Aquafeed Market Size

The global aquafeed market was valued at US$80.66 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach US$120.55 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% during 2026-2035.

Aquafeed is becoming one of the most strategically important inputs in global seafood production as aquaculture moves deeper into intensive farming, controlled environments and performance-based nutrition. The industry's focus is shifting from producing inexpensive feed toward improving the amount of harvested fish or shrimp generated from each tonne of feed while protecting animal health, water quality and final product quality.

The underlying production base continues to expand. FAO reported that aquaculture produced 94.4 million tonnes of aquatic animals in 2022, surpassing capture fisheries for the first time. OECD-FAO projects farmed aquatic animal production to reach around 118 million tonnes by 2034, with aquaculture accounting for more than 85% of the additional fisheries and aquaculture output generated during the outlook period.

Feed formulation is simultaneously becoming more complex. Fishmeal and fish oil remain strategically important, particularly for salmon, shrimp and high-value marine species, but constrained marine ingredient supply is forcing manufacturers to increase their use of soybean meal, other oilseed meals, processed animal proteins, algae, microbial proteins, insect ingredients and fermentation-derived nutrients.

OECD-FAO expects aquaculture use of oilseed meals to increase 37% to 11 million tonnes by 2034, compared with a 16% increase in fishmeal use to 4.9 million tonnes. Aquaculture is also projected to consume 84% of global fishmeal supply and 59% of fish oil by 2034.

This creates a market in which the competitive advantage increasingly lies in nutrient knowledge, raw-material flexibility and measurable farm performance rather than reliance on one traditional ingredient basket.

Aquafeed Market Key Highlights

• 2025 Market Size: US$80.66 Billion
• 2035 Market Value: US$120.55 Billion
• CAGR, 2026-2035: 4.1%
• Largest Species Segment: Fish - 58.4%
• High-Value Growth Segment: Crustaceans - 29.6%
• Largest Ingredient Category: Soybean & Oilseed Meals - 28.8%
• Largest Feed Additive Category: Amino Acids - 29.2%
• Largest Feed Form: Pelleted Feed - 44.3%
• Largest Region: Asia-Pacific - 48.6%
• Largest Country Market: China - 22.5%
• Strategic Growth Countries: India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ecuador and Norway
• Major Formulation Shift: Reduced dependence on fixed fishmeal and fish-oil inclusion
• Fastest Value-Added Opportunity: Functional and health-supporting aquafeed
• Emerging Production Opportunity: RAS and closed-system-specific nutrition
• Major Procurement Issue: Fishmeal, fish oil, soybean and cereal price volatility
• Sustainability Direction: Certified feed, regenerative crops, by-product use and alternative proteins

Key Takeaways

Feed Efficiency Is Becoming More Important Than Feed Price Alone

Aquafeed commonly represents one of the largest operating expenses in intensive aquaculture. Farmers therefore increasingly evaluate feed according to growth, survival, feed conversion, harvest time and biomass yield rather than simply comparing the price per tonne.

This is especially visible in shrimp and salmon production, where shortening the production cycle or improving survival can have a greater financial impact than reducing the purchase price of feed.

Skretting's Xpand shrimp feed illustrates this performance-based proposition. It is designed to shorten grow-out periods or allow farmers to produce larger shrimp within the same production schedule.

Fishmeal Replacement Is Becoming a Formulation Capability

Fishmeal is not disappearing from aquafeed. Its nutritional density, amino-acid profile, digestibility and palatability remain valuable.

The strategic change is that manufacturers are becoming less dependent on fixed quantities of fishmeal in every formulation.

OECD-FAO projects oilseed-meal use in aquaculture to grow considerably faster than fishmeal consumption through 2034. This creates an advantage for companies capable of balancing amino acids, digestibility and micronutrients while changing the raw-material mix according to availability and price.

BioMar highlighted this capability in August 2026, noting that record-high marine raw-material prices make its ability to formulate according to nutrients rather than specific raw materials increasingly important.

Functional Feed Is Moving from Treatment Support Toward Preventive Nutrition

Disease remains one of the most important constraints on aquaculture profitability.

Feed manufacturers are increasingly developing formulations intended to support intestinal condition, immune response, stress resilience and animal performance before severe health problems occur.

BioMar's February 2026 launch of SmartCare Defence for sea bass illustrates the trend. The product was developed over more than five years and is designed for proactive use during periods of elevated bacterial pressure. Commercial validation reported lower mortality during high-risk periods.

Shrimp Is Becoming a Premium Feed-Technology Battleground

Shrimp farming combines high feed expenditure with biological volatility.

Water quality, bacterial pressure, stocking density, survival and feeding efficiency can materially influence farm economics.

Cargill's ADAPT Low Impact feed in Ecuador is one example of the industry's move toward feed that addresses both farm performance and environmental conditions. Cargill reports field trials showing nutrient retention improvements of up to 30% versus standard feeds in the comparison, reducing nutrient accumulation in ponds while maintaining shrimp performance.

