Replacing fishmeal with soy in fish diets is closer to becoming a reality following recent research by Hawaii-based Kampachi Farms, which raises yellowtail, or kampachi, in the open ocean.

 Co-founder and CEO Neil Anthony Sims presented the ongoing findings from the research at the recent Aquaculture America.

The company started collaborating with the Nebraska Soybean Board and University of Nebraska-Lincoln about 10 years ago on a soy-based aquaculture diet.

"We zeroed in on what we think would be a commercially viable feed," he told IntraFish.