"In 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a detailed and inclusive consultation with independent experts, government researchers, stakeholders, and the general public to gather and distill information on alternative feeds for aquaculture. The driver for this effort was, and continues to be agency and stake-holder interest in speeding up the development and commercialization of viable alternatives to the fish meal and fish oil used in aquaculture. The goal of the NOAA-USDA initiative is to identify and prioritize research to develop feeds that will allow the aquaculture industry to increase production in a sustainable way that does not put additional pressure on limited wild fisheries, that maintains the human health benefits of seafood, and that minimizes negative environmental effects of the use of alternatives. For this development to be realistic, the alternative also has to be economically viable. Thus we considered a triple bottom line in our evaluation of alternatives. These bottom lines take in to account the economic, environmental and human health implications (Figure 1) of alternative feed ingredients"--Executive summary.

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

United States