Fish Oil – benefits for farmed fish as well as the consumer.

There are a whole host of scientific publications on the benefits of fish oil to human physiology, with a range of level of effects and outcomes cited for a wide variety of conditions. We also know that although some freshwater fish species are capable of “bioconverting” shorter chain fatty acids into the longer chain EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids, they are essential nutrients for marine fish species, including salmon. There is therefore a strict nutritional need to provide these materials into salmon and other feeds. With fish oil only being the available source that currently meets the volume requirement, the drawdown is reflected in the IFFO annual statistics which indicated that in 2015 73% of global fish oil apparent usage (total 916,000 tonnes) was directed to aquaculture, and 58% of that fraction was taken by salmonid feed. Scientists discussed the supply of fishmeal and fish oil into aquafeeds to meet the demand of a developing industry, and concluded that although there is pressure on both materials it is that for fish oil which drives the pressure on raw material availability.

We are seeing in some instances, and especially with farmed Atlantic salmon, that the omega-3 content of the fillets reaching the market is reducing as a consequence of lowering inclusion rates in feed. That is for salmon produced on standard feeds, and it does leave the pathway open to those producers who may wish to diversify into premium products with higher EPA and DHA concentrations.