The Next Wave of Novel Feed Adoption

Novel feed ingredients are urgently needed to sustainably meet the growing demand for animal products. In the past several decades, aquaculture has successfully reduced fish meal and fish oil inclusion rates in feed formulations. However, as global demand for fish products continues to rise,  the industry’s reliance on marine-based ingredients in aquafeed remains a key commercial challenge. Novel ingredients are a leading solution to provide reliable alternatives to marine ingredients. Previous successes innovating aquafeed formulations, combined with growing evidence that alternative ingredients can be effectively integrated, demonstrate strong potential for advancing novel feed solutions in aquaculture. In this article, we examine why aquaculture represents a leading opportunity to drive the next wave of feed innovation. 

1. Aquaculture is expanding to meet the growing demand for fish

Fish production is the fastest growing food-supply industry in the world. In the last half century, consumption of fish and seafood more than doubled on average, increasing from 9.1 to 20.6 kilograms per person, and outpaced the growth in consumption of all terrestrial animal foods combined. To meet this demand, the fish industry progressively relied on aquaculture because a majority of wild fish stocks are either maximally fished or overfished. Overfishing is the unsustainable capture of wild fish such that breeding populations are unable to recover. 

Figure 1: Historical and future fish production from wild capture fisheries and aquaculture. Adapted from the World Resources Institute (2014) with the most recent data from the FAO State of Fisheries and Aquaculture Report (2024)

Aquaculture, also called fish farming, is the production of fish and other aquatic species for human food. In 2022, fish production from aquaculture surpassed fish production from wild-capture fisheries for the first time in recorded history. Aquaculture production will need to double relative to 2010 to meet the demand for fish by 2050 (Figure 1). Consequently, the production of aquaculture feed (‘aquafeed’) will also need to expand. As investment in aquaculture expands, this growth presents a timely opportunity for novel feeds to help fill the gap in the demand for conventional feed ingredients like fish meal and fish oil as fish production expands.

2. Aquaculture needs sustainable alternatives to FMFO

Aquaculture has the potential to vastly expand, providing protein to millions of people and generating new job opportunities, but current feed formulations rely on an unpredictable supply of fish meal and fish oil. Fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) are high-protein and high-fat feed ingredients respectively, derived from wild-caught fish. While FMFO has an ideal profile to deliver high-quality nutrients to farmed fish, its continued use in aquafeed harms marine ecosystems, exacerbates food insecurity, and decreases food safety. Combined with high prices due to wild fish scarcity, FMFO is increasingly challenged as a reliable ingredient for aquafeed. 

First, FMFO sourced from wild fish stocks contributes to overfishing and harms marine ecosystems. Over 90% of wild fish stocks are either maximally fished or overfished, limiting the availability of wild-caught fish for use in aquaculture feed (Figure 2). Most fish used in FMFO are also pelagic species that are an important part of the diets of larger fish and other marine life (e.g., whales, sharks, rays). As a result, fishing these species can cause harm up the food chain. Further, an estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises, alongside hundreds of thousands of sea turtle species, are accidentally entangled in fishing gear and die as a result of industrial fishing–a phenomenon known as bycatch. Limiting aquaculture’s reliance on wild fish stocks can help to reduce these harms. 

Figure 2: States of fishing stocks around the world. Adapted from Our World in Data.

Fishing for feed also directly competes with food for people, inhibiting food security and disrupting local food cultures. Small fish used in aquafeed are often edible and important in the diets of coastal communities. Research suggests that 90% of fish in fishmeal are fit for human consumption. Converting fish into feed for aquaculture reduces the availability of affordable nutrition for people, particularly in low-income countries. In West Africa, forage fish stocks are on the verge of collapse and locals face rising food insecurity due to overfishing driven by the demand for fish meal on European salmon farms. In Asia, demand for fish meal has collapsed local forage fish stocks, leading to an increase in food insecurity and the rise of illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. 

When fish are used in aquafeed they can also introduce risks to human health. Nearly all wild-caught fish is contaminated with microplastics and heavy metals, which can accumulate in humans and cause health issues. Fish meal is a pathway for microplastics to reach humans as they travel through the food chain via aquaculture products. Reliance on wild-caught fish for feed thus poses risks not just to ocean ecosystems, but also to public health. 

Further still, the finite nature of fish stocks combined with increasing stress from climate change makes FMFO an unreliable and costly aquafeed ingredient. Volatile feed prices increase uncertainty for aquaculture producers, which can reduce food supply and increase food costs for consumers. Novel feeds could help buffer the aquaculture industry from these risks by diversifying supply to create a more resilient food system. 

3.  Aquaculture has successfully reduced FMFO use before 

In the past, the aquaculture sector has successfully decreased its reliance on FMFO, driven to find alternatives by the high prices and resource scarcity of wild-caught fish. For example, Norwegian farmed salmon feed was nearly 90% marine ingredients in the 1990s. By 2020, use in salmon feed decreased to roughly 25% overall. In part, this decrease occurred because the aquaculture industry improved its feed conversion rates (FCRs)-that is, the amount of FMFO necessary to produce farmed fish. Combined with the increased use of plant-based ingredients, like soybeans, aquaculture’s reliance on wild-caught fish for FMFO declined while productivity increased substantially in what could be considered the first wave of alternative ingredient adoption in aquaculture (Figure 3). The historical move in aquafeed formulations away from marine ingredients reflects a positive trajectory for continued innovation in the aquaculture industry. 

Figure 3: Aquaculture production and fish meal production over time. Adapted from Our World in Data.

Today, aquafeeds are composed largely of plant-based ingredients with reduced levels of FMFO. However, as aquaculture production is projected to at least double in the coming decades relative to 2010, FMFO inclusion rates will need to decline even further to reduce pressure on marine ecosystems and increase supply chain resilience. Decreasing reliance on FMFO is especially critical for farmed carnivorous fish species, like salmon, eel, and trout, which are increasingly farmed for human consumption and more reliant on marine ingredients than herbivorous fish species. But innovation in aquafeed in the past points towards a future where the industry can innovate again to further reduce stress on the environment while increasing production.  

4. Novel feed replacements can replace FMFO at high rates with limited negative effects

A key concern for replacing fishmeal is that novel ingredients will not meet the nutritional requirements of farmed fish, thus decreasing yield. While results vary by species and ingredient, numerous studies have shown that novel ingredients, like microalgae and single-cell proteins (SCPs), can replace FMFO at high rates with little to no impact on functionality. For example, microalgae can replace as much as 100% fishmeal protein in carp and 95% in shrimp and catfish. Although some species (e.g., trout, salmon, and tilapia) have lower viable replacement rates, improvements in digestibility alongside increased production to ensure that microalgae benefits from economies of scale could reduce costs and improve productivity. 

Further, the potential benefits of replacing FMFO with novel ingredients are far reaching. Novel ingredients can effectively eliminate food safety risks associated with FMFO like microplastics, allergens, and bioaccumulated toxins, like mercury. In many cases, use of novel food ingredients can also reduce environmental impacts, like emissions. For example, incorporating single-cell proteins (SCPs) into salmon meal has been found to reduce the emissions associated with salmon production. But most importantly, switching to novel feed ingredients can decrease fishing pressure by reducing the demand for forage fish. 

Overall, expanding the use of novel ingredients in aquafeed represents a crucial step toward sustainable aquaculture. As one of the fastest-growing food sectors, aquaculture offers the ideal platform for testing, scaling, and optimizing these innovations under diverse conditions. With further development and adoption, novel ingredients can help decouple aquaculture growth from marine resource depletion while maintaining productivity and profitability.

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