Summary
Aquaculture plays a crucial role in global food security, yet it remains heavily reliant on feed ingredients such as fishmeal and soy-based products. This dependency poses a particular challenge in the Caribbean, where small-scale aquaculture operations struggle with limited access to commercial feeds. Even on islands with feed mills, key inputs like wheat, soy, corn, and fishmeal must still be imported, adding cost and limiting sustainability.
A promising solution lies in the development of fish feeds made from locally available, sustainable ingredients. These include fishery discards (e.g., conch and lobster byproducts, finfish viscera), agricultural byproducts (e.g., brewers' spent grain, coconut husks, cassava and banana flour), and plant materials such as sweet potato and cassava leaves. The use of insect larvae and marine algae may also offer further potential for alternative, nutrient-rich feed sources.