RAS Requires Feed Designed for the Production System

Feed developed for open cages or ponds cannot automatically be optimized for recirculating aquaculture systems.

In RAS, uneaten feed and unstable fecal particles directly increase filtration and biological-treatment requirements.

Skretting's RCX and Nutra RC products are designed around water stability, fecal quality and reduced nutrient discharge, while Cargill introduced a specialized feed for closed salmon farming systems in Norway in early 2026.

The feed therefore becomes part of the water-treatment strategy.

Certification Is Moving Upstream into Feed Production

Seafood certification increasingly extends beyond farm operations.

ADM's Bern Aqua feed mill became Belgium's first BAP-certified feed producer in June 2026, while BioMar's Viet-Uc facility became the company's first ASC Feed-certified production site in Asia in July 2026.

Feed traceability, ingredient sourcing and environmental performance are consequently becoming more important in export-oriented aquaculture supply chains.

Asia-Pacific Will Remain the Center of Global Feed Volume

Asia is projected to account for around 88% of global aquaculture output in 2034, while China alone is expected to retain close to 53% of global farmed aquatic animal production.

The region's feed opportunity is becoming more sophisticated as production shifts from basic carp and pond feeds toward shrimp, eel, grouper, sea bass, high-value freshwater species and advanced nursery nutrition.

BioMar's decision to double production capacity at its Wuxi facility in China during 2026 reflects this change.

Strategic Market Thesis: Aquafeed Is Becoming the Biological Operating System of Intensive Aquaculture

Aquaculture farms cannot increase production indefinitely by simply stocking more animals.

Higher density can create new problems.

Oxygen demand rises. Waste accumulation increases. Disease can spread more rapidly. Feed competition changes. Water-quality management becomes harder.

Feed consequently becomes one of the primary tools available to manage biological performance.

The next generation of aquafeed is designed not only to satisfy the nutritional requirement of a species but to influence how efficiently the entire production system operates.

A shrimp farmer needs feed that remains physically stable in the pond long enough to be consumed without excessive nutrient leakage.

A salmon producer operating RAS needs feed that produces stable fecal particles that can be mechanically removed from recirculating water.

A sea bass producer exposed to predictable bacterial pressure may require a functional diet before the disease-risk period begins.

A hatchery requires highly digestible microfeed designed around the immature digestive system of larvae.

These are fundamentally different feed requirements.

The market is therefore moving away from one broadly formulated diet toward species-, life-stage-, health- and farming-system-specific nutrition.

That transition increases the value of nutrition research, farm data, formulation software and technical services surrounding the feed itself.

Feed Raw-Material Flexibility Becomes a Competitive Advantage

Marine ingredients remain important, but they increasingly operate as scarce strategic nutrients rather than universal bulk ingredients.

Fishmeal is particularly valuable because it delivers digestible protein, balanced amino acids, and high palatability.

Fish oil remains an important source of EPA and DHA, especially in salmonid nutrition.

Supply cannot expand at the same rate as aquaculture output.

OECD-FAO projects global fishmeal production to reach 5.9 million tonnes by 2034, while aquaculture alone is expected to consume 4.9 million tonnes. Around 31% of fishmeal is expected to originate from fisheries waste and by-products by that point.

This puts greater pressure on formulators to determine where marine nutrients create the most biological value.

Plant meals are already taking a larger role, but they bring their own constraints, including amino-acid imbalance, antinutritional factors, digestibility differences and commodity-price volatility.

The next formulation layer includes insect protein, microbial protein, fermentation ingredients, algae oils and proteins derived from agricultural side streams.

The market will therefore not be defined by one ingredient completely replacing fishmeal.

It will be defined by manufacturers becoming capable of using a broader portfolio of ingredients without sacrificing fish growth, shrimp survival or feed conversion.

Alternative Proteins Are Moving from Sustainability Story to Supply-Risk Strategy

Novel proteins were initially promoted primarily on environmental grounds.

The commercial case is becoming broader.

Marine raw materials can be affected by El Niño, fishing quotas and regional catches. Soybean and cereal prices respond to weather and global commodity conditions.

Alternative ingredients can diversify this risk.

Microbial proteins can be manufactured independently of agricultural land.

Insect protein can convert defined organic side streams into feed material.

Algae can provide omega-3 fatty acids without harvesting additional forage fish.

Fermentation-derived products can provide highly targeted amino acids or functional compounds.

Adoption still depends on economics.

A biologically effective ingredient that remains substantially more expensive than fishmeal or soybean meal will be used selectively.

The strongest route is therefore likely to be incorporation where the ingredient produces a measurable nutritional or sustainability advantage rather than replacing every conventional ingredient.

