ADM launched an algae-based product DHA Natur for fish diets last year, and has “robust plans in 2017” for the product, said spokeswoman Jackie Anderson, who declined to give more details.
Bunge, working with TerraVia Holdings Ltd, started using algae to convert sugar into an Omega-3 ingredient for fish diets last year.
The company has capacity in Brazil to annually produce tens of thousands of tonnes of their product, AlgaPrime, said Walt Rakitsky, TerraVia’s senior vice-president of emerging business.
Bunge and TerraVia are supplying the product to BioMar Group, the third-largest fish feed supplier.
The fish oil alternatives come with their own challenges. Algae oil is expensive to produce, and the canola and soybean varieties used to make oils rich in Omega-3s are genetically modified. That can be a sensitive issue, for example in Norway, which is the world’s biggest salmon producer and has tough restrictions on genetically modified foods.
Swimming in Revenue
The $166 billion aquaculture industry accounts for half the world’s fish, and sales are expected to expand up to 5 percent annually for at least the next three years, according to Rabobank analyst Gorjan Nikolik.
With high prices and concerns about sustaining fisheries, fish farms have for years reduced use of oil and protein-rich meal in diets, risking production of less-healthy fish, said Tom Frese, president of consultancy AquaSol.
That’s why the development of fish oil substitutes is critical, said Vidar Gundersen, BioMar’s global sustainability director. “The timing now is of the essence,” he said.
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