Feed – Skretting
MicroBalanceTM
improves the sustainability of Mediterranean farmed fish
FISH OIL AND FISHMEAL CONSUMPTION HAS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY
of fi shmeal and fi sh oil without detracting from feed performance, fi sh welfare or end product quality. The rapid expansion of fi sh and animal farming has placed increased pressure on wild fi shmeal resources in recent years. At the same time, the global population is growing at an unprecedented rate and is forecast to reach 9 billion people by 2050. The challenge is to pro- duce more seafood and this can only be accomplished by further developing the aquaculture industry in a sustain- able, effi cient and profi table manner. Skretting’s innovative MicroBalanceTM
I
these parameters. The technology in MicroBalanceTM
concept successfully functions within is the result of
several years of research at Skretting Aquaculture Research (ARC). The crucial breakthrough came when ARC researchers identifi ed alternative sources to the essential micro-nutrients found in fi shmeal. This discovery introduced a new way of thinking and enabled Skretting to choose from a wider range of raw materials to ensure more economic and sustainable fi sh feed for aquaculture. In utilising ingredients from alternative raw materials that are more abundant, farmers can offset rising fi shmeal prices, while also contributing to greater sustainability. In spring 2011, MicroBalanceTM
was implemented in Eu- 40
n providing nutritionists with signifi cantly improved fl exibility in the selection of feed raw materials, Mi- croBalanceTM
is enabling fi sh farmers in the Mediter- ranean to use diets containing vastly reduced levels
Rainbow trout now produce three times
as much fish protein and twice as much fish oil as they consume
ropean seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) feeds, including Alterna, Optiline, Optibass and Opti- bream. Since then, Skretting has been able to signifi cantly reduce the amount of fi shmeal and fi sh oil in its diet formulations. As a result, and despite these species being highly carnivorous, they have become net fi sh protein and fi sh oil producers. For example, market-size freshwater rainbow trout now produce three times as much fi sh protein and twice as much fi sh oil as they consume from wild capture sources. ‘Nowadays, high-quality feed concepts extend beyond food safety and high nutritional value. Large supermarket chains care about supplier issues such as social responsi- bility and sustainability too. This contribution – to reduce the impact of our activity over marine resources – is very good news for the aquaculture industry,’ says Mari Angel Palacios, Quality Manager of Piszolla, the largest trout producer in Spain.
The aquaculture
industry has tradition- ally used the Fish Feed
Dependency Ratio (FFDR) to calculate how many kilo-
grammes of wild fi sh are needed to produce
www.fishfarmer-magazine.com
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