With increasing global demand for affordable, high-quality, protein-rich food like fish, it is no wonder that aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of the food industry. As the industry continues to grow, the search for stable supplies of feed ingredients continues. Current commercial sources of protein can be costly, resource-intensive and of variable quality. Supplies of fishmeal and fish oil put pressure on wild fish stocks. Corn, soybeans, palm kernel oil and coconut oil create feed ingredients at the expense of valuable agricultural land and fresh water. Over the past 10 years, prices for these commodities have reached record highs both in terms of their price and volatility, forcing feed manufacturers and farmers to actively search for ways to substitute products as a means to smooth out and lower their input costs.

1. I N C O R P O R AT I N G
f i s h far m ing t e c h no l og y
January | February 2014
Closing the food waste loop: a new angle for
insect-based feeds
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The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

2. FEATURE
Closing the food waste loop:
a new angle for insect-based feeds
by Brad Marchant, CEO, Enterra Feed Corporation, Vancouver, Canada
W
ith increasing global demand
for affordable, high-quality,
protein-rich food like fish, it
is no wonder that aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of
the food industry. As the industry continues
to grow, the search for stable supplies of
feed ingredients continues. Current commercial sources of protein can be costly,
resource-intensive and of variable quality.
Supplies of fishmeal and fish oil put pressure
on wild fish stocks. Corn, soybeans, palm
kernel oil and coconut oil create feed ingredients at the expense of valuable agricultural
land and fresh water. Over the past 10 years,
prices for these commodities have reached
record highs both in terms of their price
and volatility, forcing feed manufacturers
and farmers to actively search for ways to
substitute products as a means to smooth
out and lower their input costs.
While on a rafting trip in the Canadian
Yukon, world-renowned environmental advocate and broadcaster, Dr David Suzuki, and
Enterra CEO Brad Marchant began discussing
aquaculture’s ongoing feed challenge. When
Brad queried Dr. Suzuki on what else could
be fed to fish, it turned out the answer was
on the end of their fishing rods: insects. Back
in Vancouver, the two conceived the idea for
a process that would provide a viable alternative for feed ingredients and help address the
challenge of a diminishing global nutrient supply. And they did it by harnessing the lifecycle
of a beneficial, non-invasive insect. Andrew
Vickerson, the chief technology officer, joined
the team and together they have commercialised a unique natural process that
could change global aquaculture by providing
sustainable, local and consistent quality feed
ingredients derived from food waste.
The black soldier fly
Hermetia illucens, also known as the black
soldier fly, is a common and widespread
fly species. They are also nature’s nutrient
renewal experts. The adult fly does not feed
– they spend their five to seven day lifespan
reproducing, and are not considered a pest.
More importantly, the larval stage of the black
soldier fly must provide all of the nutrition for
the adult fly, and therefore contains considerable valuable protein and oil content. The
larvae feed on most organic waste, including fruits and vegetables – which offers the
opportunity to utilise the black soldier fly larvae to consume food waste. Simultaneously,
they create high value protein and oils that
can be used to feed fish, livestock and pets,
and potentially replace wild-caught fishmeal
and farmed nutrients as feed ingredients.
The insects have been used successfully in
home composting and small-scale food and
animal waste management for decades, typically employed at farms and hobby farms for
manure and farm waste conversion to larvae,
which can then be fed to chickens, livestock or
fish ponds at the farm. The larvae digestate, or
‘frass’, can be used as a natural fertiliser, also
at the same farm location. However, attempts
to industrialise the process have been hampered by reliance on wild populations of black
soldier fly adults. Enterra’s scientists have
successfully domesticated and commercialised
the species’s life cycle on a variety of food
waste sources, which eliminates the reliance
on wild populations of black soldier fly.
28 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | January-February 2014
The Enterra process
Enterra’s proprietary technology consists
of a hatchery and a food waste bioconversion
unit. This clean, contained, artificial environment optimises the black soldier fly’s life cycle
to produce valuable animal and plant feed
ingredients from a food waste diet consisting
of mainly fruits and vegetables.
The fly’s lifecycle is well understood by
entomologists, and the speed by which the
natural cycle takes place can vary by months
depending on the quality of the food source
and local environment. For this reason, Enterra
developed a 100 percent controlled environment to ensure high predictability for the
production of eggs and larvae destined for the
bioconversion units. The hatchery uses controlled, artificial lighting and mating conditions
to produce black soldier fly eggs in captivity,
365 days a year, anywhere in the world.
In the bioconversion units, larvae from
the hatchery eat pre-consumer food waste.
The stage takes about three or four hours,
and feedstuffs are sourced from local grocery
stores and food processing facilities. Since
2009, Enterra’s scientists have tested different
types and quantities of food waste to create the optimal diet, to maximise the larvae
growth rates and nutritional content while
ensuring a safe and predictable output quality.
Enterra has tested a wide range of food waste
sources and has found that an optimum diet
of mixed food waste results in faster growth
rates.
The preferred diet in the Enterra process is
primarily (up to 80 percent) fruits and vegetables, with some breading, waste grains, dairy
products and small amounts of fish waste also
included in the feed mix. Enterra has found