Functional Feed Is Creating a Higher-Margin Aquafeed Category

Standard feed is designed to support routine growth.

Functional feed is purchased because the farmer is facing a specific biological risk.

That distinction changes willingness to pay.

Disease outbreaks can lead to lower growth, increased mortality, treatment cost and delayed harvest.

Feed capable of supporting animals through known periods of stress can therefore generate value far beyond its ingredient cost.

BioMar's SmartCare Defence is designed specifically around bacterial challenges in Mediterranean sea bass and is recommended ahead of predictable risk periods.

Skretting's Lorica provides another example in shrimp. It is positioned around resistance, natural immune response and bacterial challenges rather than growth alone. Its Necto range similarly targets fish resilience to health and environmental stressors.

Cargill's aquaculture additive portfolio includes products targeting immune health, digestive function, phytogenic support and mycotoxin risk.

The result is a category increasingly resembling preventive animal-health nutrition rather than commodity feed.

Shrimp Feed Economics Are Becoming More Sophisticated

Shrimp is one of the most feed-sensitive commercial aquaculture segments.

Farmers manage production cycles that can be materially affected by bacterial disease, pond conditions, water quality and feed wastage.

Feed that is not consumed rapidly can break apart or release nutrients into pond water.

That can increase organic loading and contribute to undesirable microbial growth.

This creates a strong incentive to improve:

pellet stability, palatability, digestibility, nutrient retention and feeding management.

Skretting's India portfolio demonstrates how specialized shrimp feed has become. Its products now span broodstock nutrition, larvae and post-larvae, nursery-stage functional feeds, premium grower products and water-quality solutions.

The competitive opportunity therefore extends across the entire shrimp lifecycle rather than focusing solely on grow-out feed.

Early-Life Nutrition Is Emerging as a Premium Market

Feed volumes at the hatchery stage are small.

The biological value of each kilogram is high.

Weak nutrition during larvae, fry or nursery stages can affect survival and later growth performance.

This creates a premium segment for highly digestible microdiets, specialized proteins, phospholipids and micronutrients.

ADM's Bern Aqua focuses specifically on hatchery and nursery feeds for fish and shrimp and supplies customers in more than 50 countries. Its June 2026 BAP certification of the Olen facility reflects increasing commercial attention to early-stage nutrition and traceability.

BioMar's 2026 Wuxi expansion is also designed to enable advanced nursery-feed production alongside diets for higher-value species.

The strategic opportunity is attractive because better early-stage performance can influence the economics of the entire production cycle.

RAS Feed Opens a New System-Specific Category

Recirculating aquaculture systems operate differently from conventional ponds and sea cages.

Most water is continuously treated and reused.

Feed particles, fecal stability and nutrient discharge therefore directly influence:

filter loading, biofilter performance, water clarity and operating cost.

Skretting's RCX salmon diet emphasizes water stability, fecal quality and lower nutrient loading, while Nutra RC is formulated to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen discharge.

Cargill's newly introduced feed for Norwegian closed salmon systems is similarly designed around water quality and waste stability.

This creates a significant strategic shift.

Aquafeed manufacturers are no longer optimizing only for the animal.

They increasingly have to optimize feed for the animal and the production system simultaneously.

Sustainable Aquafeed Is Moving into Procurement Requirements

Feed contributes a significant share of aquaculture's environmental footprint because ingredients must be grown, harvested, processed and transported.

BioMar states that raw materials account for more than 80% of aquaculture feed-related emissions within its referenced sectoral context, which explains why feed companies are increasingly addressing agriculture upstream rather than only improving factory efficiency.

In March 2026, BioMar Iberia launched a pilot to incorporate wheat from regenerative agriculture into aquafeed formulations.

The project tests whether agricultural sourcing practices can reduce feed-related environmental impact while improving supply-chain resilience.

Certification is moving in the same direction.

ASC Feed certification assesses responsible raw-material sourcing alongside social, environmental and operational requirements.

BioMar's July 2026 certification of its Vietnam facility is particularly important because Asia represents the world's largest aquaculture-producing region.

Aquafeed Market Scope

Market Dynamics

Aquaculture Production Continues to Expand the Feed Base

Aquaculture is now the primary source of growth in global aquatic-animal production.

OECD-FAO projects farmed aquatic animal output to rise 20% by 2034 compared with the 2022-2024 base period, reaching around 118 million tonnes.

This directly expands the underlying demand base for aquafeed.

However, feed demand will not grow at exactly the same pace as farmed production.

Some aquaculture species, particularly filter-feeding mollusks, require little or no conventional formulated feed.

Feed conversion also continues to improve.

The strongest demand therefore comes from the expansion of fed aquaculture species, particularly shrimp, salmonids, tilapia, carp, catfish, sea bass, sea bream and higher-value marine fish.

Feed Conversion Is Becoming Central to Farmer Profitability

A small improvement in feed conversion can have a significant financial impact across a high-volume farm.

