The annual global production of fishmeal and fish oil is currently around five million tonnes of meal and one million tonnes of oil (Figure 1), except in years when the fishing in the South Pacific is disrupted by the warm waters of an El Niňo, most recently in 2010. Around 22 million tonnes of raw material is used, of which approximately 75 percent comes from whole fish and 25 percent from by-products of processing fish for human consumption (IFFO estimates).

1. September | October 2012
Fishmeal & fish oil and its role in sustainable
aquaculture
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The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

2. FEATURE
Fishmeal & fish oil
and its role in sustainable
aquaculture
by Dr Andrew Jackson, Technical Director, IFFO, UK
T
he annual global production of since most of the underlying fisheries are now ents – the so-called fishmeal trap. It is certainly
fishmeal and fish oil is currently being well managed, using the precautionary true that during the 1990s and early 2000s
around five million tonnes of meal principle with tightly set and monitored quo- as aquaculture grew, it used more and more
and one million tonnes of oil tas. Also increasingly, markets are being found fishmeal, mostly by taking volumes that in the
(Figure 1), except in years when the fishing for at least a proportion of the catches to go past had gone into pig and poultry feeds.
in the South Pacific is disrupted by the warm for direct human consumption. However, since around 2005 aquaculture
waters of an El Niňo, most recently in 2010. In addition there is concern that some of requiring feed has continued its strong annual
Around 22 million tonnes of raw material the mixed tropical trawl fisheries are not being growth of around seven percent but the
is used, of which approximately 75 percent well managed and that catches will therefore volumes of fishmeal used in aquaculture have
comes from whole fish and 25 percent from decrease in the coming years as these become remained steady at around 3.2 million tonnes
by-products of processing fish for human severely depleted. The prospects for increas- and those of fish oil have even reduced
consumption (IFFO estimates). ing volumes of fisheries by-products do how- to around 600,000 tonnes. (Figure 2). This
ever look better as fishing becomes concen- has led the FAO to state in their recently
The majority of the whole fish used are trated at fewer landing sites and aquacultural released report on the State of Fisheries and
small pelagic fish such as anchovy, menhaden, production also becomes more concentrated. Aquaculture (FAO 2012): “Although the dis-
sardines and sandeels for which there are lim- This will be further encouraged by the rising cussion on the availability and use of aquafeed
ited markets for direct human consumption. In price of fishmeal and stricter laws against the ingredients often focuses on fishmeal and
addition to the estimated 11.5 million tonnes dumping of waste material. So on balance the fish-oil resource, considering the past trends
of small pelagic fish used in fishmeal there is production of both fishmeal and fish oil over and current predictions, the sustainability of
also an estimated five million tonnes of other the next few years is likely to remain about the aquaculture sector will probably be closely
fish, the majority from mixed tropical trawl where it is or possibly decrease slightly, which linked with the sustained supply of terrestrial
fisheries in East Asia. will certainly happen in El Niño years. animal and plant proteins, oils and carbohy-
The lack of growth in the production of drates for aquafeeds.”
Going forward marine ingredients has led some to speculate
The prospects for increasing the produc- that the growth of aquaculture would in turn Becoming a strategic ingredient
tion of fishmeal and fish oil are very limited, be limited by the shortage of such key ingredi- This growth in aquaculture production,
Figure 1. The Global Production of fishmeal and fish oil from Figure 2. The global production of fed aquaculture
1964-2011 (IFFO data) and the use in the associated diets of fishmeal and
fish oil, millions of tonnes (FAO FishStat data and
IFFO data and estimates)
18 | InternatIOnal AquAFeed | September-October 2012

