Barley Feed for Aquaculture

The potentialities of feed grain for fish feed has been known to myself for two decades.  The question was if someone would do something about it.  The answer of course is in this item.  Wild supply has been flat and now needs to be augmented by grain.

The obvious approach is to blend the feedstock with as much barley product as suitable to maintain a healthy stock.  This would allow the use of barley fairly early.

As I have posted earlier, the advent of fresh water Coho husbandry in particular opens the door to exploitation of lakes in the boreal forests.  There the feeding needs will be concentrated over the winter months, while during the summer it will be augmented by insect larvae.  Trout should also prosper as well as less commercially attractive species.

This appears to be a fairly serious effort and it is hopefully implemented in the feed cycle somewhere to have it proven out.

Implementing a successful fish husbandry program in the boreal lakes opens up seventy percent of the world’s fresh water for commercial aquaculture in an environment that is presently overwhelmed with insect hordes.  I would not want to put a production potential calculation out, because we simply do not have good working numbers, not least since no one has actually tried to do it the way I think it has to be done to optimize production.

What is however obvious is that the fresh water resource is so huge as to dwarf anything we can imagine.  I suspect that without ever going to the ocean, that we can supply sufficient fish protein to satisfy the global population if we want to, or at least a serious fraction of it.

Barley Examined as Source for Potential Fish Feed

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb10/fish0210.htm

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/feb10/d1425-9i.jpg

Fish physiologists Rick Barrows (left) and Gibson Gaylord (right) inspect pellets made of barley protein as technician Jason Frost (background) loads an extruder with raw materials.
(D1425-9)

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Millions of tons of menhaden and other small fish are removed from the oceans each year to feed fish, poultry, and swine. The total amount of fish harvested for fishmeal has not changed in the last 20 years, but the demand has increased sharply. This pressure is thought by some to presage ecological problems and higher feed costs. So the search is on for alternative feed ingredients.

ARS scientists, led by fish physiologist Rick Barrows, are attacking the problem from many angles, one of which is to use barley protein as a main ingredient in feeds. Researchers at the Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, are examining barley’s genes to improve the grain’s protein yield and nutritional composition and developing ways to concentrate the protein. At the research unit, which is co-located at the University of Idaho’s Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, geneticist Ken Overturf is identifying genes in trout that may allow the fish to better utilize fishmeal-free diets.

The research team is pursuing several approaches to enhance the use of barley protein in aquafeeds. One is to produce a highly valuable co-product, beta-glucan, for the human nutraceutical industry while also producing barley protein for fish. Geneticist Gongshe Hu has selected varieties that will yield high levels of beta-glucan as well as protein.

Another approach is to concentrate the protein in standard field barley into a form usable in aquaculture feeds. Keshun Liu, a chemist at Aberdeen, is evaluating both wet and dry fractionation methods of concentrating the protein. Barrows and researchers with cooperative research and development agreement partner Montana Microbial Products (MMP) of Butte, Montana, applied for a patent on a new enzymatic method that concentrates barley protein and produces raw material for another valuable commodity—ethanol. 

“This process has provided a high-protein ingredient that may replace other, more expensive protein sources,” says Barrows.

“We conducted feeding trials to determine the digestibility of macronutrients and amino acids in the barley protein concentrate. The data from these trials allowed us to formulate trout feeds with varying levels of barley protein concentrate, and we successfully replaced both fishmeal and soy protein concentrate.

“There is no current commercialization of barley protein concentrate in place, but MMP is producing pilot quantities for feeding studies in trout, salmon, and other species. MMP projects that the concentrate will sell for $700 to $1,200 per ton,” says Barrows. Since fishmeal costs about $1,200 per ton, and fish oil costs about $2,200 per ton, the projected costs of barley protein concentrate compare favorably.

“Feed is part of a complex interplay of genetics, nutrition, and economics,” says Barrows. “We believe barley protein concentrate can completely replace fishmeal if other essential nutrients are supplemented. We will also examine oats as another fish-feed alternative.”—By Sharon Durham,Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.

This research is part of Aquaculture, an ARS national program (#106) described atwww.nps.ars.usda.gov.

Rick Barrows is in the USDA-ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, 3059 F National Fish Hatchery Rd., Hagerman, ID 83332; (406) 994-9909.

"Barley Examined as Source for Potential Fish Feed" was published in the February 2010issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Giant Carp Threaten Great Lakes

It is a pretty good bet that the carp will be in the Great Lakes, if not already, very soon.  My attitude is to get over it.  We eat catfish and I suspect carp is a lot better.  Besides it is a staple in China.  Obviously they have been unable to fish them out either.

If anything we need to investigate what else may be added to the mix to enhance production and perhaps also give other species a chance.

The Great Lakes can produce thousands of tons of carp, all of which will have a ready market.

I have recently observed that the lakes of the boreal forest are also natural pens for the fresh water production of Coho.  Escapement will end up in the Arctic or the Great Lakes.

In time, these will be the two greatest single commercial fisheries on earth likely employing millions.