Lower feed use can also reduce waste entering the production environment.

Feed companies are therefore investing heavily in nutrient digestibility, pellet quality and feeding strategies.

Cargill positions its salmon portfolio around feed performance, health and financial outcomes, while Skretting's shrimp and salmon ranges increasingly emphasize shorter production cycles and lower feed-conversion ratios.

Feed manufacturers that can demonstrate repeatable farm-level performance have a stronger route to premium pricing.

Raw-Material Volatility Remains the Largest Structural Restraint

Fishmeal and fish-oil prices are affected by anchoveta catches, environmental conditions and fishing policy.

Plant ingredients are influenced by agricultural commodities.

OECD-FAO expects fishmeal prices to remain volatile, with El Niño conditions periodically influencing anchoveta supply. Fish-oil prices are also expected to fluctuate as aquaculture competes with human nutrition for available omega-3 oils.

BioMar explicitly identified record-high marine raw-material prices as a major 2026 operating challenge.

The commercial response is increased formulation flexibility rather than expecting ingredient prices to stabilize permanently.

Disease Risk Increases the Value of Functional Nutrition

Disease is particularly damaging in high-density shrimp and marine-fish systems.

Farmers therefore increasingly use nutrition alongside vaccination, biosecurity and water management.

The shift away from routine medicated feeding also supports probiotics, prebiotics, phytogenics and targeted functional diets.

BioMar's 2026 SmartCare Defence launch is a direct example of this move toward nutrition-based preventive health management.

Aquafeed Market Segmentation Analysis

Fish Feed Leads with 58.4% Market Share

Fish accounted for 58.4% of global aquafeed revenue in 2025, equal to US$47.11 billion.

The segment spans an unusually wide species portfolio, including carp, tilapia, catfish, salmon, trout, sea bass, sea bream, eel and other high-value marine and freshwater species.

Freshwater fish provide the largest feed-volume base, particularly across Asia.

Salmonids generate higher feed value per tonne because formulations require tighter control of proteins, lipids, omega-3 content and biological performance.

The segment is also becoming more specialized according to farming system.

RAS salmon diets increasingly differ from sea-cage diets because waste stability and nutrient discharge influence the operation of the water-treatment system.

Crustacean Feed Accounts for 29.6%

Shrimp and other crustaceans represented 29.6% of market revenue in 2025, equal to US$23.88 billion.

Shrimp feed is one of the most technically demanding and commercially attractive categories.

Farm economics depend heavily on survival, growth rate and pond conditions.

This supports a broad product range extending from broodstock and larval diets through nursery, grower and health-support formulations.

OECD-FAO expects global shrimp and prawn aquaculture production to increase 38% through 2034, one of the fastest growth rates among major farmed aquatic species categories.

That production growth provides a strong structural demand base for premium shrimp feed.

Mollusk Feed Holds 4.1%

Mollusks represented 4.1% of 2025 market revenue, equal to US$3.31 billion.

The share is much smaller than mollusks' contribution to total aquaculture production because oysters, mussels and many other bivalves obtain nutrition naturally by filtering water.

Commercial feed demand is therefore concentrated primarily in hatchery and nursery phases and in selected intensive production systems.

Aquafeed Market by Ingredient

Soybean and Oilseed Meals Lead with 28.8%

Soybean and other oilseed meals accounted for 28.8% of aquafeed revenue in 2025, equal to US$23.23 billion.

Plant proteins are essential to the industry's ability to expand without requiring equivalent growth in marine ingredient supply.

Their utilization is becoming more sophisticated as formulators adjust amino acids and digestive performance rather than using crude protein content alone as the selection criterion.

OECD-FAO expects oilseed-meal consumption in aquaculture to increase 37% through 2034.

Fishmeal Holds 22.1%

Fishmeal represented 22.1% of market revenue, equal to US$17.83 billion.

The market share remains significant despite substitution because fishmeal continues to deliver high-value nutrients and palatability.

Its future role will increasingly be concentrated where its nutritional value produces the highest biological return.

By-products also matter. FAO information cited during its 2026 nutrition consultation notes that fish by-products accounted for 34% of global fishmeal production in 2022, demonstrating the industry's growing use of processing residues.

Corn, Wheat and Other Cereals Account for 18.4%

Cereal ingredients generated 18.4% of market revenue in 2025, equal to US$14.84 billion.

Their function extends beyond providing energy.

Starch also affects extrusion, pellet binding, floatability and physical feed quality.

BioMar's 2026 regenerative-wheat pilot demonstrates how cereal sourcing is now entering the sustainability strategy of aquafeed producers.

Fish Oil Holds 10.8%

Fish oil accounted for 10.8%, equal to US$8.71 billion.

Its importance is greatest in salmon and other species where EPA and DHA composition influences fish physiology and the nutritional profile of the final seafood.

