Sustainability vs. Quality in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) farming: are trade‐offs inevitable?

Abstract

European aquaculture industry should be at the forefront of sustainable development, providing healthy and safe food of the highest quality to the consumer, through an environmentally sound approach. The purpose of this review was to explore in what way the current drive for sustainability has affected what the consumer perceives as quality in fish, specifically in gilthead seabream, one of the most important farmed species in the Mediterranean. It focuses on nutritional aspects such as fish meal and fish oil replacement, quality tailoring through finishing strategies, the influence of different farming systems and the effect of slaughter stress on seabream quality. In general, fish meal and fish oil replacement with vegetable ingredients will result in changes in the fatty acid profile of the fillets, and consequently the potential health benefits seabream offers to the consumer. While organoleptic properties suffer little change, the impact of these ingredients on welfare has not been fully investigated. Further studies are also needed to evaluate the effect of land animal ingredients on seabream quality. In either case, although finishing strategies to restore essential fatty acids are not completely effective, seabream can still retain a high nutritional value. Information on the use of dietary supplements as finishing strategies is still extremely scarce. Regarding fish welfare, the high densities practised in intensive production systems pose concerns which warrant further research in this area. Furthermore, new alternatives for common harvesting and slaughter methods are needed to improve welfare, as traditional methods are clearly stressful.

Alternative formulations for gilthead seabream diets: Towards a more sustainable production

“…Alternative formulations are nowadays being directed to an ecofriendly approach (Matos et al, ) that targets a reduction of nutrient outputs to the environment. Nitrogen discharges to the environment result from both faecal losses, mostly related with low dietary protein digestibility, and from metabolic losses, resulting, for instance, from an imbalanced dietary amino acid profile.…”

“…At a short/medium term, this strategy places aquaculture in competition with biofuel and agricultural production for food (Olsen & Hasan, 2012), which is also expected to augment due to population increase. Furthermore, researchers and feed producers advert that a wider range of alternative ingredients to fishmeal are needed to fulfil the expected increase in aquaculture production (Matos, Dias, Dinis, & Silva, 2017).…”

Interactive effects of dietary fishmeal level and plant essential oils supplementation on European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax: Growth performance, nutrient utilization, and immunological response

“…The numerous studies examining the effect of replacing FM and FO with plant ingredients on many fish species have shown varying degrees of success (Nasopoulou & Zabetakis, ; Sales & Glencross, ; Sutili, Gatlin, Heinzmann, & Baldisserotto, ). This is particularly relevant for carnivorous fish species that have high FM and FO dietary requirements, such as Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar , and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Hardy, ), as well as gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata , (Sitjà‐Bobadilla et al, ) and European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (hereafter sea bass) (Kaushik, Covès, Dutto, & Blanc, ), which have been driving marine aquaculture in the Mediterranean over the past decades (Kousoulaki, Sæther, Albrektsen, & Noble, ; Matos, Dias, Dinis, & Silva, ). While some studies have shown the successful replacement of FM and FO with plant‐based products in sea bream and sea bass feed, several problems have been identified, including reduced growth, feeding, and nutrient utilization (Montero, Robaina, Caballero, Ginés, & Izquierdo, ; Peres & Oliva‐Teles, ; Santigosa et al, ; Torrecillas et al, ).…”

“…The numerous studies examining the effect of replacing FM and FO with plant ingredients on many fish species have shown varying degrees of success (Nasopoulou & Zabetakis, 2012;Sales & Glencross, 2011;Sutili, Gatlin, Heinzmann, & Baldisserotto, 2017). This is particularly relevant for carnivorous fish species that have high FM and FO dietary requirements, such as Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Hardy, 2010), as well as gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, (Sitjà-Bobadilla et al, 2005) and European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (hereafter sea bass) (Kaushik, Covès, Dutto, & Blanc, 2004), which have been driving marine aquaculture in the Mediterranean over the past decades (Kousoulaki, Saether, Albrektsen, & Noble, 2015;Matos, Dias, Dinis, & Silva, 2016).…”

Impact of Diets Containing Plant Raw Materials as Fish Meal and Fish Oil Replacement on Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata), and Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) Freshness

“…Besides the obvious effects in fillet fatty acids, also the total volatile compounds and sensory properties, namely, the appearance, odour, flavour, and texture of fillet, can be affected [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In particular, in cases of sweet-water fish species, the recorded impacts included reduction of the total amount of aldehydes and alcohols concomitant to fillet n-3 fatty acids reduction, increase of n-6 derived aldehydes, and related sensory-perceived "off-flavour" for plant oil fed fish [9,10,15].…”