protein supplement feed ingredient used primarily in diets for domestic animals and sometimes used as a high-quality organic fertilizers.
Fish meal, or fishmeal, is a commercial product made from both whole fish and the bones and offal from processed fish. It is a brown powder or cake obtained by rendering pressing the cooked whole fish or fish trimmings to remove most of the fish oil and water, and then ground. What remains is the "fishmeal".
Fishmeal is a nutrient-rich and high protein supplement feed ingredient used primarily in diets for domestic animals and sometimes used as a high-quality organic fertilizer.
Fishmeal can be made from almost any type of seafood but is generally manufactured from wild-caught, small marine fish that contain a high percentage of bones and oil, and is usually deemed not suitable for direct human consumption. The fish caught for fishmeal purposes solely are termed “industrial”
Other sources of fishmeal is from by-catch of other fisheries and by-products of trimmings made during processing (fish waste or offal) of various seafood products destined for direct human consumption. Virtually any fish or shellfish in the sea can be used to make fishmeal, although there may be a few rare unexploited species which would produce a poisonous meal.
Fishmeal is made by either cooking, pressing, drying and grinding of fish or fish waste to which no other matter has been added. It is a solid product from which most of the water is removed and some or all of the oil is removed. Four or five tonnes of fish are needed to manufacture one tonne of dry fishmeal
The amino acid profile of fishmeal is what makes this feed ingredient so attractive as a protein supplement .High-quality fishmeal normally contains between 60% and 72% crude protein by weight. Typical diets for fish may contain from 32% to 45% total protein by weight.
Fishmeal in diets increase feed efficiency and growth through better food palatability and enhances nutrient uptake, digestion and absorption. The balanced amino acid composition of fishmeal complements and provides synergistic effects with other animal and vegetable Proteins in the diet to promote fast growth and reduce feeding costs.