Sustainability Analysis of Fish Feed Derived from Aquatic Plant and Insect

Shashank Goyal, Denise Ott, Jens Liebscher, Dennis Höfling, Ariane Müller, Jens Dautz, Herwig O. Gutzeit, Dirk Schmidt and Rosmarie Reuss
Additional contact information
Shashank Goyal: EurA AG, 73479 Ellwangen, Germany
Denise Ott: EurA AG, 73479 Ellwangen, Germany
Jens Liebscher: Bio.S Biogas GmbH Beiersdorf, 04668 Grimma, Germany
Dennis Höfling: Bio.S Biogas GmbH Beiersdorf, 04668 Grimma, Germany
Ariane Müller: Institut für Zoologie, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Jens Dautz: Terra Urbana GmbH Zossen, 15806 Zossen, Germany
Herwig O. Gutzeit: Institut für Zoologie, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Dirk Schmidt: EurA AG, 73479 Ellwangen, Germany
Rosmarie Reuss: EurA AG, 73479 Ellwangen, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-14

Abstract: Fish and meat production and processing will grow drastically in the coming decades. In aquacultural systems, insects are gaining interest as feed to provide a sustainable alternative to the fishmeal paradox, whose production leads to high consumption of resources and negative environmental impacts. Within the scope of this study, the production of fish feed from Hermetia illucens larvae and Lemna minor in an inline recirculating aquaponics model for urban sites was developed and optimized, which efficiently combines waste and environmental service concepts in one production system. At the same time, the value chain produces high-quality, market-accessible raw materials for the fish feed industry. All investigations were accompanied by a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure and compare ecological effects to finally result in sustainable alternatives. The results achieved in this research show that fish feed based on Hermetia illucens and Lemna minor can have the potential to be ecologically competitive or more sustainable than standard feed. It should be noted that the comparison here represents the results of the project on a pilot scale. Various optimization potentials were shown, which are essential for the large-scale implementation of the breeding of both species as well as their processing up to the fish feed pellets.

Keywords: Hermetia illucens; Lemna minor; fish feed; tilapia; life cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7371/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7371/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7371-:d:586521

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().