The aquaculture industry has been interested for many years in the different alternatives available to substitute marine ingredients in fish feed. Innovative raw materials such as algae, micro-organisms or insect meal are becoming more and more popular.

Following the authorization in July 2017 to integrate insect meal in the diet of fish and shellfish, Le Gouessant, one of the major player in aquaculture nutrition in France and InnovaFeed, a French biotech company that produces a new source of protein from insect rearing for animal feed, decided to launch a joint trial in experimental conditions on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). While there is an increasing number of trials using insect meal, this was the first time that 100% of the fishmeal has been substituted by high quality insect protein derived from black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens).

“We were very excited to release the results of the first trial on rainbow trout during the last ‘Journées de la Recherche Piscicole’, organized by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Itavi and the CIPA, France. This is the first time that we push the percentage of insect protein at this level and on such a large scale,” said Guillaume Gras, Co-founder of InnovaFeed.

“The results of the trial confirm the interest for this innovative source of protein and the potential to totally substitute fishmeal by insect meal in a commercial trout feed. These good results are encouraging to launch other studies in the future, on other aquaculture species or to further explore the effects of insect meal on fish health," Gras said.