A new survey by a global animal health and nutrition company has shown an increase in the amount of general livestock feed for both land and sea-based farming, but the results also reflect a huge jump in aquaculture growth in just the past two years.
The survey, conducted by Alltech, represents the company’s visits with more than 26,000 feed mills of all types worldwide, and the assessment of feed farms in 134 different countries in December 2012. While the survey does not give a breakdown of types of feed doled out to fish farms, the results indicate a worldwide growth in aquaculture of over 55 percent compared with 2011, the last time the company conducted such a survey.
“I didn’t find it surprising,” Aidan Connolly, V.P. of corporate accounts for Alltech, told SeafoodSource.
Alltech conducted its survey of mills that create feed for all types of livestock animals, from poultry to pigs to beef to seafood farmers. The survey based its estimate of aquaculture growth on the increase in feed being created for seafood farms worldwide.
Connolly said the boost reflects a worldwide change in attitude toward farmed fish, which more and more consumers are seeing as healthier, cheaper and more sustainable than ever before.
“The basic underlying trends are obvious,” Connolly said in explanation of the surge in demand for farmed seafood.
The survey does not offer a breakdown of which country produces the most seafood-specific feeds, but China was listed as the chief overall feed producer, with 191 million tons and about 10,000 feed mills. Overall, the combined output from Brazil, Russia, India and China has gone up by 26 million tons.
