Source, Production and Chemical Composition of Fish Meal in Pakistan

Fish meal is considered a major source of protein commonly used in domestic animal feeds as well as in commercial aqua feeds. The present study documents the different species used for the production of fish meal in Pakistan and to determine the proximate composition of fish meal samples obtained from these units. Samples of fish meal were collected from nine different commercial fish meal processing units and were processed for proximate analysis. Results of the proximate analysis revealed more than 60% crude protein (CP) in the fish meal samples obtained from Abdul Baqi, Shamim, Abdul Rasheed and Liaqat fish meal processing units while samples collected from rest of the processing units contained less than 60% CP. Crude fat ranged from 9.9% to 29.5%, ash content 12.7 to 28.2% and gross energy 4,118 to 4,883cal/g. The present study is a preliminary step to identify the source of fish meal production and its chemical evaluation determining the quality and its possible utilization in aqua feed production.