Corn and beans could help feed fish

Iowa corn and soybean producers could find a new global market in feedingfish thanks to new research from Iowa State University. Keith Heffernan isassistant director of I-S-U’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development,where fish meal was made with soybean oil and corn gluten.Heffernan says “aquaculture” is the fastest growing segment of the foodindustry on a percentage basis, but it’s threatened by declining supplies offish meal, which is mostly ground dried fish and fish waste. He says usingsoy or corn products could make the meal go farther and cost less.He says the fish meal could be used to feed fish and shrimp in farms aroundthe world, and he adds, the research results couldn’t come at a better time.Heffernan says the feeds were tested on striped bass in the I-S-U animalecology department, while trout feeding trials were done at PurdueUniversity, with shrimp and threadfin fish tested at the Oceanic Institutein Hawaii.