Use of Black Soldier Fly larvae meal, oil, and functional ingredients in aquafeeds and aquaculture trials.
Riesenbach et al. tested BSF full-fat meal, defatted meal, oil and chitin in low- and high-soy rainbow trout diets. The result is a useful warning against treating BSF as one ingredient and a positive signal for low-inclusion oil and chitin retention.
Ma et al. tested 2.5% and 5% whole-body or defatted BSFL in high-soy rainbow trout diets. The result is one of the clearest arguments for selling BSF as a complementary functional ingredient rather than only as fishmeal replacement.
Onomu and Okuthe's 2024 review is not an insect paper, which is exactly why it matters for BSF: aquaculture already has a commercial language for ingredients that earn inclusion through health, resilience and feed efficiency rather than crude protein alone.
A 28% fall in global fishmeal output in Q1 2026 strengthens the commercial case for BSF ingredients in aquafeed: not as a crude substitute, but as a resilient, functional and increasingly strategic component in diversified feed formulations.
Aquaculture Magazine's review of functional feed additives is a useful prompt for the insect sector: BSFL meal may be more valuable as a targeted gut, immune and diet-stability tool than as a blunt fishmeal replacement story.
Exploring recent studies on replacing fishmeal with black soldier fly larvae and frass in African catfish diets—how it works, what it costs, and why it matters.
Exploring how black soldier fly larvae enhancements are transforming feed intake, growth, and sustainability in shrimp diets
New research shows species-specific effects of Black Soldier Fly Meal (BSFM) on fillet quality in aquaculture—benefits for carp and trout, trade-offs for marine fish like seabream and salmon.