Third F3 Challenge Centers on Carnivores

The third F3 (fish free feed) Challenge launches today with\r\nan eye on carnivorous species, which have long faced scrutiny for their\r\ndependence on fishmeal and fish oil from wild-capture fisheries.

F3 Challenge judge Michael Tlusty, associate professor of\r\nsustainability and food solutions at the University of Massachusetts Boston\r\nSchool for the Environment, told The Advocate that this new\r\nalternative feed ingredient challenge will address feeds for two dominant\r\nfarmed species consumed in North America: salmon and shrimp, products with huge\r\ninfluence on international seafood trade.

“They do really well on fishmeal,” Tlusty said of farmed\r\nsalmon and shrimp. “The micronutrients, the proteins, the types of fats – these\r\nare what fish feed on. That’s why fishmeal and fish oil have been such valuable\r\nresources. Switching to a feed that does not contain marine ingredients, the\r\nchallenge is making sure you get the right nutrient balance.” F3 Challenge-Carnivore\r\nEdition launches today and is open to any company that is the\r\nowner or licensee of a fish-free feed for a carnivorous fish in the salmon,\r\nshrimp and “other” categories (trout, halibut, sturgeon, sea bass, kampachi,\r\netc.). As with previous F3 contests, the winner will be the company to sell the\r\nmost fish-free feeds over a roughly two-year period. The inaugural challenge,\r\nwhich came with a $201,000 prize, was won by Guangdong\r\nEvergreen Feed Industry Co., Ltd.

The second F3 Challenge, which is currently ongoing, was\r\ndesigned for fish oil replacements. F3 announced in August that three companies\r\n– Mowi, the world’s largest Atlantic salmon producer, China-based Yuehai Feed\r\nGroup, and AlphaFeed – will trial the winning oil, with the results fed into\r\nF3’s Feed Innovation Network (FIN)\r\nonline database. Veramaris –\r\na joint venture between Royal DSM and Evonik – was the leader in sales with its\r\nalgae-based oil, according to the latest update provided by F3 in August. It\r\nopened its algae-based omega-3 oil production facility in Nebraska this summer.\r\nThe winner of the oils challenge will be announced at the Global Aquaculture\r\nAlliance’s GOAL\r\nconference in Chennai, India, in October.

To push the\r\naquaculture industry to step up, we are focusing on carnivores, where the\r\ngreatest level of substitution is going to have to take place.

Kevin Fitzsimmons, professor at the University of Arizona\r\nand another F3 judge, said the degree of difficulty increases with every F3\r\ncontest, because it’s a reflection on the speed that innovations are coming out\r\nof research into commercial applications. “The biggest challenge for the\r\ninnovators and feed companies to create F3 feeds for salmon will be the\r\nnutrient balance and any unforeseen side-effects. The protein and omega-3\r\ningredients surging into the markets seem to be meeting the nutrient\r\nrequirements just fine,” he said. “But in that they are not exactly the same as\r\nfishmeal and fish oil, we are aware that there could be imbalances in\r\nmicro-nutrients or an unexpected anti-nutritional factor.”

The carnivore challenge feed-sales period begins Oct. 1.\r\nTlusty said the biggest issue facing carnivore feed manufacturers is scale, and\r\nmost of the hopeful alternatives like algae, single-cell proteins and insect\r\nmeal all face the same concern. “These alternative ingredients aren’t being\r\nproduced in sufficient enough biomass,” he said. “To push the aquaculture\r\nindustry to step up, we are focusing on carnivores, where the greatest level of\r\nsubstitution is going to have to take place.” A key aim of the F3 Challenge is\r\nsimply to “create a social stir around the availability and potential” for\r\nalternatives, and to get the marketplace calling for it, said Tlusty, pointing\r\nto a recent announcement by England-based retailer Tesco as a milestone. Tesco said it was encouraging its\r\nfarmed salmon suppliers to adopt feeds containing algal oils rich with omega-3\r\nfatty acids and was updating its procurement standards. Tesco said Atlantic\r\nsalmon (Salmo salar) is its most popular species of farmed fish, and that one\r\nof its suppliers in Norway was already providing fish raised on feeds with\r\nalgal oil.

Tlusty expects big aquafeed players like Skretting, Cargill\r\nand BioMar to participate in this challenge, either as a contestant or\r\ndiscussion participant, and that there will be a variety of solutions deployed,\r\nincluding terrestrial livestock byproducts like poultry feather meal, the\r\naforementioned algae and genetically modified (GM) crops like soy and camelina\r\n– even a GM yeast product, which Chile-based salmon producer Verlasso used in\r\nits feeds before changing its formulation a few years ago, could be in play.

“As so many GM products are used in animal feeds globally\r\nand the scientific consensus is that the few side effects are grossly\r\noutweighed by their benefits, we elected to allow their use in the challenges,”\r\nsaid Fitzsimmons. “The role of GM and other biotechnologies in revolutionizing\r\nall kinds of animal feeds and other aspects of agriculture is undeniable. Our\r\nobservations have been that even the most mundane aspects of farming are\r\ninfluenced by an array of biotechnology on a daily basis. The mass culture\r\nof beneficial bacteria, algae and yeasts and enzymatic treatment of ingredients\r\nare key technologies that are driving sustainable aquafeeds.”

F3 isn’t really about innovation, Tlusty said. Instead, it’s\r\nabout “highlighting innovation at scale” because for F3 feeds to gain traction\r\nthere can’t be questions about supply. “We are looking for volume. You have to\r\nget out to market, and everything has to align and have an impact” with\r\nproducers, buyers and consumers, said Tlusty. “We’re trying to get this\r\nalignment. [F3] draws attention to it, and acts as a focal point, helping the\r\naquaculture industry shift to a better place.”

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“We also want to publicize the significant numbers of\r\nforages fishes that will be left in the ocean as alternative ingredients are\r\nused instead,” added Fitzsimmons. Winners of the three categories in the\r\nCarnivore Edition challenge will win $35,000 plus any additional amounts from\r\ncontest sponsors through fundraising or crowdfunding on the F3 Challenge\r\nwebsite. Current sponsors include the Anthropocene Institute, The Nature\r\nConservancy and Synbiobeta, among others. Winners will be announced at an\r\nindustry event in the fall of 2021.

Source : www.aquaculturealliance.org