Giant, leaping Asian carp threaten US Great Lakes

by Staff Writers

Chicago (AFP) Jan 19, 2010

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Giant_leaping_Asian_carp_threaten_US_Great_Lakes_999.html

Asian carp were originally imported to the southern United States in the 1970s to help keep retention ponds clean at fish farms and waste water treatment plants. Heavy flooding helped them escape into the Mississippi in the 1990's and they have since migrated into the Missouri and Illinois rivers. Should they make it into Lake Michigan in large numbers it would be extremely difficult to stop their spread throughout the five interconnected Great Lakes and up into the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Huge Asian carp, which act like "aquatic vacuum cleaners" and leap into the air when spooked by motorboats, may have invaded the US Great Lakes despite a massive effort to block them, officials said Tuesday.

Researchers analyzing water samples have discovered fragments of Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan, although there is still no evidence that that fast-breeding fish have breached electric barriers set up along Chicago-area waterways.

"Clearly this is not good news," said Major General John Peabody, commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers' Great Lakes and Ohio River division.

The Corps is one of a host of state and federal agencies working to stop the spread of the voracious carp which can grow up to seven feet long (2.1 meters) and weigh 150 pounds (68 kilos).

Federal officials have warned that Asian carp - which have no natural predators - could have a "devastating effect on the Great Lakes ecosystem and a significant economic impact" on the seven-billion-dollar sport and commercial fishing industry.

"From what we have seen in other parts of the country, Asian carp could out-compete our native, sport and commercial fish in southern Lake Michigan," Charlie Wooley, deputy regional director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), said in a statement.

"We call them an aquatic vacuum cleaner because they filter important food resources out of the water and turn it into carp biomass."

It's possible that the DNA discovered in two different samples could come from a decomposed carp which was carried through the electric barriers, officials said.

Or it could come from eggs that were transported on the belly of a bird. Another possibility is that flooding may have allowed the carp may to swim around the barriers.

"The short answer is we just don't know," said FWS spokeswoman Ashley Spratt.

"We have not actually seen live carp above the barrier," she told AFP. "The information we currently have does not suggest they're there in sustainable populations."

Teams will set out on boats as soon as weather allows to search the lake for signs of live carp, and the regional coordinating committee will accelerate its efforts to block their spread, she said.

Officials are considering a number of options including another mass kill through poisoning, sterilizing males to slow breeding, building new electrical barriers and researching other "biological controls."

The test results were released hours after the fight to block the carp was dealt a blow by the US Supreme Court, which refused to force the closure of the Chicago shipping canal system as an emergency measure to stop the invasion.

"The motion of Michigan for preliminary injunction is denied," the Supreme Court wrote in a single line ruling.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox called upon President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to close the locks and said he hoped the Supreme Court would consider the issue more carefully in another pending case.

"I am extremely disappointed the Supreme Court did not push the pause button on this crisis until an effective plan is in place," Cox said in a statement.

"While the injunction would have been an extraordinary step by the court, Michigan and the other Great Lakes states are facing an extraordinary crisis that could forever alter the lakes, permanently killing thousands of jobs at a time when families can least afford it.

Asian carp were originally imported to the southern United States in the 1970s to help keep retention ponds clean at fish farms and waste water treatment plants.

Heavy flooding helped them escape into the Mississippi in the 1990's and they have since migrated into the Missouri and Illinois rivers.

Should they make it into Lake Michigan in large numbers it would be extremely difficult to stop their spread throughout the five interconnected Great Lakes and up into the St. Lawrence Seaway.

A Carp Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds carp fillets

1 cup milk

1 cup biscuit mix or pancake mix

2 teaspoonss 

salt

lemon wedges

  paration

Remove the skin of the carp and take out all the brownish-redish-colored part of the meat, the "mud vein"; discard.

Chunk up the rest of the carp fillets. Place fillet pieces in a shallow dish. Pour the milk over them and let it stand for half an hour, turning the fillets over once during that time.  Stir the

salt into the biscuit mix. 

Take fillets out of the milk and pat them into the biscuit mix, covering both sides. Fry fillets in deep fryer or in medium hot oil in fry-pan for 5 - 10 minutes until cooked through and browned on both sides. Use tongs or slotted spoon to turn them. 

Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon wedges if available. 

Serves 4-6

Sea Change for Salmon Husbandry

This is extremely promising for the aquaculture industry.  Fundamentally, everyone has assumed that salmon need to spend their life in the ocean.  Now it turns out that that is not true at all.  The consequences are huge.

 

We still have the issue of feed.  I am aware of work on replacing part of the feed with grains and I assume that will continue.  They are suggesting here that they can approach 1.1 to 1, except I heard that tale two decades ago.

 

I think though that we may have a far better option available.  It is expensive to raise fish in tanks.  So raise them in the lakes of the boreal forest.  These lakes have often been fished out and are forced through a serious die off every winter that decimates populations.  These salmon can in fact live in these lakes.  The lakes themselves are easily closed off to restrain migration if the fish are released only after they are properly sized.

