Companies participating in the challenge.
Four companies participate in 'fish-free' fish oil challenge
UNITED STATES
Friday, January 18, 2019, 23:00 (GMT + 9)
Four companies have officially joined the “F3 Fish Oil Challenge”, to replace the fish in fish oil.
This challenge is an incentive prize designed to help accelerate commercial-scale ingredients for aquaculture feed that meet the nutritional requirements of fish to produce healthy seafood for consumers without utilizing wild-caught fish.
The global competitor who sells the most “fish-free” fish oil for aquaculture that meets the challenge criteria by August 31, will win a prize of USD 100,000.
The competitor companies are Guangdong Evergreen Feed Industry Co. Ltd. and Shen Zhen Alpha Feed Co. Ltd., both from China, Veramaris from the Netherlands and Aquaculture Innovation/Qualitas Health, a team based in the US and UK.
A total of 77,535 kilograms of F3 oil was sold by the contestants during the first sales period, which ran from October 1 to December 31, 2018. Veramaris is currently the company that sold the most oil.
“We are excited by the global reach of the contestants in the F3 fish oil race,” said Kevin Fitzsimmons, F3 Challenge judge and professor at the University of Arizona. “These top-notch competitors will help move the industry toward more sustainable ingredients in fish feed,” he added.
Each year, an estimated 16 million metric tonnes 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 fish to feed the growing world population, which could result in major supply chain disruptions in the multi-billion dollar aquaculture industry.
Microalgae can be a valuable source of omega-3 oils. © Algared
The contest sponsors are 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..
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
|