3. p
d
i
process 100 tonnes of food waste per day,
or 36,000 tonnes per year. For each 100
tonnes of food waste, which contains 80
percent water subsequently evaporated in the
bioconversion units, the Enterra process yields
approximately seven tonnes of meal and oil
and seven tonnes of natural fertilizer.
Mature larvae are harvested, washed and
cooked to create nutritious, sustainable protein and oil products: Enterra Meal, which
contains 60 to 65 percent protein and 15
percent oil; Enterra Feed Oil , which is over 99
percent oil and contains 20 percent Omega
unsaturated fatty acids; and whole dried
EMS Forum:
Managing the Shrimp Epidemic
First reported in Asia in 2009, Shrimp Early
Mortality Syndrome has caused major production
problems in the cultivation of shrimp in countries
such as China, Malaysia,Thailand, and Vietnam.
Die and roll re-working machines
28-29 MARCH
2014
A focus on how to best manage the
issues facing shrimp farmers in the
Asian territories
Kasetsart University, Bangkok,Thailand
Supported by
n more
esentaxplained
e algae
vide a
ents for
maceuecurity
outheast
uc up
the
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ural
that the protein profile of the grown larvae
is not dependent on feed mix, but that the
fatty acid profile is more dependent on the
feedstock used. The food waste can be from
stale-dated and spoiled sources, as any fungal
or bacterial contaminants are consumed by
the larvae and do not report to any of the
final products – nature’s nutrient renewal and
up-cycle system at its best. Enterra does not
treat yard waste, manure products or postconsumer food waste (garbage) – due to
regulatory controls.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency
must certify the production process and
products, so the only source of feedstock is
traceable pre-consumer food waste from the
food processing, packaging and distribution
industries. The first pilot-scale bioconversion
units, built in 2010, were capable of convert- hatchery units. In 2012, a commercial scale
The algae of Brittany – from
ingredient – particularly in couning up to 25 kg/m2 of food waste per day on demonstration plant
tries where algae is already on the Breton water s of incompa- came online. Enterra’s
a continuous feed basis. The pilot bioconver- commercial demonstration plant is modular,
rable quality – represent an
daily menu.
sion units were consultant vet- ocean of oppor tunities for
Hervé Demais, used to optimise operating built in modules of five tonnes per day capacconditions Olmix, extended his operating ity, has proven the
erinarian for such as the feed rate, sustainable agr iculture and engineering scale-up, and
bed depth, evaporation rate, harvesting meth- confirmed humans
speech to explain that while live- feeding nine billion production conversion rates from
ods, and to develop the engineering scale- food waste into protein, oils and a natural
stock production is growing rapidly, in 2050, he added.
up criteria for commercial scale The seminar was concluded
aquaculture production has other operations. fertiliser at commercial scale.
Concurrently, pilot hatchery units were tested
issues to confront, especially with maître cuisinier Didier
to optimise the black soldier fly reproduction Towards restauthe growing need for a replace- Cor lou of the Hanoi commercial viability?
cycle and determine algae can criteria to ticale presenting the construction phase
ment for fishmeal. Again, operating r ant la Ver Enterra is now in
ensure a genetically diverse adult m e o f
s s e awe e d d i s h
provide part of the answer, he says, s o popula- h iof an expanded commercial production facility
tion on a sustainable basis, as c r as i o n in Langley, t e s t Columbia. The new facilbecause some of them are rich in well e a tpro-s fo r d e l e g aBritish o
vide engineering criteria for commercial scale ity, scheduled to open in 2014, will initially
tr y.
proteins.
Organised by
vestock
sented
ory and
rties of
FEATURE
Aqua News
Department of Fisheries, Indonesia
The Shrimp Club of Indonesia (SCI)
Department of Fisheries, Thailand
www.oj-hojtryk.dk
www.asianaquaculturenetwork.com
014 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 11
January-February 2014 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 29
Phone: +45 75 14 22 55
Fax: +45 82 28 91 41
mail: info@oj-hojtryk.dk
O&J Højtryk A/S
Ørnevej 1, DK-6705
Esbjerg Ø
CVR.: 73 66 86 11

