The Brazilian Fisheries Institute (IP-APTA) unveiled a new sustainable fish feed during the celebration of the 130th anniversary of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo. The new feed, developed in partnership with BRF Ingredients, totally replaces fishmeal with sustainable byproducts from the animal industry in rainbow trout feeds. 

Neuza Takahashi, researcher at the Brazilian Fisheries Institute, said that carnivorous fish have more specific nutritional requirements than fish that feed on plants or bottom debris. The success in meeting the nutritional requirements in rainbow trout makes it extendable to other carnivorous species, Neva said. 

For the development of the new ingredient, traceable protein byproducts from poultry processing were used. The product is available on the domestic market as Hydrolyzed Chicken Protein by BRF Ingredients and is also being sold abroad. 

“The aquaculture of the future has to be economically and environmentally sustainable, therefore, in addition to the use of quality alternative protein sources, the search for commercial fishmeal-free feed is the way to preserve limiting marine resources and ensure the growth of the aquaculture industry,” said Neuza.

During the SAA anniversary event, a sample of the new product was delivered by Neuza, the vice president of Institutional Relations and Sustainability at BRF, Grazielle Parenti, and the executive manager of Institutional and Governmental Relations of the company, Helena Romeiro de Araújo, to Manoel Joaquim Peres, from the feed company Qualy Nutrição Animal, and Paulo Gustavo Salgado Ribeiro, producer of Trout dos Alpes.