In Hawaii, seafood consumption per capita is about twice of the national average. Although Hawaii is surrounded by pristine seawater, Hawaii imports 63% seafood annually. One of the key obstacles for aquaculture development is the high cost of feed. To overcome this barrier, the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, one of five regional aquaculture centers funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, has supported several projects to locate alternative protein sources from other available resources in Hawaii. However, there were yet studies that economically assess the potential of using available local ingredients to produce feed in Hawai’i.
This study aims to assess the feasibility of manufacturing feed using existing feed mill in Hawai’i to meet current demand. First, we conducted a statewide survey on the feed demand from aquaculture and other livestock farms in Hawaii. Then, we developed a comprehensive economic model using Oceanic Institute (OI) research feed mill in Hilo, Hawai’i to estimate the cost of producing feed for tilapia and Pacific threadfin in Hawai’i. We calculated construction cost, fixed cost including annual depreciation, and variable costs. Our preliminary results indicated that feed ingredients are among the highest cost component in the total production costs. Using two scenarios of using locally and imported feed ingredients on two different fish species, we found that local feed ingredients have lower production cost but the significance depends on, among others, fish species. In this report, we will detail the challenges and findings we have encountered from survey to the economic model developed as a reference for any future similar studies.