Scientists from the Research Group in Aquaculture (GIA) IU-ECOAQUA (Spain) and Aker BioMarine found that the replacement of fishmeal by Antarctic krill meal in diets of European seabass has positive effects on growth performance, feed utilization and liver metabolism.

In this study, European seabass were fed a practical diet with either a 15% fishmeal content or the same diet substituted by 30% or 50% Antarctic krill meal for 12 weeks in triplicates. At the end of the feeding trial, growth performance, liver morphology, liver proximate composition, lipid classes and fatty acid profiles, as well as the expression of hepatic genes related to lipid metabolism were evaluated. The study concluded that there are multiple benefits of the replacement of fishmeal with Antarctic krill meal in diets for marine fish. 

“A sustainable growth of the aquaculture industry implies the use of eco-friendly ingredients as an alternative to the traditional marine protein and lipid sources,” said Silvia Torrecillas, senior researcher at GIA. “Our results indicate that krill meal inclusion up to 7.5% as fishmeal replacer in practical diets for European seabass improves growth performance, feed utilization and liver health status.”

Dietary inclusion of krill meal in low fishmeal improved fish growth by 20%, feed intake and specific growth rate. Dietary krill meal decreased liver vacuolization levels and lowered signs of steatosis. Dietary krill meal modulates liver lipid metabolism and may decrease the synthesis of cholesterol levels in European seabass liver, researchers suggested.

The study, titled Replacement of fishmeal by Antarctic krill meal in diets for European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax: Effects on growth performance, feed utilization and liver lipid metabolism, was authored by Silvia Torrecillas, Daniel Montero, Marta Carvalho, Tibiabin Benitez-Santana and Marisol Izquierdo.