Aquaculture is expected to consume 59% of global fish-oil supply by 2034.

This creates a continuing incentive to develop alternative omega-3 sources.

Additives and Other Ingredients Hold 19.9%

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, functional ingredients, binders and novel proteins collectively represented the remaining 19.9%.

Their value share is rising faster than their physical tonnage because relatively small inclusion levels can influence digestion, health and feed performance.

Aquafeed Market by Additive

Amino Acids Lead with 29.2%

Amino acids generated 29.2% of aquafeed additive revenue in 2025.

Their importance increases as fishmeal inclusion falls.

Plant proteins do not always provide amino acids in the same proportions or digestibility as marine protein.

Targeted supplementation with methionine, lysine and other amino acids allows formulators to improve nutritional balance while using a more flexible raw-material mix.

Vitamins and Minerals Hold 24.7%

Vitamins and minerals accounted for 24.7%.

Micronutrient requirements vary according to species, life stage, environmental conditions and production system.

Precision micronutrition becomes particularly important in hatcheries and high-density production.

Prebiotics and Probiotics Account for 16.8%

Prebiotic and probiotic products represented 16.8%.

Their role is expanding as producers focus more heavily on gut condition, digestive efficiency and microbial management without depending exclusively on medicated feed.

Enzymes Hold 11.9%

Feed enzymes represented 11.9%.

Phytase and other enzymes can improve the availability of nutrients in plant-based ingredients and reduce the amount excreted into the production environment.

This is particularly relevant as aquafeed formulations use larger quantities of vegetable raw materials.

Aquafeed Market by Feed Form

Pelleted Feed Holds 44.3%

Pelleted feed accounted for 44.3% of market revenue in 2025.

Pellets remain widely used because manufacturing costs are competitive and physical properties can be adjusted across species and production stages.

Pellet stability is particularly important in shrimp farming, where feed remains in water before consumption.

Extruded Feed Accounts for 34.8%

Extruded feeds represented 34.8%.

Extrusion provides greater control over density, digestibility, water stability and pellet structure.

Floating feeds also allow farmers to visually monitor consumption in species such as tilapia and catfish.

The segment is likely to gain additional value as farms place greater emphasis on feed wastage and precision feeding.

Powdered and Microfeeds Hold 12.4%

Powdered feeds and microdiets represented 12.4%, driven heavily by hatchery and early-stage production.

These products have comparatively low volume but high unit value because ingredient quality, particle size and digestibility must be tightly controlled.

Asia-Pacific Aquafeed Market

Asia-Pacific accounted for 48.6% of global aquafeed revenue in 2025, equal to US$39.20 billion, making it the largest regional market.

Its importance is supported by production scale.

OECD-FAO expects Asia to account for around 88% of global aquaculture production in 2034.

The difference between Asia's production share and aquafeed value share reflects the region's large production of species that require limited manufactured feed, as well as lower feed pricing in high-volume freshwater markets.

The regional opportunity is becoming more valuable as farmers move into shrimp, sea bass, eel, grouper and other high-specification species.

BioMar's expansion at Wuxi and its first ASC Feed-certified Asian facility in Vietnam provide direct evidence of multinational investment into this higher-value segment.

China Aquafeed Market

China accounted for 22.5% of global market revenue in 2025, equal to US$18.15 billion.

China remains the largest aquaculture producer and is expected to account for about 53% of global farmed aquatic animal production by 2034. It is also projected to consume 42% of global fishmeal by 2034, reflecting the size of its feed-intensive farming industry.

Competition is shifting toward higher-value feeds.

BioMar's Wuxi expansion will double capacity and enable production of advanced nursery diets and feed for species including Japanese eel, grouper and mandarin fish in addition to trout, salmon, sturgeon and other premium species.

China's largest commercial opportunity therefore lies not simply in additional feed tonnage but in the migration toward more intensive and nutritionally demanding aquaculture.

India Aquafeed Market

India represented 7.2% of global revenue in 2025, equal to US$5.81 billion.

India is the world's second-largest fish producer and second-largest aquaculture producer. Government data show total fish output increased from 14.16 million tonnes in 2019-20 to a record 19.775 million tonnes in 2024-25.

Government investment remains substantial. PMMSY projects worth ₹21,461 crore had been approved by July 2026, while ₹2,500 crore was allocated for the program in FY2026-27.

The feed opportunity is being driven by shrimp, carp, tilapia, sea bass and intensification of inland aquaculture.

Skretting currently operates an automated aquafeed plant in Gujarat with initial capacity of 50,000 tonnes annually, producing higher-end shrimp and fish feeds.

Government programs are also promoting RAS, biofloc, cage culture, mariculture, hatcheries and feed mills, creating demand for more specialized nutrition.

Vietnam Aquafeed Market

Vietnam accounted for 5.5% of global revenue in 2025.

