Tilapia is a widely cultured species native to Africa; these fish are prolific breeders and constitute an economically important fish species supplying higher-quality protein. To meet the global food demand and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG), the aquaculture industry has conceived of productive solutions with the potential for adaptability, palatability, and profitability. Tilapia may play a vital role with respect to the possibility for sustainability in the nutrition and aquaculture sectors. India contributes to the promotion of aquacultural practices through a structural framework focused on agricultural, environmental, geographical, and socio-economic factors that provide opportunities for tilapia farming. Globally, the Indian aquaculture sector is currently the second largest in terms of aquacultural production but is moving toward different species that meet SDG and facilitate international marketing opportunities. The farming of aquacultural species with innovative technology constitutes an efficient use of resources. Productive research on feeding, disease management, construction, and layout helps overcome the challenges faced in aquaculture. These focused and sustained factors of the aquaculture industry offer a latent contribution to global food security. This review reports on the state of the art, the challenges regarding tilapia aquaculture in India, and the Indian government’s schemes, missions, subsidies, projects and funding related to tilapia production.

Aquaculture of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) has been increasing, yet there have been few nutritional studies and no evaluations of alternative protein sources in diets. Solvent‐extracted, dehulled soybean meal (SBM) and expelled‐extruded soybean meal (exSBM) were fed to yellow perch to evaluate their effectiveness in replacing dietary fish meal (FM) in isonitrogenous practical feed formulations. Both soy ingredients were incorporated in graded amounts from 100 to 730 g kg⁻¹ of the diet. Feed consumption, weight gain, feed efficiency (FE) and survival were significantly affected by type of soy ingredient, concentration and the interaction of the two main effects. Consumption was significantly lower in fish fed diets containing 400, 600 and 730 g kg⁻¹ compared to fish fed diets containing lower concentrations. Weight gain was significantly lower in fish fed diets containing 600 g kg⁻¹ and FE significantly lower in fish fed diets containing 500 g kg⁻¹ compared to fish fed the control diet or lower concentrations of soy ingredients. Most fatty acid concentrations were affected by feeding exSBM compared to fish fed the control diet, but long chain fatty acids remained at relatively high concentrations. Based on feed consumption, weight gain and FE data, yellow perch are able to effectively utilize both soy ingredients in practical diets. A conservative recommendation of 300 g kg⁻¹ diet appears appropriate for growout diets.

The effect of salinity on the growth performance of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and three halophyte plants, red orache (Atriplex hortensis), okahijiki (Salsola komarovii), and minutina (Plantago coronopus), in a marine aquaponic system with biofloc was evaluated in this study. The experiment was conducted for 4 weeks, and the three treatments were 10, 15, or 20 ppt (parts per thousand). The growth performance of the shrimp and the three halophytes were affected by the salinity. Compared to the shrimp reared in 10 ppt, those reared in 15 and 20 ppt had higher final weight, weight gain rate (WGR), and specific growth rate (SGR), and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR). The results from shrimp raised in 15 ppt were 2.0 ± 0.1 g, 89.9 ± 2.2%, 2.3 ± 0.0%, and 1.5 ± 0.0, respectively, and those in 20 ppt were 2.0 ± 0.1 g, 93.9 ± 5.4%, 2.4 ± 0.1%, and 1.4 ± 0.1, respectively. On the other hand, the growth performance and nutrient content in halophyte plants decreased with the increasing salinity. In general, the three halophyte plants had better results in the 10 and 15 ppt treatments than those in 20 ppt. Therefore, the salinity of 15 ppt was suggested as the optimal condition for the integrated cultivation of whiteleg shrimp and the three halophytes in marine aquaponics. Additionally, they are compatible species for the development of marine aquaponics.

Apparent digestibility of dry matter and energy, and availability of amino acids from blood meal (BM), fish meal (FM), meat and bone meal (MBM), poultry by‐product meal (PBM), soybean meal (SBM), corn, wheat and yellow grease (YG) were determined for bluegill Lepomis macrochirus (mean weight, 57 g), and likewise, but not for BM or wheat, for largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (mean weight, 30 g). To avoid nutrient interaction from a reference diet, diets containing 98.5% (985 g kg⁻¹) of test ingredients were used, except for semi‐solid, YG which was mixed with corn to permit pelletization. Faeces were collected by a siphoning method. Apparent dry matter digestibility values ranged from 50% (corn) to 87% (BM) for bluegill and from 53% (MBM) to 76% (PBM) for largemouth bass. Apparent energy digestibility values ranged from 53% (corn) to 92% (BM) for bluegill and from 63% (MBM) to 93% (YG) for largemouth bass. Apparent digestibility of most amino acids exceeded 90% for evaluated protein sources, except for MBM which showed slightly lower values (80–90%) for both fishes. Isoleucine digestibility from BM was relatively low (82%) for bluegill. High digestibility values for SBM, PBM and BM, indicate good potential for replacing FM in diets for both fishes.

Formulated diets for animals is the primary source of nutrients in aquaponic systems that need to maintain beneficial bacteria as well as for plants. Dietary protein is one of the expensive macronutrients in fish diets, especially when fishmeal is used, and it is the source of nitrogen (N) for other biotic components. Biofloc has the potential to serve as the supplement diet for shrimp and reduce the need of expensive protein. However, it is not clear if low dietary protein will be adequate to support the three organisms (animals, plants, and bacteria) in an aquaponic system operated with biofloc technology. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of shrimp feed with different protein concentrations (30, 35, or 40%) on water quality and the growth performance of Pacific whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and three edible halophytic plants (Atriplex hortensis, Salsola komarovii, and Plantago coronopus) in biofloc-based marine aquaponics. The experiment was conducted for 12 weeks, the plants were harvested and seedlings transplanted every 4 weeks. Dietary protein content did not influence shrimp growth in the current study, indicating that feeds with lower protein concentrations can be used in biofloc-based marine aquaponic systems. During the early and mid-stages of cultivation, plants grew better when supplied diets with higher protein concentration, whereas no differences were observed for later harvests. Hence, for maximum production with mature systems or in the scenario of high concentration of nitrate, providing a higher protein concentration feed in the early stages of system start-up, and switching to a lower protein concentration feed in later stages of cultivation was recommended.