Multiple companies – including Mowi – have committed to testing the feed formula that wins the latest F3 Fish Oil Challenge, according to a release by the challenge organizers.
The Future of Fish Feed contest seeks to promote fish-free fish oil solutions, with the winner getting both a monetary reward and notoriety. Mowi has agreed to trial the winning feed in its open-environment research facilities in either Norway or Scotland, according to Laura Martinez Rubio, research, development and technical manager at Mowi Feed.
“At Mowi, we are committed to sustainability and are always looking for more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of producing feed for our salmon,” Rubio said. “It is also important that our salmon gets the healthiest diet possible. At Mowi we want to be at the forefront, and we are therefore excited about testing the winning non-fish oil.”
This isn’t the first time that companies have committed to trying out the winning feed mix. Last year, several companies – including Japan-based Dainichi, China’s Alpha Feed, and Guangdon Yuehai Feed Group – trialed the winning feed.
“Great progress has been made since the F3 Challenge competition began,” a spokesperson for the challenge told SeafoodSource. “There's greater overall industry awareness about all the innovators developing alternative aquafeed ingredients. The F3 has brought the big and small companies around the world together with farmers, innovators and others working in the aquafeed sector through the contests and at our meetings to further accelerate the progress toward fish-free feeds.”
At this stage in the competition, four competitors remain in the third quarter of the competition: China-based Guangdong Evergreen Feed Industry Co., China-based Shen Zhen Alpha Feed Co., Netherlands-based Veramaris, and the U.K./U.S.-based Aquaculture Innovation/Qualitas Health. The competitors have collectively sold 472,359 kilograms of “F3 oil” during the contest, according to the challenge.
So far, Veramaris is in the lead with the most oil sold. The company recently opened a USD 200 million (EUR 178.5 million) facility in Blair, Nebraska, U.S.A. to ramp up to commercial-scale production of its algae-based aquaculture feed.
The goal of the F3 Challenge remains the same as it was when it started in 2015: Fostering growth in the fish-free feed industry in order to divest aquaculture from its use of wild-caught feed sources.
“Aquaculture, or fish farming, supplies one of the world’s most efficient sources of animal protein. However, the industry is being held back by the availability of one key ingredient: fish oil, which provides important omega fatty acids necessary for animal and human nutrition,” a release from the challenge organizers states. “Without alternative marine animal-free oil sources, the world’s oceans will not be able to keep up with the demand for seafood to feed the growing world population, which could result in major supply chain disruptions in the multi-billion-dollar aquaculture industry as well as ecological collapse.”
The F3 challenge has brought additional awareness to the issue, and fostered competition to accelerate the progress of fish-free fish oils.
“Everyone working together on the issue is bringing greater collaboration within the industry, which we feel will keep the momentum going,” the spokesperson said.
They added that the organization will be announcing its next challenge some time in early September.
Photo by Joshua Mootoo/Shutterstock
