A project to grow a kind of insect pest fly and use it as food instead of the fishmeal used to feed farmed fish was advanced, and the farmed fish was tasted on the 19th.
Demand for fishmeal, which is food for fish, is increasing worldwide, and it is expected that replacing it with insects will lead to more efficient use of marine resources and secure food in the future.
The demand for fishmeal, which is used as feed during fish farming, is rapidly increasing due to the expansion of the global aquaculture industry, while the price of fish is soaring due to the decrease in fish resources.
A group led by Professor Takashi Yura of Ochanomizu University has focused on insects as a new food alternative to fishmeal, and has been researching technology to stably raise the pest "American black fly" as food. .
On the 19th, a symposium on future food was held in Tokyo, and Professor Yura reported that there was no difference in growth even when fish were farmed by replacing half of the fish meal of the feed with "American blackworm".
After that, a rainbow trout sashimi feed that was actually fed with gadfly was sampled. The difference was so good that I didn't notice it unless I was broken," he said.
Professor Yura said, "I want to expand the use of insects and aim for a future where there is no need to worry about securing food."
Use of Insects Collaborative Research by Research Institutes and Universities
It is thought that the use of insects will help solve the food problem by supplementing the lack of protein, and research on the use of insects as food for fish is being conducted in collaboration with research institutes of national and local governments and universities.
A group of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) is conducting research to stably supply a large amount of the North American horsefly, which is about 2 cm long and is native to North America, as food for fish.
American black flies grow quickly from eggs to larvae large enough to be used as food, taking about three weeks. In addition, they grow by eating leftover food such as vegetables and fruits, which helps reduce garbage and food loss. It is said that it may lead to the solution of the problem of
The research group is conducting experiments to explore the conditions for raising and using horseflies most efficiently, such as temperature, type of food, and how to collect eggs. I want to solve the problems of food loss and securing protein sources at the same time by taming them by hand and ensuring a stable supply."
In addition, the Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Fisheries and Marine Technology is actually using American black fly as fish food instead of fishmeal. I am also researching the size of the bait.
In an experiment conducted at another research institute in which farmed red sea bream were given a diet mixed with horseflies, it was found that there was no difference in the growth of red sea bream even when half of the fishmeal in the diet was replaced. It means that there is almost no difference in the degree of growth even when feeding rainbow trout with
Yu Kuraishi, senior researcher at the Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Fisheries and Ocean Technology, said, "Fish won't eat easily if you just feed them, so I'm trying to find out what I can do to eat them. Fish farming using insects. I want to make it sustainable," he said.