What is it about?
Our planet's growing population needs more food, and aquaculture (fish farming) is a key provider. However, current practices often rely on limited resources and can cause pollution. This study explores a revolutionary approach: using tiny microorganisms as a direct food source for farmed fish and shrimp. These microbes, grown in the culture water, effectively recycle waste into valuable nutrients like proteins and healthy fats. This method, often called biofloc technology, dramatically shortens the food chain, making fish farming more efficient and environmentally friendly. It reduces the need for expensive, resource-intensive traditional feeds (like fishmeal), significantly lowers operational costs, and minimizes water pollution. By turning 'waste' into 'food,' we can produce more seafood sustainably, with less environmental impact and higher profitability, paving the way for a 'blue revolution' in food production.
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Why is it important?
This paper is important for global food security, offering a sustainable way to produce seafood. It transforms aquaculture by reducing reliance on finite resources, lowering environmental impact, cutting costs, and providing a new, efficient food source for a growing world.
Perspectives
As authors, we envision this microbial-based aquaculture becoming the standard. Future work will focus on standardizing biofloc systems, optimizing microbial species for nutrition, and developing bioreactors to produce these microbial feeds externally. This will lead to more resilient, biosecure, and profitable farms, offering high-quality, sustainably produced seafood closer to consumers.
Dr. Anselmo Miranda-Baeza
Universidad Estatal de Sonora
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From microbes to fish the next revolution in food production, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, February 2016, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.3109/07388551.2016.1144043.
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