Scientists engineer vegetarian diet for carnivorous fish - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 06:08 AM | Calgary | -0.3°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
ScienceAudio

Scientists engineer vegetarian diet for carnivorous fish

Cobia, a fish with flaky, white meat and a sweet, rich flavour, could soon be a staple at trendy dinner parties, after scientists found a sustainable way to raise cobia on fish farms. CBC science columnist Torah Kachur explains.

Discovery could make fish healthier, more sustainable for humans to eat

Researchers have specially formulated for cobia a new plant-based protein and oil diet that even includes supplementation with taurine, the active ingredient in Red Bull and a known essential nutrient for these fish. (NOAA)

Cobia, a fish with flaky,white meatand a sweet, rich flavour, could soon become all the rage at trendy dinner parties, following a discovery that could make it feasible to raise cobia on fish farms.

Cobia are meat eaters, which has made them unsuitable for aquaculture upuntil now. That's becausefeeding them large amounts of meat in the form of fish meal,producedbygrinding uphuge numbers ofsmaller fish,is neither sustainable nor cost-effective.

CBC science columnist Torah Kachur describes what it takes to make a carnivorous fish vegetarian.

New research from the University of Maryland has developed a plant-based alternative to fish meal that makes the fish grow just as well, without the waste and the accumulation of toxic chemicals like mercury in fish meat thatoften happens when farmed fish are fed a diet based on fish meal.

This new plant-based protein and oil alternative has been specially formulated for cobia and even includes supplementation with taurine, the active ingredient in Red Bull and a known essential nutrient for these fish.