The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) is refuting the claim in the film “End of the Line” that 5 kilograms of anchovy is required to produce 1 kilogram of farmed salmon and that aquaculture is inherently inefficient in using fishmeal and fish oil in feed.
According to the U.K.-based nonprofit, global production of farmed seafood (24 million metric tons annually) is double the global harvest of the wild fish used to feed the farmed fish, also know as the feed conversion ratio (FCR). So only 0.5 metric tons of anchovy or other feed fish is required to produce 1 metric ton of farmed fish.
Farmed salmon uses mostly fishmeal and fish oil in its diet. Years ago, 3 to 4 metric tons of feed fish was required to produce 1 metric ton of salmon, acknowledged the IFFO. But technology innovations that reduce waste and increase efficiency have reduced that amount to 1.7 metric tons of feed fish, said the IFFO.
“End of the Line,” which is based on the 2004 book by Charles Clover, a former editor at London’s Daily Telegraph, made its theatrical debut on Monday, World Oceans Day. The film referenced a 5:1 FCR, and Clover has said that the figure came from Dr. Albert Tacon.
The IFFO said it has corrected errors in Tacon’s calculation, and its revised calculation will be published in a scientific journal later this year. One error was Tacon’s failure to factor in that nearly one-quarter of the raw material used to make fishmeal and fish oil is recycled trimmings (heads and guts) from fish processed for human consumption.
