Future goals for sustainable fish feed create market opportunities

Two Norwegian ministries have commissioned a report fra an expert group, chaired by The Research Council. Last week the groupt proposed specific goals for how future feed production can support the goals Norway has set for climate, environment, food production, employment and value creation. As aquaculture is Norway’s second largest export industry, changes in this input factor will have great impact on the aquaculture industry.

Impacts costs and sustainability

Feed is a vital part of the aquaculture value chain. Feed is by far the largest contributor to both emissions and costs in the salmon industry, accounting for 80 percent of the emissions per unit of salmon, and close to half of the production costs.

A major challenge is that there is a global lack of sufficient marine raw material to fulfill the demand for fish feed. Access to enough sustainable raw materials for feed is expected to become one of the greatest barriers to salmon aquaculture growth. Also, to comply with sustainability goals in the aquaculture industry, new and innovative feed production is critical to ensure both reduced emissions and lower costs.

In addition to change in the raw material being used and feed recipes, the report points on how also feeding systems can be optimized through new technology to ensure that all fish in the pens are fed optimally and thus increase the growth rate. This will both increase profits, fish health and reduce biological waste.

Collaboration needed

The Norwegian Government has defined sustainable feed as a social mission, and cooperates closely with experts from the aquaculture industry, R&D environments and interest organisations, who now toghether will proceed their effort towards a more sustainable fish feed industry. The report underlines that the future calls for “all hands on deck”, and that expertise also from industries outside the aquaculture idustry is needed to create the best solutions.

- Innovation alone is not enough if we want to succeed un reaching the defined goals. We need a broad collaboration between both public regulators and the industry. But also cooperation with other industries is neccecary to achieve the goal for a more sustainable feed production in the years to come, states the report.

Close cooperation with bioidustry is one collaboration arena. But the Norwegian seafood cluster NCE Seafood Innovation in Bergen, who works closely with their members, is underlining how digitalization also is an important tool in developing new ways of producing proteins from the sea.  

- Increased digitalization can have a significant impact on fish health and welfare, says Managing Director at NCE Seafood Innovation, Trude Jansen Hagland. She empazises that knowledge sharing in the industry is vital to develop new ways of working, and is a central factor behind the success of salmon farming in Norway,

You can read the report in full here.