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Fish meal alternatives can improve food security, sustainability
20 Plays2 years ago
Ida Grong Aursand, senior business developer at SINTEF Ocean, a Norway-based institute that conducts research and innovation related to the ocean environment and aquaculture technologies, talks about new developments in fish meal alternatives and why those innovations are important.
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast & Host
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Feed Strategy Podcast.
00:00:08
Speaker
I'm your host, Feed Strategy Senior Reporter,
Guest Introduction: Ida Grang-Orsan
00:00:11
Speaker
Anne Roos.
00:00:11
Speaker
Ida Grang-Orsan is Senior Business Developer at Cintef Ocean, a Norway-based institute that conducts research and innovation related to the ocean environment and aquaculture technologies.
Cintef Ocean & Fish Meal Alternatives
00:00:23
Speaker
We recently spoke about new developments in fish meal alternatives and why those innovations are important.
00:00:28
Speaker
Here's our conversation.
00:00:29
Speaker
Hi, Ida.
00:00:29
Speaker
Thanks for being here.
00:00:31
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me.
00:00:33
Speaker
Tell me about Cintef and what you do there.
00:00:35
Speaker
SYNTEF is a research institute with almost 2,200 employees.
00:00:40
Speaker
It is the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia, and we are focused on technology, science and innovation.
00:00:49
Speaker
In SYNTEF, I work within SYNTEF Ocean, which is a part of the SYNTEF group, and our focus is on marine and maritime related topics.
Sustainable Feed Research at Cintef
00:01:00
Speaker
And our main mission is to develop sustainable and innovative solutions for the ocean and maritime industries.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yes, and I'm responsible for the prioritized research area myself, that is sustainable feed.
Exploring New Raw Materials
00:01:14
Speaker
What are some new developments or innovations in fish meal alternatives that you're excited about?
00:01:19
Speaker
Well, we are working on several raw materials that can be substituted with fish meal or soy in the future.
00:01:26
Speaker
We have categorized them into four areas.
00:01:29
Speaker
We have the harvested marine raw materials such as krill or kelanus or mesopelagic.
00:01:35
Speaker
These are high value protein and omega-3 sources which could be exploited to a higher degree than it is today.
00:01:43
Speaker
We also have the land-based raw materials such as grass which actually has quite a lot of protein in it.
00:01:49
Speaker
It could also be interesting for the aquaculture sector.
00:01:54
Speaker
And we have the cultivated plant and animals, such as polythets or gammerides.
00:01:59
Speaker
These are marine organisms that can grow on substrates, such as sludge from the aquaculture industry, or restrum materials from vegetables, for instance.
00:02:10
Speaker
And at last, we have these microorganisms, such as microalgae, phototrophic or autotrophic.
Nutritional Profiles: Fish Meal vs. Alternatives
00:02:18
Speaker
And we are actually working with all these
00:02:21
Speaker
How do the nutritional profiles of these alternatives compare with fish meal?
00:02:25
Speaker
These raw materials that have the marine origin, they are similar to fish meal in their nutritional profile.
00:02:32
Speaker
And we think they could be a good substitute to the fish meal.
00:02:37
Speaker
And are these alternatives affordable and can they be produced on the scale that's needed?
00:02:42
Speaker
As for any new novel feed raw material, in the initial price level will be higher than fish meal, quite a lot higher.
00:02:51
Speaker
However, we believe that if production is scaled, we can reach price levels and scales that will be relevant for the aquaculture industry.
Regulatory Concerns & Sustainability
00:03:01
Speaker
To reach the needed volumes of new sustainable raw materials for future aquaculture production, it's necessary to commercialize a broad portfolio of new feed raw materials.
00:03:11
Speaker
What are the regulatory concerns around some of these ingredients?
00:03:14
Speaker
When it comes to harvesting from the ocean, it's important that the fishery is regulated with quotas.
00:03:21
Speaker
For the castivated organisms, the regulations are linked to the use of substrates.
00:03:26
Speaker
For instance, due to the lack of research of biosecurity risks, it's not allowed to produce polykets on sludge from the agriculture today.
00:03:37
Speaker
But if we use vegetable restaurant materials, we are within today's legislation.
00:03:43
Speaker
So it's possible to produce polykets within the rules that are today.
00:03:50
Speaker
And why is it important to find alternatives to fish meal?
00:03:53
Speaker
The world needs more food and the aquaculture industry can contribute with a sustainable protein source.
00:04:00
Speaker
Sustainable feed raw materials is the main bottleneck for the industry to grow.
00:04:05
Speaker
We need more marine feed raw materials, both as protein and omega-3 sources.
Future of Feed Alternatives & Conclusion
00:04:12
Speaker
What developments do you hope to see in this area in the next five to 10 years?
00:04:16
Speaker
I really hope that we can look back
00:04:19
Speaker
and see that we were able to scale up and industrialize many of the solutions that we have been working with the last decades.
00:04:27
Speaker
For instance, increased sustainable harvesting of colonists, single cell proteins and gamma reads, to mention some.
00:04:36
Speaker
Okay, great.
00:04:36
Speaker
Well, thank you so much, Ida, for joining me.
00:04:38
Speaker
Thanks a lot to you, Anne, for having me.
00:04:41
Speaker
And thank you to the audience for tuning in.
00:04:43
Speaker
I'm Anne Roos for Feed Strategy.