4. FEATURE
larvae called Grubbinz. Enterra has explored a
number of ways to separate the protein and
fatty acids from the whole black soldier fly larvae (or Grubbinz™) and selected a common
food processing method. The objective was
to minimise operating costs while maximising
quality, scalability and handling of the protein
and feed oil products. Separating the larvae
into separate meal and oil products provides
feed manufacturers with greater inclusion flexibility and a longer shelf life.
During three years of product development work, Enterra, together with independent laboratories, tested black soldier fly meal
and oil samples generated by the prototype
bioconversion units and mapped their nutritional profiles. Data gathered to date indicate
that the Enterra Meal product compares well
with fishmeal and rendered poultry meal. The
Enterra Feed Oil product compares well with
the most valuable fatty acid products: fish oil
and soybean oil, and is a valuable substitute
for palm kernel oil and for coconut oil. The
natural fertiliser contains approximately 10
percent N-P-K and is an excellent organic substitute for chemical and animal based fertilisers
and soil amendment products.
Initial digestibility testing of a pelletised
aquaculture feed using Enterra’s meal product,
conducted independently by the Canadian
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)
as a salmon feed ingredient, yielded promising
results. Using a closed-contained test facility
operated by DFO, using standard feed pelletising methods, multiple inclusion rates and
faecal matter tracer methods to determine
protein digestibility relative to a known standard, the initial test results showed that the
digestibility was comparable to other sources
of animal protein, at 78 percent. More recent
digestibility testing, also conducted by DFO,
has shown that the Enterra Meal product is
82 percent digestible by Atlantic salmon. By
continued optimisation of the protein and
oil separation process, the protein digestibility could be increased to 85–90 percent
– a digestibility level found only in fishmeal.
Further independent digestibility testing is in
progress for salmon and trout.
A zero waste system
Globally, more than 1.5 billion tonnes of
food – over 30 percent of total production – is
lost or wasted every year during agricultural
production, post-harvest handling, processing, packaging, distribution and consumption.
While communities around the world use a
variety of residential and industrial programs
to divert this food waste from landfills, many
of these methods are sub-optimal for the
recovery and monetisation of the substantial
levels of food nutrients that remain in the food
waste. Landfills, waste-to-energy facilities and
composting operations remove food nutrients
from the food cycle, whereas the Enterra system converts food waste directly back to food.
The Enterra process maximises the nutritional
recovery from pre-consumer food waste, providing sustainable feed ingredients at a stable
price, while reducing food waste disposal costs
for businesses and municipalities.
Enterra’s technology can process large
quantities of food waste in hours, compared
with composting, which can take up to 180
days. Independent engineering verification
indicates that the Enterra process is more
efficient than anaerobic digestion for valuable
nutrient recovery, with the potential for triple
the revenue from the same waste inputs at
approximately one-tenth the capital cost.
The ‘Green Economy’ is front and centre in
Vancouver, and the city has set the ambitious
goal of being the ‘greenest city’ in the world
by 2020. With a ban on food waste into
Metro Vancouver landfills coming into effect
in 2015, regional food retailers, distributors
and producers are welcoming the opportunity
to support Enterra’s renewable food system.
The City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver
have indicated support for a new food wastespecific processing facility in the region. Both
are looking for ways to reduce the fees paid
to dump organic waste.
The Enterra process is a truly ‘zero waste’
30 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | January-February 2014
system as the frass, or larvae digestate, produced by the larvae during the food conversion process is turned into a concentrated
natural soil conditioner. This natural fertiliser
has a higher N-P-K content (around 10 percent) than other soil amendment products,
such as compost and vermiculture soil. The
fertiliser product has been tested extensively
with organic farm producers, and field-testing,
including greenhouse applications, continues
throughout British Columbia. Nutritional data,
recent field tests and the company’s own
germination and growth tests to date indicate
that Enterra’s natural fertiliser product is an
excellent addition to the natural soil amendment market and has unique pest control
attributes.
No liquid waste or special gas emissions
are produced from Enterra’s process.
Closing the food waste loop
As our global population continues to
grow, putting increasing strain on available
nutrients, fresh water and arable land, the
ability to recover and reuse nutrients from
food waste quickly and cheaply will become
a critical part of food production processes. Enterra’s process recovers nutrients
that would otherwise end up in landfill or
compost facilities, and converts this food
waste into a viable alternative feed ingredient
for fish, livestock and pets. Soybean and wildcaught fish ingredients can be costly, resourceintensive, unsustainable and of variable quality.
Using sustainable inputs, Enterra creates a
high-quality domestic product with the added
benefit of stable, long term pricing.
While addressing the increasing demand
for food, Enterra also decreases demand
for landfills, composting and long-haul waste
trucking. By diverting food waste from the
landfill and from composting facilities, costs
associated with waste disposal are lowered,
and a ‘zero waste’ product is produced.
Enterra closes the loop on food waste to
create renewable food for animals and
plants.

5. FEATURE
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January-February 2014 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 31

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I N C O R P O R AT I N G
f I s h fA R m I N G T e C h N O l O G y
Successful moisture
control in aquatic feeds
Current challenges and opportunities
in amino acid nutrition of salmonids
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Whisky by-products:
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Closing the food waste loop:
– a new angle for insect-based feeds
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