Quality attributes of fish feeds and their potential effects on the aquatic ecosystem and aquaculture sustainability in East Africa

ABSTRACT

Low quality feeds are an impediment to sustainable fish farming in East Africa. Low quality feeds affect fish growth, pollute the aquatic ecosystem, escalate conflicts among competing water resource users, and affect enterprise sustainability. We investigated the physical and nutrient attributes, and the aflatoxin levels of selected fish feeds in E. Africa. The actual crude protein and crude lipid of the feeds deviated from the package quoted values by −20 to 7% and −5.5 to 9.6%, respectively. All feeds were inadequate in essential minerals, and their aflatoxin levels were low (range: 8.71 ± 0.52 to 71.90 ± 0.59 µg/kg). We highlight the potential effects of using low-quality feeds on the fed fish, aquatic ecosystem, and aquaculture sustainability in East Africa. To ensure a healthy aquatic environment with reduced resource-use conflicts and sustainable fish farming, ambitious policy reviews are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Aquafeeds
• carrying capacity
• Lake Victoria
• nutrient leaching
• water quality

Acknowledgments

Support for this study was provided by Sida through the Small Grants programme, under the Makerere-Swedish Bilateral Research Programme, 2018, and partly by the private sector foundation, through the Guardians of nature, a private company that collected samples across East Africa. Julliet Zalwango is thanked for an extra mile during data collection. Amy Fingerle, of the Salmon River Restoration Council in Sawyers Bar, California, proofread the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors had conflict of interest in the study.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by Sida through the Small Grants programme, Makerere-Swedish Bilateral Research Programme, 2018, and World bank, through the Private Sector Foundation, Uganda.