1

How much insect meal could be used now and in future?

The Scottish Opportunity

Sam Houston – Knowledge Exchange Officer

Prepared for Insect Farming in Scotland, Edinburgh 7th Feb 2019

2

The Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre

Scottish Aquaculture – salmon farming

Nutrition – the fundamentals

Protein demand - an opportunity for insect meal?

• To introduce the Scottish salmon sector

• Explore the use of an insect meal in salmon diet

• Give an estimate of the opportunity for insect meal in today’s prices

• Illustrate how nutrition companies will think about using a novel

ingredient

33

The Scottish Aquaculture Innovation CentreTo transform Scottish Aquaculture by unlocking sustainable growth through innovation excellence

4

Scottish innovation landscape

• SAIC Founded 2014

• SAIC is one of eight

innovation centres funded by

the Scottish Funding Council

• Scottish Government is a key

supporter

• Current funding period to

July 2019

• Phase Two 2019-24 (funding

bid in progress)

5

6

SAIC connects and collaborates with commercial businesses and academic partners

77

Scottish Aquaculture – salmon farmingSalmon; Trout; Mussels; Turbot; Seaweeds

8

ScottishSalmon Aquaculture

9

Closer look at

Norway ScotlandTotal

MOWI

Scottish

share of MOWI

Operational EBIT (EURO) €462977 €153652 €792087 19.4 %

Operational EBIT (EUR/Kg) €2.20 €2.55 €2.14Harvest Volume (GWT) 210152 60186 370346 16.3 %

• MOWI world’s leading salmon producer

• MOWI total could be 15 – 20 % of

global volumes

• Fully integrated farming operation

Broodstock, hatchery, freshwater, marine and developing

their own feed business

• Formerly Marine Harvest

• Harvests measured gutted weight

tonnes (GWT)

• About 20 % by value Scottish but 16 %

by GWT

• Scottish Provenance

1010

Norway, Chile, Scotland and Canada

• Salmon production of the 4 leading producers with peak numbers illustrated

• Global Atlantic salmon production in 2016 ~ 2.25 million tonnes (FAO, 2016)

• Scotland had record year 2017

= 190,000 tonnes

• Come back to Scottish numbers

Four leading salmon producers

1111

Salmon Production

Atlantic salmon lifecycle - Scottish Sea Farms- Mowi

12

13

Production geography

• Aquaculture is a key industry in the

Scottish economy

• Particularly in rural Western areas and

Islands

• The sector is primed for sustainable

growth

• Innovation will play a major part in

achieving industry and government

ambitions

14

Feeding fish at sea

• 3 manufacturers of Aquafeeds in

Scotland (Skretting – MOWI)

• MOWI opening a 170,000 tonne plant,

Isle of Skye

• Aquafeeds are extruded

• Contain bulk raw materials

• UK animal feed production = ~ 17.26

M tonnes; Of which 0.258 M tonnes is

Aquafeed (Alltech, 2018)

• Insect meal, yearly production 500 T

and year-round supply + QA

1515

Nutrition – the fundamentalsAnimals need nutrients, ingredients contain nutrients, mix and match the ingredientsto supply the right nutrients

(Glencross & Monroig 2017)

16

Science into a pellet: density; smell; integrity;

digestibility; binding; vacuum filling with oil;

extrusion; formulation; grinding; mixing; quality

control; animal performance etc.

• Produced by extrusion

• Must supply all nutrients

• Must taste right

• Must be the right density to sink

• Must bind but not be undigestible

Aquafeeds

17

Some definitions

Term Definition

Aquafeed Pelleted feed fed to an aquatic organism (fish, prawn)

Ingredient Material used in a feed

Formulation A recipe of ingredients

Nutrient A chemical eaten that is of benefit to the organism

Essential A nutrient that cannot be synthesised by an animal but is needed

Requirement Amount of nutrient needed in feed for optimal growth and wellbeing

Specification Minimal amount of a nutrient in a feed

Amino acid Building block of proteins

Crude The level of a nutrient in an ingredient as measured

Digestible The biologically accessible portion of the CRUDE nutrient

Absolute “Real” quantities (formulations are ratios fish eat an absolute quantity)

Relative Ratios, fractions, percentages

18

Fundamental principles Glencross 2017, and those before

1. Nutrition is biochemistry and physiology

There are no magic ingredients

2. Conservation of energy…

First thermodynamic principle

3. Conservation of mass, only transferred or

rearranged

4. An organism can only grow as fast as the 1st limiting

nutrient allows (Leibig’s law)

5. Use of nutrients depend on biochemical energy

Balance

Matter

Limits

Biochemistry

Energy

19

Ingredients in Aquafeeds

Microbial Protein GMO Grains Avian Offal

Insects Microalgae Macroalgae Blood Proteins Fish Offal Anchoveta

Herring Cottonseed Cereal Glutens

Lupins

Field Peas

Faba Beans

Soybean

Rapeseed Krill

MammalianOffal

Peanuts

20

What nutrients are essential to animals?

