How shrimp aquaculture can profit from insect-based feed components

InnovaFeed’s director of business development, Maye Walraven, who will soon attend a webinar on improving the sustainability of the sector, said the shrimp sector will benefit from including insect-based ingredients in its feed.

Maye Walraven, director of product and business development at Innovafeed

Are you surprised at the growing interest in insect-based ingredients – from investors, consumers and aquaculture producers?

I’m surprised that insect ingredients aren’t already an integral part of our food chains! In nature, insects are a plentiful source of nutrients for animals, and it is counterintuitive that human civilization has historically failed to take advantage of their unique properties. The need to feed a growing population while preserving our ecosystems has encouraged us to look for new sources of powerful and sustainable ingredients. Raising insects on an industrial scale is a natural solution to solving this challenge.

Aquaculture producers have been at the forefront of research into new ingredients, their interest in insect ingredients isn’t new – they’ve been researching it for decades. The challenge was that these ingredients were not approved or produced in sufficiently large quantities. The legislative changes in Europe in 2017 opened up this new industry and players like InnovaFeed are taking on the challenge of producing insect ingredients on a large scale. I believe that both investors and consumers are realizing the benefits and potential of this new industry.

InnovaFeed produces black soldier food larvae – mainly for use in the Aquafeed area

© InnovaFeed

With which aquatic species has InnovaFeed insect protein been tested and what are the results?

Since our inception in 2016, InnovaFeed has targeted the aquaculture sector as we believe that this is where our novel insect protein ingredients can have the greatest impact. The FAO estimated that the aquafeed industry could be operating on a 30 million ton deficit of quality protein by 2030 – insects can clearly help address some of these inherent challenges.

We have focused on developing products specifically geared towards two segments of aquaculture: ProtiNova for salmonids and NovaGain for shrimp. Salmonids are a very carnivorous species where the challenge of high quality protein is greatest. ProtiNova is a high-performance substitute for fish meal in diets (up to 100 percent substitute), which leads to performance on an equal footing and has proven advantages for the quality of the end product (e.g. lower harmful substances in meat). We have developed a tailor-made ingredient for shrimp that uses the specific properties of the black soldier fly and has a significant impact on performance and health. We are excited to launch this new product commercially this year.

What are the main benefits of using insect protein for the shrimp sector?

For shrimp farmers, value is created on three axes: performance, health and sustainability.

As the shrimp industry grows and the world has to produce more with less, feed conversion ratios (FCRs) and growth rates (SGRs) are key to this equation. NovaGain in the diet of shrimp improves their FCR and SGR dramatically, by a remarkable -28 percent and +25 percent, respectively. This cuts both the time in the pond and the forage used in the harvest cycle – a win, a win.

Including NovaGain in a shrimp diet can reduce cumulative mortality from WSSV by 39 percent and EMS by 22 percent – this increases margins for farmers.

The influence of pathogens on the shrimp industry has been a key issue in the last few decades. NovaGain reduces mortalities caused by some of the most common pathogens, White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS, also known as APHND). Including NovaGain in a shrimp diet can reduce cumulative mortality from WSSV by 39 percent and EMS by 22 percent – this increases margins for farmers.

Finally, in the current consumer climate, the aquaculture industry is facing increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact, despite being one of the most carbon efficient sources of protein. NovaGain, which is manufactured in a circular and waste-free manner, generates at least 50 percent less CO2 than conventional alternatives (fish or soy meal) without affecting marine resources.

What is your interest in your products from the shrimp industry so far?

Up – the shrimp industry is looking to the future of aquafeeds and is investing a lot of time and effort researching all of the options. We have started trials on a commercial scale – part of the product launch process in 2021.

What inclusion rates do you recommend in shrimp feed?

As part of an extensive research and development program, we looked at the inclusion of NovaGain from 1 percent to over 30 percent of the total shrimp diet. Studying each client’s needs and adjusting their inclusion rates is an integral part of a comprehensive diet design. An example of this are attempts in which fishmeal is reduced with a NovaGain ratio of up to 2: 1, which drastically reduces the FIFO [fish in, fish out ratio]while maintaining the premium performance.

When do you hope to deliver meaningful commercial quantities to the shrimp sector?

InnovaFeed announced the opening of our new industrial site at the end of last year. This location has the largest installed production capacity in the world and we look forward to seeing commercial volumes in the course of 2021. Long-term, we also recently announced a plan to build an even bigger facility in the US – so we want to grow volumes quickly.

Can you tell me about your upcoming shrimp feed webinar?

I’m very excited to be part of this Sustainable Shrimp Feed webinar hosted by The Fish Site on May 11th. It explores how feed can become part of a positive story for the shrimp industry and I will be on the panel by Olivier Decamp from Grobest, Alexandre Veille from Gold Coin Group and Alexandre Bédier from Nutrima to discuss this in more detail. You can register for the webinar here.

I am convinced that the shrimp industry can improve its performance and sustainability at the same time by using novel feed ingredients such as insects.

InnovaFeed recently opened its second insect protein manufacturing facility in France and plans to recently raise a 60,000-ton facility next to ADM’s corn processing complex in Decatur, Illinois, with a € 140 million fundraiser. © InnovaFeed

What are the other key milestones the company is working towards?

InnovaFeed has created a very ambitious roadmap that uses the proprietary technology developed in northern France in the US, but also elsewhere in Europe and internationally, targeting several new production sites around the world by 2030. InnovaFeed is also focused on these efforts beyond insect ingredient manufacture to develop unique technical expertise across its operations, supported by strong research and development, performance, engineering and product development teams.

Senior Editor at The Fish Site

Rob Fletcher has been a contributing editor on Fish Farmer, Fish Farming Expert and The Fish Site since 2007. He has an MA in History from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Sustainable Aquaculture from the University of St. Andrews. He currently lives and works in Scotland.