Maggots (fly larvae) are being promoted as an alternative protein source for livestock and farmed fish. Those nurturing maggots claim they could provide an alternative to controversial PAP (processed animal protein), the reintroduction of which is currently being debated across the EU. Experts have also posited that maggots could eventually reduce global reliance on the multi-billion dollar fishmeal industry.

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The interest in maggots as feed stems from South Africa, where a pair of environmentalist brothers have established a small pilot plant near Stellenbosch. The two said they plan to scale-up their project next year; the new plant will convert millions of the grubs into one and half tons of a rich protein powder per day to supplement monogastric livestock and fish diets.

Agriprotein Technologies touts its “protein-based feed” (derived from maggots) as a sustainable source of protein, not reliant on intensive water or land use or declining fish stocks. The fishmeal industry predominantly catches small pelagic fish, which are processed into nutritious powder; the industry has been criticised as having adverse impacts on marine life.

Soya and other crops are also currently used to feed livestock, a process which has also prompted criticism over competition with humans. The brothers behind the new maggot protein claim their method is a form of “nutrient recycling”: using organic waste to create protein. Maggots are fed on waste nutrient sources; Agriprotein said it is taking something which would otherwise be useless and using it to create a valuable product.

In the wild, larvae are a natural food for both chickens and fish. Furthermore, maggots’ natural efficiency is touted as a boon; a single female fly will lay 750 eggs in under a week, which will hatch into larvae which each grow to 400 times their original weight in a few days.

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