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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. 

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? 

One of the key factors that has driven the long term trend of increasing per capita fish intake across the globe is that fish consumption is promoted by nutritionists as a very important component of a healthy diet. Current thinking has targeted the Omega-3 fatty acid content of fish oils as a major contributor to the healthy diet aspects of fish eating.

Farmed fish require feed with specific protein and oil components in order to grow. Traditionally, the lion’s share of this has been derived from wild stocks of ‘feed fish’. However, even a cursory appreciation of the numbers and what we know about today’s feed conversion ratios make it apparent that it will not be sustainable to overcome the fish production gap using wild caught fish to feed farmed fish. Does the pressure on feed fish stocks mean that there is a prospect that Omega-3 fatty acids will disappear from farmed fish? Does this mean that a fundamental limiter exists that will prevent us from ever bridging the fish production gap?

Significant efforts are being made now to overcome this limiter with efforts being put into developing high protein grain-based replacements for feed fish (soy, lupins, etc). Genetically engineered plants which produce essential omega-3 fish oils could offer a new way of improving people’s diets, scientists working on an EU project said at a conference on ‘Incorporating Omega 3 in the food chain’. Long-chain fatty acids called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found mainly in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring, provide protection against cardiovascular diseases, slow down mental decline in the elderly and are essential for the healthy development of a baby’s brain in the womb.

Whilst experts recommend a daily intake of 450mg of omega-3 fatty acids, most adults barely manage half that amount. Among teenagers, the figure drops to just 100mg a day, and intake in low-income families is around 50mg per day less than in other families.

There are no naturally occurring plant species that have the capacity to synthesise long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. EPA and DHA are normally made by microscopic marine algae which are then eaten by small fish, passing the fatty acids into the food chain. Research conducted as part of the Lipgene project took key genes from algae and inserted them into oil seed. The results show that the plants were able to synthesise omega-3 fatty acids in their seed oils.

These outcomes show promise that GM-enhanced plant sources may be suitable suppliers of both protein and Omega-3 oils in manufactured aquaculture feed and that a sustainable route to overcoming the fish gap is potentially feasible.

More information about the Lipgene Project is available here.

We provide more resources for identifying innovation components for significant aquaculture innovation. Some examples of relevant innovation components found from these sources may be reviewed here.