 

The fish can be initially raised and fed in lakeside pens until they are so sized.

 

Far more important, small lakes are covered during the summer with mosquito and black fly larvae which should augment the feeding regime and perhaps keep the local environment somewhat more livable.  The reason this food supply is so substantial is that the winter die off has wiped out their predators.  Thus introducing a huge supply of active predators into the lake means that the natural food supply can be used.

 

The fish population will still need to be fed over the next winter, but that can be planned for and perhaps may be a mostly grain based diet.  After all we are simply carrying them over the winter until spring brings back the insect larvae again.

 

Winter feeding through the ice should not be difficult since we presently do ice fishing anyway.  In fact I suspect that the fishermen will help since it helps their sport.

 

I am sure these methods can be applied to other fish species, but we are most experienced with Coho at present since it happens to be ready for harvest inside of two years.

 

Sea Change: Environmental Group Gives First-Time Nod to Sustainable Salmon-Farming Method

 

An aquaculture company devises a new, sustainable process that raises Pacific Coho salmon in freshwater

 

By Clare Leschin-Hoar   

http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/coho-salmon-farming_1.jpg

SALMON SOLUTION: A new farming technique for Pacific coho salmon has received approval from a consumer education group that advocates for sustainable fisheries

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coho-salmon-farming&sc=CAT_ENGYSUS_20100114

Farm-raised salmon has long been the poster child of unsustainable aquaculture practices. Issues of escape, pollution and inefficiency have plunged it deeply into the "avoid" territory of environmental groups—until now.

In a report released January 14, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program is taking the unprecedented step of approving a particular method for farming Pacific coho salmon that is currently employed exclusively by the Rochester, Wash.–based AquaSeed Corp. The sustainability nod from the consumer education group means that these salmon also will be assigned a green "Best Choice" rating on Seafood Watch's Web site. The approval follows several months of intensive site visits by Seafood Watch scientists and reviews of the company's production facility, feed ratios, fish contaminant and pollution discharge levels, and more.

The salmon, to be sold under the SweetSpring label, have also been shown to contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, placing the salmon on Seafood Watch's newly created Super Green List, which denotes that the fish is good for human health without causing harm to the ocean. To appear on the Super Green List, the salmon must provide the daily minimum of omega-3s (at least 250 milligrams per day) based on 28 grams of fish, and have PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) levels under 11 parts per billion (ppb). AquaSeed came in at 335 milligrams per day of omega-3s and had a PCB level of 10.4 ppb.

"This is the first farmed salmon we've ever talked about as a good source [for food, since the program's inception in 1999]," said Geoffrey Shester, senior science manager for Seafood Watch. "This is extremely exciting. It's not an experimental science project. It is mature to the point where there is real potential to scale it up."

The farming method

The AquaSeed Pacific coho salmon are raised in a freshwater, closed containment system, which is not how salmon are conventionally farmed. Salmon in the wild live primarily in saltwater but swim to freshwater every year to spawn. Traditionally raised farm salmon are grown in open-net ocean pens. This has led to problems such as nonnative species escaping into the wild and pollution as well as sea lice infestation and disease, because there is no barrier between captive salmon and the wild version in surrounding waters. Plus, traditionally raised farmed salmon require as much as five pounds (2.3 kilograms) of meal made from smaller fish caught in the wild for every pound (half kilogram) of salmon meat, a level that is considered unsustainable by environmental groups.

AquaSeed's salmon are grown in land-based, freshwater tanks ranging in size from 60 centimeters to 15 meters wide depending on the salmon's developmental stage. Containment tanks prevent escapes and problems with sea lice infestation that have plagued open-net ocean pen operations. Also, a high-end salmon feed and selective breeding has helped minimize fishmeal use, reducing the ratio of pounds of wild feed fish to produce pounds of farmed fish to 1.1 to one—a number AquaSeed owner Per Heggelund says he expects to whittle further.

"What's interesting about this is this is they've taken salmon back millions of years evolutionarily, to the point where they're freshwater again," Shester says.

Now on their 17th generation of pedigree breeding, the egg-to-plate operation is in the process of providing the salmon with a DNA fingerprint to help thwart any unauthorized breeding. AquaSeed's core business is selling "eyed" salmon eggs (eggs that have developed to the point that their eyes are visible) under the Domsea label to salmon farms in Japan, China and other countries. They've also been working to conserve endangered wild Pacific salmon stocks by maintaining an isolation and breeding facility operation, protecting 40 distinct families of salmon.

"We didn't set out to be in a food fish program in a land-based facility," Heggelund says. "That wasn't our goal. We were more focused on the genetics—the livestock breeding of salmon for the normal traits of survival at certain stages of the life cycle, productive growth and feed conversion, and egg production."

Producing 90,700 kilograms of salmon a year, Heggelund is preparing to rapidly expand production on his 20-hectare farm, and is already working closely with large purchasers such as Compass Group and Whole Foods as well as Mashiko, a Seattle-based sustainable sushi restaurant.