Industry Leaders Commit to Trial Winning Oil, Third Quarter Results In

DSM-Evonik joint venture Veramaris leads in contest sales

 

Aug. 6, 2019—The world’s largest Atlantic salmon producer, Norway-based Mowi, has committed to test the winning formula from the F3 Fish Oil Challenge, along with China-based Yuehai Feed Group and AlphaFeed.

The free trial for the F3 Challenge winner will be conducted in one of Mowi’s open-environment research facilities either in Norway or Scotland and will include Mowi’s low and zero fish-oil formulations with the winning fish-oil replacement. Mowi’s salmon feeds are GMO and land-animal product free, complying with both EU regulations and customer demand. Currently, the inclusion of marine ingredients in their conventional diets is less than 10 percent of fishmeal and around the same low inclusion of fish oil.

“At Mowi we are committed to sustainability and are always looking for more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of producing feed for our salmon,” said Laura Martinez Rubio, research, development & technical manager at Mowi Feed. “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.”

“We are delighted that these big companies have committed to testing the winning fish-free oil,” said Kevin Fitzsimmons, F3 Challenge judge and professor at the University of Arizona. “This is an important step forward toward the large-scale adoption and use of alternatives to wild-caught fish in aquaculture feed.”

The companies will provide the results of their trials through the F3 Feed Innovation Network (FIN).

As of the third sales reporting period, the four competitors have collectively sold 472,359 kilograms of F3 oil during the contest. Veramaris remains in the lead with the most F3 oil sold.

The four global competitors include China-based Guangdong Evergreen Feed Industry Co. Ltd., China-based Shen Zhen Alpha Feed Co. Ltd., Netherlands-based Veramaris and the UK/U.S.-based team Aquaculture Innovation/Qualitas Health.

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.

Each year, an estimated 16 million metric tons of wild fish are caught exclusively for use in fish oil and fishmeal. Wild-caught fish are currently the major source of Omega-3 known and contains DHA, EPA and ARA—essential fatty acids needed to grow farmed-raised fish. 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 University of Arizona, University of Massachusetts Boston, Synbiobeta, Anthropocene Institute, Dawson Family Fund, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, The Campbell Foundation, Tides Foundation and The National Renderers Association are sponsors of the crowdfunded prize. 

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The goal of the F3 Fish Oil Challenge is to accelerate the availability of cost-competitive, viable alternatives to fish oil that provide the essential nutritional components for fish that at the same time help reduce demand for wild-caught fish feed and enhance food security. The contest is sponsored by Future of Fish Feed (F3), a collaborative effort between NGOs, researchers, and private partnerships to accelerate and support the scaling of innovative, alternative aquaculture feed ingredients. To learn more, visit: http://www.f3challenge.org/.

 

F3 Challenge media contact:

Annie Reisewitz
858.230.1419 (office)
858.228.0526 (cell)
​annie@strategicoceansolutions.com