Shrimp, pangasius and other export-oriented species make Vietnam one of Southeast Asia's strategically important feed markets.

BioMar's Viet-Uc facility achieved ASC Feed certification in July 2026, becoming BioMar's first certified production site in Asia. The plant supplies shrimp and fish feed across Asian aquaculture markets.

Certification can become particularly valuable for Vietnamese producers targeting seafood buyers with increasingly stringent traceability requirements.

Indonesia Aquafeed Market

Indonesia accounted for 4.8% of global revenue in 2025.

The country's large aquaculture base spans shrimp, tilapia, catfish and marine species.

Feed penetration remains uneven, creating an opportunity as production moves from traditional extensive farming toward more commercially managed systems.

Japan Aquafeed Market

Japan represented 2.1% of global revenue in 2025, equal to US$1.69 billion.

Japan is a smaller volume market but supports comparatively high-value nutrition for yellowtail, sea bream, eel, tuna and other premium species.

The country's opportunity is strongest in advanced feed formulations that improve feed efficiency, disease resilience and product quality rather than low-cost commodity feed.

BioMar's Chinese expansion is also notable for Japan because the new Wuxi line is designed to produce feed for Japanese eel, demonstrating growing regional investment in nutrition for premium Asian species.

Latin America Aquafeed Market

Latin America accounted for 16.4% of global revenue in 2025, equal to US$13.23 billion.

The regional market is unusually concentrated around two high-value aquaculture categories.

Ecuador is one of the world's largest farmed-shrimp producers.

Chile is one of the leading salmon-producing markets.

Both species require high-performance feed, creating a regional revenue share substantially higher than Latin America's proportion of global aquaculture volume.

Cargill operates aquaculture nutrition across both Ecuador and Chile, while BioMar has substantial feed exposure to shrimp and salmon in the region.

Cargill's ADAPT Low Impact shrimp feed in Ecuador illustrates the transition toward nutrition that improves nutrient retention while reducing pond loading.

BioMar's 2025 feed volumes increased 13% globally, with shrimp volume rising 31%, demonstrating the commercial importance of the species to feed suppliers.

Ecuador Aquafeed Market

Ecuador accounted for 6.8% of global aquafeed revenue in 2025.

Shrimp dominates.

Competition therefore centers on growth rate, survival, pellet stability, digestive efficiency and water-quality effects.

Feed is increasingly integrated with farm-management decisions rather than treated as an isolated input.

Chile Aquafeed Market

Chile represented 5.3% of global revenue in 2025.

Atlantic salmon, coho salmon and trout drive a highly technical feed market.

Cargill operates a major salmon nutrition research center in Puerto Montt, while BioMar has deep exposure to the Chilean salmon value chain.

Premium feeds increasingly address health, growth, omega-3 composition and environmental footprint simultaneously.

Europe Aquafeed Market

Europe accounted for 16.0% of global revenue in 2025, equal to US$12.91 billion.

Norway's salmon industry is the largest high-value feed demand center, while Turkey, Greece and Spain support significant sea bass, sea bream and trout production.

The region also has the deepest regulatory and commercial push toward feed traceability and responsible raw-material sourcing.

BioMar's regenerative-wheat pilot in Spain and expansion of ASC Feed-certified production illustrate the direction.

Norway Aquafeed Market

Norway accounted for 7.8% of global revenue in 2025.

The country's salmon sector creates exceptionally high demand for protein- and lipid-dense aquafeed.

Fish-oil availability remains strategically important because salmon diets are one of the world's largest end uses for marine omega-3 ingredients.

Norway will also be an important development market for closed and semi-closed salmon farming.

Cargill introduced a specialized feed for closed salmon systems in early 2026, focusing on water quality, waste stability and micronutrition.

This represents a new feed category driven by changes in production technology rather than seafood demand alone.

Mediterranean Europe

Spain, Greece and other Mediterranean markets support sea bass and sea bream feed demand.

Disease management is particularly relevant.

BioMar's 2026 SmartCare Defence launch directly targets bacterial challenges affecting Mediterranean sea bass farming.

This makes the region an important commercial testing ground for functional feed.

North America Aquafeed Market

North America held 11.3% of global aquafeed revenue in 2025, equal to US$9.11 billion.

The market includes salmon, trout, catfish, tilapia and expanding RAS projects.

North America's volume remains well below Asia's, but higher-value feed, technology-intensive systems and a large animal-nutrition ecosystem support strong revenue per tonne.

Cargill remains one of the region's major aquafeed suppliers through its EWOS and broader aquaculture nutrition businesses. Its global aquafeed operation sold 2.07 million tonnes of feed in 2025 across 12 dedicated feed mills in eight countries.

The region's strongest opportunity lies in specialized feed for land-based and closed aquaculture systems where feed quality directly influences water-treatment cost and fish health.

