Low-Impact Feeds and Circular Nutrition Strategies for Sustainable Aquaculture

Aquaculture now supplies over half of the world’s aquatic foods, yet its expansion has intensified dependence on fishmeal and fish oil from wild capture fisheries, raising sustainability, cost, and resilience concerns. Volatile commodity prices, supply constraints, and ecological impacts drive urgent interest in lower-impact alternatives. In parallel, circular bioeconomy approaches—valorizing agro‑industrial byproducts, deploying insect and single‑cell proteins, leveraging algal biomass, and integrating farming systems—offer practical pathways to reduce environmental footprints while maintaining animal health and performance. System-level designs such as integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA), recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), and nutrient recovery can close loops, enhance feed conversion efficiency, and translate ingredient innovation into measurable sustainability gains. However, knowledge gaps persist around species-specific requirements, optimal inclusion levels, digestibility, welfare outcomes, and real-world scalability, especially for smallholders and diverse regional contexts. This Research Topic aims to (1) advance evidence-based development of low-impact feeds and circular nutrition strategies across finfish and invertebrate aquaculture; (2) quantify environmental and socioeconomic benefits through robust life cycle assessment (LCA), techno‑economic analysis (TEA), and adoption studies; (3) integrate feed innovations with system design (e.g., IMTA, RAS) to capture nutrient synergies; and (4) promote practical, scalable solutions that support food security, climate resilience, and equitable value chains. By convening nutrition science, systems engineering, and social science, the collection seeks to align biological performance with planetary and community wellbeing. It is open for submissions that address: Ingredient innovation: insect meals, single‑cell proteins (yeasts, bacteria, microalgae), macroalgae, fermented ingredients, and agro‑industrial byproducts; nutrient profiling, anti‑nutritional factors, processing, and circular sourcing. Formulation and performance: partial/total fishmeal and fish oil replacement, amino acid balancing, palatability enhancers, digestibility coefficients, growth, FCR, product quality, and species‑specific optimization (e.g., tilapia, carp, shrimp, salmonids). Fish/shrimp health and welfare: immune responses, gut microbiome, oxidative status, stress tolerance, and disease outcomes under alternative diets. Systems integration: IMTA, RAS, biofloc, aquaponics, and nutrient recovery; how system design modifies feed efficiency, waste capture, and emissions. Sustainability and economics: LCA (carbon, water, biodiversity), TEA, supply risk, price stability, certification/standards, and policy levers. Adoption and equity: smallholder feasibility, regional case studies, gender and inclusion, capacity building, and extension pathways. Methods and standards: digestibility trials, biomarkers, harmonized sustainability metrics, and open datasets/protocols to improve comparability. By bridging ingredient science with system-level practice and socioeconomic insight, this collection will chart actionable routes to low‑impact feeds and circular nutrition strategies that are robust, affordable, and scalable in real aquaculture contexts. Topic editors: Juan José Alava, Juan Manuel Vera Delgado Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77388/low-impact-feeds-and-circular-nutrition-strategies-for-sustainable-aquaculture