Plant material in Norwegian salmon feed now exceeds 70%

 

 

Marine raw materials for the first time made up less than 30% of the feed for Norwegian farmed salmon in 2013, a recent report has revealed.

 

Scientist Trine Ytrestøyl of the Nofima research firm led the work of documenting the status of utilisation of the raw materials used in feed for Norwegian aquaculture. The 2014 report includes a resource budget for Norwegian salmon production in 2013 that shows the flow of nutrients from feed raw materials to whole salmon and edible product.

 

She has received data from the three largest feed companies in Norway, with information about what ingredients are used in feed for Norwegian farmed salmon.

 

"This is an exemplary documentation of the actual use of feed resources in an industry. No other type of food production in Norway has produced such complete documentation before. It is unique that an industry is so open about its use of feed ingredients," said Ytrestøyl.

 

The report shows how the feed companies are choosing to solve the challenges of high production growth with relatively little access to fish meal and fish oil. The nutrients that farmed salmon need must be obtained from other raw materials and it is here that plant materials dominate.

 

In 1990, some 90% of the feed for Norwegian farmed salmon came from marine raw material. The corresponding figure in 2013 was 29.2%, a 15% reduction from 2010.

 

The marine raw materials comprise fish oil, fishmeal and krill meal. Some 72% of these raw materials come directly from fishery, the rest from off-cuts and by-products.

 

Of the plant raw materials, soy protein concentrate and rapeseed oil are the main ingredients. A greater proportion of the protein in feed now comes from soy protein concentrate than from fishmeal.

 

Of the pure oils in the fish feed, 19.2% come from plant oils and 10.9% from fish oil.