Microbial protein as replacement for fish meal in diet to tilapia and freshwater prawns

Aquaculture plays an important role in the economy and food security of Vietnam as well as the world through supplying products, which are commonly rich sources of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. However, the investment cost for aquaculture is high depending on the feed which accounts for 50–70% of the production cost and today most protein sources within fish feed come from fish meal. Therefore it is of highest importance to reduce the use of fishmeal or other protein sources which could be used as human food instead of being included in aquafeed. Alternative feed for production of aquafeed must be developed if the aquaculture should move forward to a more sustainable and environmental friendly industry producing healthy food.

The goal with this project is to reduce the fish meal in tilapia  (Oreochromis niloticus)  and freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) diets and increase the growth performance, survival rate, feed conversion ratio, feed utilization of them in clear water and biofloc recirculation systems. This is achieved by using distilled brewer‘s yeast as a protein source to reduce and replace fish meal.

Doctoral thesis:

Brewer’s yeast as a protein source in the diet of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) reared in a clear water or biofloc environment