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:
- In March 2007 Monsanto and The Solae Company announced a collaboration to development of omega-3 from genetically-modified soy beans, which could speed up the availability of the healthy ingredient from new non-marine sources. Monsanto and Solae (with its majority owner DuPont) had each been independently conducting research on soy beans containing high levels of omega-3.
- Two major players in the US healthy oils market Martek and Dow AgroSciences are joining forces to develop a DHA oil from canola. It may be worthy of note that Martek also appeared ranked at number four in our Top 20 list of aquaculture patent holders in an earlier post due predominantly to their position in algae production IP for aquaculture feed.
- BASF is pursuing the goal of being one of the world’s leading companies in the field of Plant Biotechnology by the year 2010. BASF Plant Science, established in 1998, which coordinates an international research and technology platform with eight sites in Europe and North America, develops plants for more efficient agriculture, healthier nutrition and for use as renewable resources. Projects include oil plants of high value in nutritional physiology terms with an elevated level of omega-3-fatty acids.
- LIPGENE is a 5-year (2004 - 2009) sixth framework EU project involving researchers from 25 research centres across 14 EU countries. Lipgene will carry out investigations into the use of modern technology to modify the fat composition of a range of foods so that they contain less of the saturated fatty acids and more of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish oil. LIPGENE research has investigated linseed as a source of omega-3’s.
- In Australia the CSIRO through its Food Futures Flagship has developed plants that produce DHA.
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.