German Study Provides Additional Evidence Black Soldier Fly can be Used as Fish Feed

The study of interest in today's blog post, which was recently published in the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (check out the journal- you can read the abstracts and learn quite a bit about the diversity of research taking place around the world on this topics), relied on published data to assess the suitability of the BSF as a feed replacement of fishmeal for rainbow trout. The study in question is:

Potentials of a biogenic residue-based production of Hermetia illucens as fish meal replacement in aquafeed for Oncorhynchus mykiss in Germany

Unfortunately, the study, beyond the abstract, is not accessible to the general public or if your library does not have access either.   

The review provides a general assessment of the production of rainbow trout in German and indicates it is the most produced fish in country (seems to be close to 50% of fish produced in country annually 8.5 tonnes of 20 tonnes produced annually). You can read about German fish production through the Food Industry of Food and Agriculture website. 

They assume numbers previously published on replacing fishmeal with BSF (50%) (example in link) and relate such a requirement to current resource streams available for producing BSF.  These waste streams include forestry and wood industry wastes, agricultural by-products, municipal wastes, and industrial residues (e.g., food production- slaughter, harvested fruits & vegetables, etc).

They conclude the BSF could be produced at a level necessary to replace portions of fishmeal; however, the level of production will be dependent on the waste stream used to produce the BSF larvae. Basically, input drives output.

Of course, there are still a number of uncertainties regarding the BSF industry (scalability, stable availability of waste streams, quality assurance, nutrient stability of BSF larvae produced and so on). 

THOUGHTS GENERATED FROM READING PAPER:
My impression is the conclusions being drawn throughout the world keep coming a back to the same  points. And, I do think interest, and action towards resolving these issues, continues to grow. At this time, I conclude no single company will be able to provide all of the BSF needed to meet the needs of one, much less all, industry groups interested in using the BSF. But, I take this as as great opportunity. How can we partner together to meet these demands?

Through many we will be stronger, stable, and impactful. What do you think?