Non Technical Summary

While production of fishmeal is relatively stable over time, the increasing demand for aquafeeds has resulted in an increase in the percentage of fishmeal going into aquafeeds from 11% in 1993 to over 42% in 1998.

Replacing fishmeal in practical diets requires the availability of suitable replacements, information on digestibility and utilization of these ingredients, impacts of ingredients on food intake, understanding of nutritional requirements and a validation of new diets for performance, economics and effects on taste and composition.

This abstract discusses the fact that fishmeal can be economically replaced in diets for both omnivores and carnivores provided appropriate evaluation of alternative ingredients is undertaken.