3. FEATURE
Aqua News ties has risen steeply in hydrogenated margarines to being almost
Best-selling authors of Megatrends unveiled as
recent years and it is exclusively used in aquaculture. Within aqua-
should be limited to two to three Vietnam. Vietnam is the third largest important to compare culture by far the biggest user was in salmon
typewritten pages plus references. aquaculture-producing country guest speakers at the World Nutrition Forum
the price of fishmeal feed, indeed it reached the point, in around
I
ch A one-page CV of the candidate in the world. Our Novus Aqua with the alternatives.
nternational best-selling author, over 60 percent of BIOMIN has
2002, when For um 2012, the world’s This w
ed should be attached to the proposal. Research Center is integrally con- The most commonly fish oil production was being fed to salmon. of
John Naisbitt, and the Director announced the attendance guest
or Applicant must be enrolled in a nected to the aqua industry and will used alternative Naisbitt China Institute Doris and John Naisbitt, authors
of the to fish- The reason for this very high usage in the W
an University MSc or PhD program at allow the intern to learn about and meal is that of soymeal. Naisbitt, will of international bestsellers such
in Tianjin, Doris salmon feeds was that salmon were found to John
sts the time of application. experience aquaculture in Vietnam Figure 4 shows that over perform best on diets with in excess of 30
deliver their guest speech on Day as Megatrends and Mind Set. a list
ity, The selection of the Novus intern through interactions with the Novus the last twenty years the percent fat and at the time fish oil was one of
One of the 5th World Nutrition Based on the research of the alread
on will be announced at Aquaculture research and operations teams. price ratio of fishmeal to the cheapest oils on the China Institute, John
Forum in Singapore. Naisbitt market. In addition the W
or 2013 in Nashville, TN. A digital pho- The award will include: soymeal has less than three months the finished salmon fillets a very
With increased it also gave and Doris Naisbitt are currently includ
tograph of the intern will be needed • Travel to and from Ho Chi significantly, which is high level of long chain Omega- 3 fatty acids,
until the doors open on one of working on an analysis of China’s Intern
a- for the announcement. Minh City, Vietnam • Lodging in indicative world’s most sought-after key economic, cultural and political
the of the fact specifically EPA and DHA. (Mur
on Following the selection, the four- a university student dormitory that fishmeal in the animal nutrition transformations and their evi-
events is being During the last 10 years increasing impact Julian
he week internship will be scheduled in Vietnam during the intern- reduced in less the World Nutrition on the global business landscape.
industr y, critical dence has been published on the very impor- Egg C
from June to August, 2013. The ship • $1,000 to help with areas such as grower tant role these two fatty acids play in human Gelde
by intern will work with The Novus living expenses in Vietnam feeds, but remains in health. EPA has been shown to be critical in Africa
an Aquaculture Research team on a Submit proposals by email to the more critical and the health of the cardiovascular system and The
Figure 3. The dietary inclusion of fishmeal (%) in
he current project being carried out at Lorraine Magney at Novus: Lorraine.
aquaculture feeds over the period 1995-2010 (after
less price-sensitive areas DHA in the proper functioning of the nervous by m
als the Novus Aqua Research Center in magney@novusint.com
Tacon et al 2011 ) of hatchery and brood- system, most notably brain function. resen
Professor Simon Davies stock feeds. Fishmeal is This growing awareness within the medical from
therefore becoming less profession and the general public has led to the flo
formance, increasing financial returns. total amount of of was for the
whilst not increasing the how busy the stand a commodity and more of a strategic many governments producing recommended on an
Orego-Stim® not only improves the three days of the show. We are in places where its unique daily intakes for these fatty acids and compa-
fishmeal used, is coming through the partial ingredient used Balan
he replacement of fishmeal in the diets of almost nutritional properties can give the best results nies launching a large number of health sup-
functioning of the gut, but is renowned sure that Orego-Stim is going to Produ
all species (Tacon et al 2011, Figure 3). This and where price is less critical.
for other interesting properties. play a key role in maximising per- plements, including pharmaceutical products, Pro
nt drive to replace fishmeal is being driven by
William Stewart, Regional Sales formance in all aspects of animal with concentrated EPA. be re
ed the rise in the price of fishmeal and improving Fish ’ oil and its fatty acids
Manager for Nor th Africa, said: production in the region. The importance placed on EPA and DHA Aqua
of nutritional Orego-Stim but also by concern
‘The launch of knowledge, in As has been well documented, during the in the human diet has had a number of event
to Algeria has been fluctuating supply due to El Niño, :period 1985-2005 fish oil usage moved from profound effects on the fish oil market. Firstly
about the a huge success More inforMation www
er- etc. Of course the with sales@meriden-ah.com
and we were overwhelmed price of all commodi- being almost exclusively used to produce over the last ten years a significant market has
Providing proficient tools to achieve cost-effective
and sustainable aquaculture practices
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September-October 2012 | InternatIOnal AquAFeed | 19
September-October 2012 | InternatI

