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Aquamax is a research program funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme.

Over 30 organisations are participating in the program including public sector research institutions, universities, industry associations and companies.

The strategic goal of Aquamax is to replace as much as possible of the fish meal and fish oil currently used in fish feeds.

The project is seeking sustainable, alternative feed resources that are as free of undesirable contaminants as possible, consistent with maximising the growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, health and welfare of the farmed fish.

This objective is being pursued while maximising the health-promoting properties, safety, quality and acceptability of the final product to the consumer. 

The work of the project is spread over 4 interrelated programs:

• Alternatives to fish meal and fish oil
• Health benefits of fish consumption
• Safety of fish farmed
• Consumer perception of farmed fish

As is usually the case with European Union supported programs, the website is full of interesting resources and presentations.

The Aquamax website may be accessed through this web link. 

There is mounting evidence that the soaring demand for fish (based on its widely promoted health giving nutritional qualities) will be subject to significant competition.

Growth in the aquaculture industry has been buoyant due the challenges faced by wild capture fisheries. This however does not mean that the backers of aquaculture companies will have a free ride to future prosperity or the license to print money - any time soon.

We have canvassed the subject of Omega-3 long chain fatty acids on this site through several posts.

The health-giving properties of fish oils have not gone unnoticed. The fact that there has been a sustained growth in demand for fish has been recognised by food producers from other sectors.

Due to several factors, massive budgets are being directed at the ability to produce Omega-3 long chain fatty acids from non-fish sources:

This level of activity is interesting in the world of aquaculture for two reasons:

• Firstly, the widely appreciated health giving properties of consuming oily fish is a major driver of the increasing demand for fish in human nutrition.
• Secondly, the major cost component in the aquaculture value chain is feed. The critical components of aquaculture feed include protein and suitable oils. Traditionally this has been sourced from fishmeal, but this is now unsustainable.

A recent posting by Michelle on this website referred to a paper (sustainability-of-fishmeal-and-oil) that provided information on the sustainability of fish meal and fish oil in aquaculture diets.

A recent article in a recent reLAKSation newsletter contributes to this debate. Some of the relevant, interesting parts of the article are paraphrased below (the full article can be seen on the Callander McDowell website here and by following the prompts to reLAKSation No. 350).

Various environmental groups are targeting aquaculture for its use of fish meal and, in their view, the consequential depletion of wild fish stocks. Detractors of aquaculture persist with arguments many of which have no basis in either fact or logic; it’s frequently a case of “I’ve made up my mind so don’t confuse me with the facts”.

In fact, the use of fish meal in manufactured aquaculture diets simply represents a different and, importantly, a more efficient presentation of the natural food of fish. The logic behind the increasing pressure on feed manufacturers to substitute the fishmeal content of aquaculture feeds (or a large part of it) with vegetable proteins has some merit, but only within reasonable limits.

The use of fishmeal in fish feeds has dramatically increased in recent years; however, around one-third of world fishmeal production is used outside aquaculture in terrestrial animal feed destined for pigs and poultry.

So, to put this into context, environmental groups are urging the replacement of fishmeal with vegetable protein, while terrestrial animals that naturally eat vegetable protein, are fed with marine protein from fishmeal. Hmmm. Some dodgy logic there.

Surely, the first step to reduce the fishing pressure on fish destined for fishmeal production should be that fishmeal should be removed from land animal feeds and fed to farmed fish, which, by the way, utilise the protein far more efficiently. The issue of substituting some of the fishmeal in aquaculture diets can then be properly considered.

Perversely, rather than reducing the terrestrial demand for fishmeal, it seems that (in the EC) there is actually pressure to increase it. The reLAKSation newsletter reports that “a team of veterinary experts from the European Commission have approved a project reintroducing fishmeal in the feed of young ruminant animals such as calves and lambs”.

One reason for doing this is that meat, milk and eggs from farm animals fed fishmeal are beneficial for human health. The obvious question is why they wouldn’t promote the increased consumption of oil rich farmed fish instead? 

The global aquaculture industry currently accounts for over 45% of all seafood consumed.

That figure has been projected to increase to 75% over the next 20 years. While the industry is truly on a dynamic growth path, it is nonetheless dangerously dependent upon fishmeal as a key protein constituent in fish and shrimp diets.

The aquaculture industry is not alone however, as cattle, poultry, pig and other intensive forms of animal production use fishmeal as a primary protein source in their diets. Currently ten countries produce 80% of all world fishmeal supply, and three of those suppliers are net importers of product, thereby reducing supply, not increasing it. These include the U.S. and China.

Fishmeal production reached heights of 4.4 million tonnes in 2002 and was consistently above 3.3 million tonnes between 2001 and 2005. A report providing the details may be reviewed here.

Production of fishmeal also decreased 20% in 2006, and prices rose from USD $750/metric tonne to over USD $1400/metric tonne. In 2007 it failed to exceed 2000 tonnes. Is this just a blip or is the downturn in production aligned with other trends? U.S. growers experienced four feed price increases within a 16 month period.

A staggering 25% of all world fish production goes into the low value added pursuits of fishmeal and fish oil production!

Due to the fact that the regions responsible for the majority of world supply are isolated geographically from major markets, every tonne of fishmeal travels an average of 5000 km before it reaches the end user. Obviously, particularly in the face of the present oil crisis, this has enormous economic implications for global intensive animal protein production markets.

As far as aquaculture is concerned, clearly the future demand for fishmeal is on a rapidly increasing track. With world fish stocks, and baitfish stocks in particular, in decline, the stage is set for a bottleneck that could severely limit industry growth.

In order to head off such a bottleneck, the global aquaculture industry must eliminate its dependence upon fishmeal (and fish oil) and develop a portfolio of sustainable dietary protein sources.

The very industry that has been called upon to bridge the gap between demand and wild supply is now dependent upon wild stocks of fish for the vast majority of its protein source .

In order to expand and succeed in the future, the industry must develop its independence from fishmeal and wild sources of feed.

As a theme, the Finfish blog has carried an array of postings about using ‘lower forms’ of life as dietary inputs. Diet ingredients must be produced from sustainable sources to allow the unhindered expansion of global seafood production.

What are other ways in which this problem might be countered? Lets think outside the square on this one!

Key criteria to consider as innovation drivers are as follows:

• maximise capacity for local production
• maximise capacity to meet volume requirements
• minimise cost of production
• maximise ease of handling feed input
• minimise flavour impact

What are the other criteria we must include?

South Korea produces an annual 40,000 tonnes of citrus peel as a by-product from fruit processing. Together with the dead fish waste from aquaculture production, the citrus peel can provide a valuable fish feed according to scientists.

The compounds found in citrus peel, known as polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs), are antioxidants that belong to a group of plant chemicals called flavonoids. Flavonoids also exist in a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as tea and red wine.