Insect feeding, can reduce stress in a fish?

Abstract

Aquaculture is defined as the rearing of aquatic organisms through human intervention, and it is a productive activity that is expanding, since humans have increased the consumption of protein sources such as fish. For this reason, intensive production systems have become the most efficient and safe way to generate this commercial product. However, throughout the production cycle, fish are affected by aquaculture practices and generate stress in them. For example, it has been seen that fishing nets damage the mucosa which makes the fish more vulnerable to being affected by bacterial infections; in addition, when trying to escape they are physically exhausted and some fish die. Therefore, in the search for strategies to manage stress, foods made with insects have become an option with great potential. In this context, the chemical composition of some insects gives fish the ability to withstand the damage caused by aquaculture practices; some of the foods that have already been tested with positive effects on fish are those made from house cricket, house fly, black soldier fly, grasshopper and beetle.