4. FEATURE
developed for the sale of crude fish oil for its vegetable sources and this trend seems standard. However, whilst this has been
refinement and inclusion into capsules etc. likely to continue. adopted by a growing number of fisheries
This has grown from almost nothing, to As salmon are poor converters of short- which can be eco-labelled at the point of sale,
the point where today around 25 percent chained omega-3 fatty acids to long-chain there are currently no substantial volumes of
of the world’s production of crude fish oil is fatty acids the fatty acid profile of the finished whole-fish from MSC certified fisheries being
sold to this market. This has occurred at a salmon fillet is very much a reflection of the made available to fishmeal plants.
time when the demand for salmon feed has fatty acid profile in the feed. The result is that Back in 2008 IFFO became aware that
gone from 1.8 million tonnes to nearly three the EPA and DHA content of farmed salmon the fishmeal and fish oil industry needed an
million tonnes. The other critical factor is that is decreasing and the omega-6 content is independently set, third-party audited stand-
to obtain fish oil of the right quality (freshness, increasing. ard, which could be used by a factory to
lack of oxidation products and levels of EPA This trend seems set to continue in the demonstrate the responsible sourcing of raw
and DHA) the nutraceutical market pays a years to come. It seems likely that the salmon material and the responsible manufacture of
premium of 25-30 percent over that for feed market will differentiate into ‘high EPA and marine ingredients. IFFO convened a multi-
oil (current price for feed-grade fish oil is DHA’ salmon demanding a price premium stakeholder task force including feed produc-
approximately $1,800/tonne). and regular salmon, which, while still contain- ers, fish farmers, fish processors, retailers and
In order to increase the production of ing some EPA and DHA will have levels well environmental NGOs who over the next 18
salmon feed in-line with the market (as well below that found in wild salmon. months complied the standard which was
launched late 2009.
The IFFO RS standard has been quickly
adopted by the industry and the point has
now been reached where over one third of
the world production comes from certified
factories. The standard requires that any
whole fish must come from fisheries that
are managed according to the FAO Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The stand-
ard also demands that the factory can demon-
strate good manufacturing practice including
full traceability from intake to finished product.
There are now around 100 certified facto-
Figure 4. The ratio of the price of Peruvian fishmeal and Brazilian soymeal ries in nine different countries producing IFFO
based on weekly prices for the period 1993-2012 and the calculated trend line RS fishmeal and fish oil. Many of the world’s
(IFFO data) major feed fisheries have been approved for
use, although some have yet to produce suf-
ficient evidence to convince the auditors. Full
as trying to minimise any price effect) feed Is it sustainable? details of certified plants and approved raw
producers have been increasingly substitut- One of the most often asked questions materials can be found on the IFFO web site,
ing fish oil with vegetable oil. The vegetable about fishmeal and fish oil is whether or www.iffo.net .
oil of choice is rapeseed (or canola) oil, not the practice is sustainable. This is a huge A continuing area of concern is Asia
which, while not having any EPA or DHA, topic for discussion and one that is not easily where, as discussed earlier, there are consid-
does at least have short-chain omega 3 fatty covered in the last section of a short article. erable volumes of fishmeal produced from
acids and fewer omega-6 fatty acids than To answer the question one has to go back trawled mixed species. IFFO is working with
most other commonly available vegetable and look at the source of the raw material and a number of different organisations includ-
oils such as soya oil. The point has now look at the matter, fishery by fishery. The most ing the FAO and the Sustainable Fisheries
been reached where over 50 percent of widely accepted measure of sustainability for Partnership to investigate how to bring about
the added oil in salmon diets comes from a fishery is the Marine Stewardship Council’s fisheries improvement in this critical area. Asia
20 | InternatIOnal AquAFeed | September-October 2012

5. FEATURE
stages of the life-cycle when optimum per-
formance is required.
"Fishmeal and fish oil The growing importance of EPA and DHA
in human health will ensure that there is a
production is expected to strong demand for fish oil, either for direct
remain around current levels, human consumption or via farmed fish, such
as salmon.
but this is unlikely to limit There is a growing need for fish feed
producers and farmers to demonstrate that
the growth of aquaculture all the raw materials in their feeds are being
which will continue to have responsibly sourced. This is best achieved by
using an internationally recognised certification
reducing inclusion levels of standard. Increasing volumes of certified marine
ingredients are now coming onto the market
marine ingredients in the which will allow fish farmers to demonstrate
INFORMATION FOR ADVERTISERS
diets of most farmed fish" their commitment to responsible aquaculture. With circulation of the printed magazine
to key industry decision makers and
References heavy promotion at key industry events,
working alongside our online distribution
FAO (2012). The state of the world fisheries and
is the region where aquaculture is growing aquaculture 2012. Rome: FAO. strategies - International Aquafeed is the
fastest and the need for responsibly produced ideal place to promote your products
fishmeal is highest. Tacon, A. G. J., Hasan, M. R., and Metian, M. (2011). aimed at the global aquaculture industry.
Demand and supply of feed ingredients for farmed
Call the team today to hear how we can
fish and crustaceans -Trends and prospects. In:
Conclusions FAO fisheries technical paper, Vol. 564. Rome: FAO.
help you achieve your marketing goals
Fishmeal and fish oil production is expect-
ed to remain around current levels, but this
is unlikely to limit the growth of aquaculture
which will continue to have reducing inclusion
More inforMation:
levels of marine ingredients in the diets of
Website: www.iffo.net
most farmed fish. Fishmeal will increasingly
become a strategic ingredient used at critical
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