“Eco-, health- and budget-conscious Aquafeed” concept raised in my mind when I read the article related with “A higher state of consciousness (https://www.brenntag.com/en-us/media/news/a-higher-state-of-consciousness.html). I think we, as fish nutritionist, should consider this high trend content for our formulation in terms of alternatives, bio-circular, and least cost formulation that we made. In the meantime the transparency from brands in every respect – from traceability and sustainability to a label that gives them a clear understanding of what is inside the feed.
In this sense, I always curious about Turkish Aquaculture production which is being planned to increase 600.000 tons in the near future. This is obvious that “Turkish Aquaculture” is a special success story even though high inflation and economic turmoil a long with pressure of the tourism sector. And, in fact, we made it very efficiently. However, we -this is my personal inference for the sector- need to breath and wait our soul sometimes. Attaining this level of growth will require the development and adoption of a holistic growth strategy. Profoundly, we need to chance a bit our mindsets regarding improvement of the quality not quantity. The fundamental ideas of market demand economic equilibrium, as depicted in the figure below, usually come to mind when I analyze this price and quantity trend in Turkish aquaculture.
Again, in the case of Turkish Aquaculture, after a successful production period of 2022, the present economic crisis and recession in Europe (one of the biggest importer of Turkiye) will probably curb the rate of growth in Turkish Aquaculture. Nevertheless, we miss one more thing: increasing conscious consumers.
Alongside sustainability in any protein production, there are of growing importance to conscious consumers. As a result, products with verifiable quality characteristics will be crucial as consumers look for products that satisfy their need for self-preservation. Furthermore, recessionary consumer behavior will directly affect consumption, which will ultimately affect the global seafood trade. A strategic and long-term approach for the sustainable growth of the Turkish aquaculture sector is therefore more pertinent today than ever. In this regards, the eco-, health- and budget-conscious Aquafeed will be on the table. Essential factors for the development of novel feed formulations is that their use should therefore take into consideration their impact on climate change, that they contributes to climate change mitigation strategies, and that they are designed to optimise fish growth under changing climate/environmental conditions. Circularity in raw materials supply will, hence, be a part of the future direction for eco-, health- and budget-conscious aquafeed manufacturing. One of the key issues for the development of novel feed ingredients will be not only their circularity, but also the feasibility for establishing cost-effective production, which depends the cost, scalability, and availability of suitable processing technologies along with the quality of the feed, which reflect the quality of the final products. A crucial point is that following years will be the year of the “conscious consumer”. As Aquafeed producers and fish nutritionists, we should holistically take into account this vital issue in our mind when we formulate the diet.
