving the control diet and half receiving the BSF diet. The survival and growth of the fry were tracked for 4 months (survival was tracked daily and growth was measured monthly) to assess the impacts of broodstock diet and fertilization success on the early-life-history performance of the fry.  Proximate analyses were performed on 10 fish from each group to assess differences in protein and fatty acid profiles. The results show that the feed intake, survival, and growth (Fig. 1) of the BSF diet did not significantly differ from the control diet. Thus, the use of BSF larvae meal for fish diets shows great potential to support the sustainable growth of aquaculture. Nevertheless, further research is needed to optimize the production and use of insect ingredients.