Competitive Landscape

Aquafeed competition is moving away from simple manufacturing scale.

Large producers still benefit from purchasing power, distribution and local feed mills, but higher-value differentiation increasingly comes from nutritional research, raw-material flexibility, functional feeds and technical support.

Skretting, BioMar and Cargill have some of the broadest international aquafeed platforms.

ADM has a differentiated position in hatchery and early-life nutrition through Bern Aqua.

Regional manufacturers remain strong in high-volume markets because feed is costly to transport and local species requirements differ substantially.

This creates a competitive structure in which global R&D platforms coexist with local manufacturing and farmer relationships.

BioMar - Turning Formulation Flexibility into Competitive Strategy

BioMar reported 1.56 million tonnes of feed volume in 2025, an increase of 13%. Shrimp feed volume increased 31%, salmon 8% and selected species 11%. Its Chinese and Turkish joint ventures increased volume by 21%.

The company continued expanding in 2026.

Its Wuxi investment will double production capacity and extend the plant into nursery nutrition and additional high-value species.

It also launched SmartCare Defence for sea bass, introduced regenerative wheat into European formulations and expanded ASC-certified feed production across Europe and Asia.

The strategic pattern is clear: BioMar is competing through nutrition capability and flexible raw-material formulation rather than feed volume alone.

Skretting - Expanding from Feed Products into Production Solutions

Skretting supplies diets for more than 60 species of fish and shrimp globally.

Its current portfolio demonstrates how aquafeed is fragmenting into specialized products.

Lorica targets shrimp health resilience.

Optiline focuses on formulation flexibility and feed conversion.

Xpand targets shorter shrimp production cycles.

RCX and Nutra RC address recirculating systems.

Necto focuses on fish health and resilience.

This strategy reduces dependence on a single product category and positions the company around production problems rather than species alone.

Cargill - Scale Combined with Aquaculture-Specific R&D

Cargill is one of the world's largest aquafeed suppliers and operates through Cargill, Purina and EWOS brands.

Its aquaculture division focuses on salmon, tilapia and shrimp across leading markets including Norway, Chile, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ecuador, India and Mexico.

The company's current aquaculture footprint includes 12 dedicated aquafeed mills, two R&D innovation centers and 2.07 million tonnes of feed sold during 2025.

Recent product development indicates a shift toward system- and environmental-performance feeds.

Its closed-system salmon formulation in Norway and ADAPT Low Impact shrimp feed in Ecuador both address how feed affects the surrounding production environment as well as animal growth.

ADM / Bern Aqua - Building Around Hatchery Nutrition

ADM's Bern Aqua occupies a distinctive position in early life-stage aquaculture nutrition.

The business supplies specialized hatchery and nursery feeds for fish and shrimp in more than 50 countries.

In June 2026, its Olen feed mill became Belgium's first BAP-certified feed-production facility.

Early-stage nutrition remains a smaller volume category than grow-out feed, but the biological value per kilogram is considerably higher.

This gives ADM a differentiated position in an area where ingredient quality and digestibility matter more than commodity scale.

Recent 2026 Developments in the Aquafeed Market

February 2026 - BioMar Doubles Wuxi Feed Capacity

BioMar announced that its Wuxi facility in China will be expanded to two production lines during 2026, doubling capacity and enabling advanced nursery feeds and formulations for additional high-value species.

February 2026 - BioMar Launches SmartCare Defence

The company introduced a functional feed for Mediterranean sea bass designed to support fish through predictable bacterial-risk periods. The product followed more than five years of development and commercial validation.

March 2026 - BioMar Introduces Regenerative Wheat into EU Aquafeed

BioMar Iberia began a pilot with CEFETRA to incorporate regenerative-agriculture wheat into aquafeed formulations, extending sustainability programs upstream into crop production.

Early 2026 - Cargill Introduces Feed for Closed Salmon Systems

Cargill launched a specialized feed solution in Norway for salmon farming in closed systems. The formulation addresses water quality, waste stability and fish micronutrition.

June 2026 - ADM Bern Aqua Receives BAP Certification

ADM's Olen facility became Belgium's first BAP-certified feed producer, strengthening traceability and responsible production credentials in hatchery and nursery aquafeed.

July 2026 - BioMar Achieves First ASC Feed Certification in Asia

BioMar Viet-Uc in Vietnam became the company's first ASC Feed-certified Asian production facility, supporting certified shrimp and fish supply chains across the region.

Highest-Value Opportunities Through 2035

Functional Nutrition and Disease Resilience

Disease-related mortality creates one of the clearest economic reasons to pay more for feed.

Products backed by controlled challenge studies and commercial-farm validation can move aquafeed into a preventive health category.

RAS and Closed-System Feed

Land-based and semi-closed farming systems create new nutritional requirements around water stability, fecal structure and dissolved nutrient discharge.

