Oceanic Institute Scientists Publish Research Results in Industry Magazine

Fabio Soller, Ph.D., Oceanic Institute of HPU’s Director of the Aquatic Feeds and Nutrition Department, and OI research colleagues, Spencer Davis, Kathleen Ramm, and Zhi Young Ju, Ph.D., published their paper, “Insects As a Feed Ingredient in Aquafeeds” in the Sept. 2017 issue of World Aquaculture.  Soller and team are studying a local insect called the black solider fly (BSF) — which is easy to culture and has a short life cycle — as an ingredient in aquatic animals feeds.  They are making progress with their evaluation of black soldier fly larvae meal (BFm) as a protein-and vitamin-rich feed for fish and shrimp and potentially livestock.  Additionally, OI has developed a method to remove fat from BFm using organic solvents, and has verified that BFm has a shelf life of at least six months with no significant loss of nutritional value when properly stored.

From left to right: Dr. Fabio Soller, Kathleen Ramm, Spencer Davis, Felipe Nobre, 

Bell Lin, and Dr. Zhi Yong Ju

Bell Lin, a Master’s Degree student in Marine Science at HPU, and Felipe Nobre, a Doctorate’s Degree student at the Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil, are producing BFm, making shrimp feed with BFm as a main protein source, and conducting shrimp growth trials at OI.  Lin’s contribution to the BSF project was highlighted in his 2017 HPU Master of Science in Marine Science Symposium poster presentation, which won a first place award.

OI is conducting this research in collaboration with Prota Culture LLC. This research is being funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA).