ABSTRACT: Several microalgae contain in excess of 50 % crude protein with amino acid profile comparable to that of fish meal. In addition, high polyunsaturated fatty acid contents encourage their use in animal feeding and nutrition, particularly in the formulation and processing of aquafeeds. This study aims at estimating the feasibility of Chlorella meal as feed ingredient for the feeding and nutrition of farmed tilapia based upon digestibility data. Juvenile tilapia were stocked in conical-bottomed tanks (200 L) with superficial, continuous water flow, and fed to apparent satiation in three daily meals with a reference diet and a test diet containing 30 % lyophilized Chlorella sorokiniana added of an inert marker. Feces were collected overnight by sedimentation in refrigerated, plastic containers coupled to the tanks and analyzed for determination of chemical composition and inert marker contents to estimate apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of protein and energy of Chlorella meal; registered ADCs of Chlorella meal were 90.5 and 84.22, respectively. A pricing model considering the quantity of digestible nutrient was proposed based on ADCs of Chlorella and compared with the price of fishmeal (FM) and soybean meal (SBM). The indicative prices to elicit the use of Chlorella as a protein source rather than FM or SBM for the feed and nutrition of tilapia were 2.65 USD kg−1 and 0.66 USD kg−1, respectively.

ABSTRACT: Along the last ten years fish and fishery product trade in Brazil has been on a downward trajectory turning a profit of US$ 98.6 million in 2005 into a loss of US$ 1.25 billion by 2014. On the other hand, the country is a leading producer of grains and has the third largest animal feed industry in the world, which has added 5.5 million hectares of freshwater reservoirs and 3.5 million km2 of an exclusive marine economic zone in the same period, a sizable potential for development of the aquaculture industry. This study aims at unveiling strategies for the reduction of the deficit in the Brazilian seafood trade balance, based on critical analysis of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of imported fishery products. The fish and fishery product trade in Brazil, from 2005 to 2015, was studied considering import and export data mined from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce databases through the Aliceweb system, and clustered as follows: processing; product species; origin; conservation; and group. The main imported products were gutted fresh fish, highest price (salmon); salted dried fish, higher price (cod); frozen fish fillets, lowest price (fish and hake). The replacement of fish imports by domestic production is not enough to enable consumers to identify the equivalence between products (technical, qualitative or organoleptic). Developing strategies for the production of fish and fishery products at competitive prices and quantities that meet consumer demand is an immediate need, and the development of the aquaculture industry a rational strategy.