The feed manufacturer that helps reduce filtration load can create value beyond fish growth.

Shrimp Nursery and Early-Stage Feed

Intensified shrimp farming increasingly relies on nursery phases before animals enter grow-out ponds.

This increases demand for high-quality microfeed and functional nursery diets.

Alternative Marine Lipids

Competition for fish oil between aquaculture and human nutritional supplements creates a strong market for alternative sources of EPA and DHA.

Algae-derived oils are particularly attractive where producers need to maintain the omega-3 profile of salmon or other high-value fish.

Precision Feeding

Feed products and feeding technology are increasingly connected.

Cameras, acoustic sensors, biomass estimation and automated feeders can reduce overfeeding.

Better feed data can also allow nutrition providers to recommend different diets according to growth stage and environmental conditions.

Certified Feed

ASC and BAP feed standards move responsible sourcing upstream.

Export-oriented shrimp and fish farmers can increasingly require certified feed to maintain access to premium retail and foodservice supply chains.

Procurement Priorities for Aquafeed

Evaluate Feed Cost Against Harvested Biomass

The cheapest feed can become expensive if growth slows, survival falls or feed conversion deteriorates.

Farm economics should be evaluated using total feed expenditure required to produce saleable biomass.

Match Feed to Species and Life Stage

Larvae, juveniles, grow-out fish and broodstock have different nutritional requirements.

Using one specification throughout the lifecycle can reduce performance even when basic protein levels appear adequate.

Verify Digestible Nutrient Content

Crude protein alone does not indicate how much of that protein the fish or shrimp can absorb.

Digestibility and amino-acid balance are more useful indicators of nutritional value.

Consider Water Quality

Pellet stability, digestibility and nutrient retention affect pond and RAS water quality.

Feed should therefore be evaluated against the farming system as well as the animal.

Examine Marine Ingredient Exposure

Feed manufacturers with a wider approved raw-material portfolio can respond more effectively when fishmeal or fish-oil supply tightens.

Review Functional Feed Evidence

Disease-support claims should be supported by controlled trials and commercial production data rather than ingredient marketing alone.

Evaluate Feed-Mill Certification

ASC Feed, BAP and other recognized standards can become important when the harvested seafood is entering certified export supply chains.

Strategic Outlook 2026-2035

Aquafeed will remain one of the largest input markets within commercial aquaculture, but its future value will increasingly be determined by what happens after the feed enters the water.

Basic nutrition will remain essential.

The higher-value market will focus on growth efficiency, survival, health, environmental performance and the flexibility to use different raw materials without losing biological performance.

Aquaculture production itself is projected to keep expanding, reaching around 118 million tonnes of farmed aquatic animals by 2034.

That expansion will not be supported by proportional growth in marine ingredients.

Feed manufacturers must therefore continue reducing dependence on fixed fishmeal and fish-oil inclusion while maintaining nutritional quality.

At the same time, farming systems are becoming more specialized.

Shrimp producers require increasingly sophisticated pond and disease-management nutrition.

Salmon farmers are moving into closed and recirculating systems.

Hatcheries demand highly specialized early-life feeds.

Sea bass and other marine species are adopting functional diets around known health challenges.

By 2035, aquafeed will increasingly be purchased not simply as nutrition for an aquatic animal but as a tool for controlling biological and economic performance throughout the production cycle.

Market Segmentation Summary

By species, fish accounted for 58.4% of the global aquafeed market in 2025, followed by crustaceans with 29.6%, other aquatic species with 7.9% and mollusks with 4.1%.

By ingredient, soybean and other oilseed meals accounted for 28.8%, fishmeal 22.1%, corn and other cereals 18.4%, fish oil 10.8%, while additives and other emerging ingredients represented 19.9%.

By additive, amino acids held 29.2%, followed by vitamins and minerals at 24.7%, prebiotics and probiotics at 16.8%, enzymes at 11.9%, antioxidants at 6.9%, antibiotics and medicated additives at 3.8%, and other specialty additives at 6.7%.

By feed form, pellets represented 44.3%, extruded feed 34.8%, powdered and microfeeds 12.4%, and liquid and other formats 8.5%.

By region, Asia-Pacific held 48.6% of global revenue in 2025, Latin America 16.4%, Europe 16.0%, North America 11.3%, and the Middle East & Africa 7.7%.

Key Players

The global competitive landscape includes Skretting/Nutreco, BioMar, Cargill/EWOS, ADM/Bern Aqua, Aller Aqua and De Heus, alongside major regional feed producers across China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ecuador and other large aquaculture economies.

The strongest competitive positions are increasingly associated with companies that combine local feed manufacturing with global nutrition research, raw-material flexibility, functional-feed development and on-farm technical support.

Target Audience

• Manufacturers/ Buyers
• Industry Investors/Investment Bankers
• Research Professionals
• Emerging Companies