| Skretting has come out with salmon feeds that can be formulated
completely free of fishmeal, while delivering equal performance in terms
of fish growth and health, it claims.
The Nutreco-owned fish feed company claims the "breakthrough
products", called MicroBalance FLX, are backed up by evidence from its
Aquaculture Research Centre (ARC). "Feeding the future is Nutreco's mission, and this breakthrough in
raw material flexibility gives us the ability to provide a significant
contribution to feeding the global population that is expected to reach 9
billion by 2050," said Jose Villalon, corporate sustainability director
for Nutreco. "Through our research, we have detailed evidence proving salmonids
can be fed with feeds that are devoid of fishmeal. This is very
important knowledge that we will utilize to give us even more
flexibility with regards to the composition of our commercial feeds,"
said Leo Nankervis, team leader of salmonid nutrition at Skretting ARC. "There is a finite amount of fishmeal available in the market.
Therefore, in order for aquaculture to expand to offer a genuinely
viable solution to the challenge of feeding a fast growing global
population, it is essential that the fishmeal resource is used in the
most efficient ways possible. Fishmeal availability will not limit the
further expansion of the salmon farming industry," said Nankervis. Although Skretting now has the knowledge and capability to produce
fishmeal-free feeds, it does not mean that fishmeal will be eliminated
from the products, said Skretting's global product manager of grower
feeds, Sissel Susort. "The fact that we can do it is the key point. We will work with our
customers when and if they decide to use MicroBalance FLX feeds. In
Europe, market acceptance to use animal protein is low, so we need to
have good vegetable alternatives available," said Susort. The arrival of MicroBalance FLX does not bring an end to Skretting's MicroBalance research. "MicroBalance FLX is a major breakthrough in terms of salmon
nutrition that will definitely help us to accelerate the development of
MicroBalance for other species that are currently more dependent on
fishmeal, for example shrimp, sea bass, turbot and other marine fish,"
said Alex Obach, managing director at Skretting ARC. "But this is not the end of the road. We are on a mission. Becoming
independent of fishmeal gives us the opportunity to explore alternative
and novel raw materials that perhaps are not even considered in the
spectrum of possibilities today. Can we produce fish in the future using
resources without being in competition with foods for human
consumption? We are curious, and we will keep searching," he said. 
Source: Undercurrent News
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