The quest for indigenous aquafeed ingredients: a review

The growing demand for fish food products worldwide heightens the pressure on the current availability of feed ingredients, especially marine resources such as fishmeal and fish oil, for aquaculture feed production. To address this concern, the potential of novel ingredients for use in feed formulations needs to be tapped. This paper highlights recent researches undertaken concerning the dietary inclusion of various indigenous ingredients classified as seaweeds, leaf meals, oilseed meals, vegetable oils and medicinal herbs, and their effects on growth performance, feed intake, feed utilization efficiency, nutrient retention, disease resistance and other physiological activities among consumer species. Moreover, this paper presents information regarding their nutritive values, optimum inclusion levels and recommended protocols that can improve their potential as feed additives or fishmeal replacements.