Soybean growers see future in aquaculture

Tor-Eddie Fossbakk Thanks in part to research and marketing efforts, soybean meal has increasingly become a key ingredient in fish feed as the aquaculture industry strives to meet global demand for its products. Because fish meal is getting scarce and more costly, it is creating a market opportunity for more soybean meal to be used as a protein source in fish and shrimp diets, according to Wisconsin Ag Connection online. Using more soy based protein is also expected to lower the risk of mercury contamination in farmed seafood. Because aquaculture is the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector, consuming soybean meal from over 250 million bushels of soybeans, fish farming represents one of the most promising growth potentials for the soybean industry. In the US, each person eats about 7.5 kilogram of fish and shellfish each year, including about 2.0 kilogram of shrimp. The US consumes about 635 million tons of shrimp annually. The soybean checkoff works to incorporate soy into feed for all species of farmed fish.