Data and Code: Clawson et al., The growing role of trimmings and their origins in global fishmeal production and trade

This dataset contains all code and selected data to reproduce the results and figures published in Clawson et al. 2025, "The growing role of trimmings and their origins in global fishmeal production and trade"All code and results can also be found here: https://github.com/Sustainable-Aquafeeds-Project/ARTIS_exchange_fishmealFishmeal remains a key ingredient in aquaculture feeds. While traditionally produced from whole forage fish, fishmeal is also derived from fish processing by-products, or “trimmings”. Yet there is a lack of comprehensive data on the amount of trimmings in feed, and the taxonomic composition, geographic origins, and trade patterns of trimmings-derived fishmeal, hindering sustainability assessments and policy development. Here, we use the Aquatic Resource Trade in Species database combined with a literature review to examine global fishmeal trade from 1996 to 2020, with particular focus on estimating the volume and origins of fishmeal derived from trimmings. When focusing only on finfish-derived meal, our results align with industry statistics, which indicate that more fishmeal is produced from whole fish than from trimmings. However, when including all taxonomic origins, like shrimp meal, we find a majority of fishmeal derived from trimmings rather than whole fish. Furthermore, we find that trimmings-derived fishmeal production is a major component of fishmeal production across countries in Europe and Asia. Our results indicate substantial untapped potential for expanding the use of trimmings to better support growing aquaculture demand. The enhanced transparency in fishmeal sourcing demonstrated here can support industry accountability, inform policy, and guide future efforts towards better marine resource use.