Ca

His

A

Mg P K Na SeMnFeICu

Arg Iso LysLeu

18:3n-3

Energy - DE Protein - DPro Water – H20

18:2n-6 Sterols

Met Phe ValThr Try

B1KED B2 B6

B12 Fo

BioNiPa

Ch In C

Zn

20:4n-6 20:5n-3 22:6n-3 Phospholipids

Tau

47 molecules

Some are not essential

some animals…. Due to

biochemistry

Macro nutrients

Amino acids

Lipids

Minerals

Vitamins

2121

Animals need Energy

Chemical energy exists in the carbon bonds of proteins, lipids/fats and carbohydrates. All organisms need energy.

• Fish derive energy mainly from protein and fat

• Relative, energy requirements increase with the fish mass

• Carnivorous fish should not be fed large quantities of carbohydrates Energy

22

Energy in animals and fish

Feed

intake

Faeces

Digestible

Energy

Excreted

losses,

urinary/gill

Metabolic

Energy

Resources

used to feed

eg. digestion

Net energy

Maintenance

energy, respiration,

general swimming

about

Energy for Growth

Formulate to

Digestible Energy

Formulate DE to hit these

Animal needs

Maintenance E Net E for production

No scale

2323

Fish need proteinProtein is the term for bulk amino acids (AA)

• Fish grow indeterminately

• Fish use protein for both energy and growth

• Protein requirements are dependent on dietary energy level

• Protein requirement is relatively higher in smaller fish

• Smaller fish grow relatively faster than larger fish

• Relatively, is emphasised because big fish eat physically more but nutrients are supplied in different ratios

• Ingredients have varying AA profiles Amino acids in two ingredients

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

Tryptophan

Taurine

Cysteine

Histidine

Methionine

Tyrosine

Isoleucine

Serine

Phenylalanine

Threonine

Valine

Glycine

Arginine

Proline

Alanine

Lysine

Leucine

Aspartic acid

Fish Meal AA Soya AA

2424

Protein demand - an opportunity for insect meal?Animals need nutrients, ingredients contain nutrients, mix and match the ingredients to supply the right nutrients

25

Nutritional Market research

Need to know

• What nutrients do salmon need to eat?

• How much do salmon eat?

• How much insect meal could they eat?

• In a nutritional context.

• What are cost implications?

Focus on the Seawater feeding.

Analysis limited by publicly available

information (SEPA, 2019).

Consider this material in salmon diets.Amino acid and price data

26

Protein v Energy demands; Atlantic salmon

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 Die

tary

Dig

est

ible

en

erg

y (

MJ)

% D

iet

Salmon body weight (g)

Digestible Protein (%) DP:DE (g / MJ) Digestible Energy (Mj / Kg)

FW SW SW SW SW

27

Amino Acids: Salmon requirements Vs BSF supply

(Glencross Lectures 2017; Magmeal Agriprotein, 2018)

Different

sized

Salmon

(g)

Don’t forget taurine!

• BSF larvae seem to

be excellent

• Boost methionine

• Nb. Expressed as %

of digestible

protein

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Arginine (% of

CP)

Histidine

Isoleucine

Leucine

Lysine (% of

CP)

Methionine

Phenyalanine

Threonine

Tryptophan

Valine1

10

50

100

500

1000

2000

4000

BSF

28

A current typical diet (MOWI, 2017)

Average diet fed to Salmon farmed by MOWI

(formerly Marine Harvest)

Slide is ingredients, not nutrients

25% Marine materials

14.7% Fish meal

Can BSF larvae compete with Fish meal?

27.8 % sources of plant protein

Can BSF larvae compete with plant proteins?

Total protein sources = 42.5%

This diet a starting point for my analysis

14.7

10.3

10.2

10.4

7.2

18.3

21.5

4.6

2.7

MOWI average salmon diet 2017

Fish meals

Fish oils

Soy proteins

Beans

Corn

Wheat

Vegetable oils

Supplements

Guar

29

So four diets with 0 %, 7.4 %, 15.2 % and 22.1% insect larval meal (Agriprotein, 2019)

• Formulated with 19 ingredients

and 30 nutrients, focussing on

satisfying the Amino acid

requirement of Atlantic salmon

• Insect meal inclusion levels

based on replacing fish meal

by 50%, 100% and 150% (ie.

replacing some vegetable

protein too)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Base IM7.4 IM14.7 IM22.1

H20

Binder

Supplements

Vegetable oils

Wheat

Vegetable proteins

MagMeal

Fish oil

Fish meal

30

Dietary Protein sufficient?

