Although defatted soybean meal is the most common, low-cost food for fish, it is not the natural diet for them because it lacks key nutritional compounds. Besides plankton, the natural food for fish is algae that an ongoing project is trying to produce outside of a natural environment. Through the project entitled, “Development of Technology for Efficient Microalgae Production: Photobioreactor Design, Feed and High-value Metabolites,” phycologist and chemist professor Fabian Dayrit led the development of a simple, reliable, and efficient photobioreactor (PBR) design to maximize the yield and optimize culture conditions for the microalgae production of spirulina.

Cultured ‘green food’ developed for fish growers. (2018, August 2). The Manila Times, p. B6.