Aquaculture has fed millions of people for thousands of years. But in 1954, farmed fish got a boost with the development of Oregon Moist Pellets, a moist, nutrition-packed pellet that replaced dry hard grains and meat-based diets previously used in fish hatcheries.
Developed by AES researchers at the OSU Seafood Lab in Astoria, these pellets packed a full complement of raw-food nutrition in an easy-to-swallow pellet. “More complete food consumption is reflected in better conversion, which in turn reduces the cost necessary to produce a pound of fish,” according to a report by the Oregon Fish Commission in praise of the new technology. “Other advantages are elimination of food grinding and diet preparation in the hatchery and the inherent food loss encountered; labor reduction in food handling, feeding, and pond cleaning; less storage space required; decrease of water pollution; and the fish produced tend to be more uniform in size.”