Factor Base IM7.4 IM14.7 IM22.1Price (£ per tonne) £ 674.45 £ 700.74 £ 764.59 £ 853.11

Dry matter (g.Kg-1) 900.04 896.79 897.94 895.11

Dpro (g.Kg-1) 348.99 342.49 352.76 352.44

Lipid (g.Kg-1) 285.30 287.92 288.68 290.47

DE (Mj.Kg-1) 20.19 19.98 20.40 20.44

DP:DE (g.Mj) 17.29 17.14 17.29 17.25

• Diets suitable for salmon 500 g,

marine phase

• Current prices

• Fish meal (60% DP) = £1179

• Magmeal (49% DP)= £1435

• More oil added as fish grow

beyond 1-2Kg

• Insect meal needs to compete

with fish meal, before

manufacturers will use it

• Easier to formulate if it had a

higher % of protein

31

Scottish salmon production and forecast

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

1997 2002 2007 2012 2017 2022 2027

Ton

ne

s

• Scottish salmon production

(Marine Scotland 2018) with

a forecast until 2030

• Rate of growth = 2630

tonnes per year

• Model suggests mean

annual production in 2030 =

206119 tonnes

32

Feed fed to Salmon in Scotland (2002 – 2017 and beyond)

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

200

6

200

8

201

0

201

2

201

4

201

6

201

8

202

0

202

2

202

4

202

6

202

8

203

0

Fe

ed

(To

nn

es)

Digestible protein at 35 % = 81,000 Tonnes (2017)

In 2030 the annual feed demand may be ~ 300,000 Kg,

Digestible protein ~ 105,000 Tonnes (2030)

33

Size of the opportunity for insect meal in Scotland?

Based on projected feed demand and

our inclusion levels of insect meal

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

201

8

202

0

202

2

202

4

202

6

202

8

203

0

Millio

ns

(£)

Inse

ct

me

al (T

on

ne

s)

IM 7.4 % IM 14.7 % IM 22.1 %

Value IM 7.4 % Value 14.7 % Value 22.1 %

Date/Value (Units) IM 7.4% IM 14.7%IM 22.1%

2019 (Tonnes) 17854 35468 53323

Value (m £) 25.6 50.9 76.5

2030 (Tonnes) 21624 42957 64581

Value (m £) 31.0 61.6 92.6

• Insect meal is usable but

expensive

• Lower inclusion levels are

possible, giving a potential

turnover of £25.6 million, based

on selling 18,000 tonnes

• Target Freshwater diets, first?

34

Conclusions

• Amino acid composition of insect larval meal is very good

• Need to compete with Fish meal in price and comparative protein value!

• However, fish meal is currently cheaper than it has been

• It will be a long time until Insect meal will compete with vegetable protein sources (SOY; PEAs; BEANs

etc.)

• Ash content is high, which would likely impose some constraints on inclusion level

• Chitin needs to be considered, but is lower than one may expect, see Henry (2017)

• Other potential benefits need more research

• Analysis based on reasonable market prices

• Feed companies will need to answer the unknowns

3535

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Thank you for your attention

36

Key ReferencesAlltech, 2019. Alltech Global Feed Survey 2019. Nicholasville, Kentucky, USA.

Agriprotein. 2019. MagMeal brochure. https://agriprotein.com/our-products/ (accessed 2019)

Ikram Belghit, Nina S. Liland, Petter Gjesdal, Irene Biancarosa, Elisa Menchetti, Yanxian Li, Rune Waagbø, Åshild Krogdahl, Erik-Jan Lock , Blacksoldier fly larvae meal can replace fish meal in diets of sea-water phase Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Aqua (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.12.032

Belghit, I., Liland, N.S., Waagbø, R., Biancarosa, I., Pelusio, N., Li, Y., Krogdahl, Å. and Lock, E.J., 2018. Potential of insect-based diets for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Aquaculture, 491, pp.72-81.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 2018. Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics. Global aquaculture production 1950-2016 (FishstatJ). In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. Rome. Updated 2018.

Henry, M., Gasco, L., Piccolo, G. and Fountoulaki, E., 2015. Review on the use of insects in the diet of farmed fish: past and future. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 203, pp.1-22.

Munro, L.A. & Wallace I.S. 2018. Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2017. Marine Scotland Science.

Mowi, 2018. Integrated annual report. Bergen, Norway.

Scotland’s Aquaculture: http://aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk (accessed 2019).

Kroeckel, S., Harjes, A.G., Roth, I., Katz, H., Wuertz, S., Susenbeth, A. and Schulz, C., 2012. When a turbot catches a fly: Evaluation of a pre-pupae meal of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as fish meal substitute—Growth performance and chitin degradation in juvenile turbot (Psetta maxima). Aquaculture, 364, pp.345-352.

Spranghers, T., Ottoboni, M., Klootwijk, C., Ovyn, A., Deboosere, S., De Meulenaer, B., Michiels, J., Eeckhout, M., De Clercq, P. and De Smet, S., 2017. Nutritional composition of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) prepupae reared on different organic waste substrates. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 97(8), pp.2594-2600.