WA grain farmers are set to capitalise on the world’s booming aquaculture industry as overseas fish farms search for new protein sources to replace the traditionally-used fishmeal or oil.

Australian researchers, who have developed a lupin-based fish feed now being exported to Japan, Norway and Thailand, predict enormous growth in demand for the product over the next decade as protein-sources derived from fish become increasingly scarce.

WA Department of Fisheries research scientist Brett Glencross said WA farmers, who produce about three quarters of the world’s lupins, were best placed to capitalise on that growing demand.

He said 50 per cent of the world’s commercial fish consumption came from fish farms, with the industry growing at a rate of 10 per cent each year.

The traditional feed source of fish oil and fishmeal, generally sourced from smaller fish such as anchovies was limited in growth, so the aquaculture industry was looking for alternative food sources which were high in protein to improve feed sustainability.

The pellet, which was developed under the Aquaculture Feed Grains Program, is made of up to one-quarter lupin flour and while still requiring fish meal in the mix, the amount is less than half that of a traditional pellet.

Dr Glencross said a very small amount of WA lupins were used by the aqua industry in 2000, but in the past few years had increased recent years to vary from 5000 to 10000 tonnes domestically, plus meeting larger export markets.

“If we take an aggressive marketing approach we could push a quarter of a million tonnes per year into the global aquafeed sector, but a more conservative estimate right now would be around the 50,000 tonne per year mark,” he said.

The world’s biggest lupin dehulling plant, where the outer seed coat is removed, opened in Forrestfield last year as a joint venture between bulk grain handler CBH and global food giant George Weston Foods, with the aquaculture industry expected to be a key market.

Mark Pontifex, Lupin Trading Manager for CBH’s marketing arm Grain Pool, said the past two poor seasons had drastically cut WA’s lupin crop, restricting farmers’ ability to capitalise on the well established but growing aquaculture market.

Pulse Australia predicts this years’ lupin harvest to reach 350,000 tonnes, two-thirds more than last year but well down on the State’s five year average.

“Aquaculture is definitely promising, we have had interest from key markets including Europe, and also Asia which is still developing,” Mr Pontifex said. “We just haven’t had the production in the last few years.” Hopefully however this year we have a good year for all our farmers and our buyers return to using lupins. All of our customers know lupins and are keen to use them if we can guarantee them the production. Lupins are also used for stock feed and for high-protein human food sources including lupin bread and milk.

This article was in the West Australian last week.