Fish meal and fish oil have long been staple ingredients of most aquatic feeds as sources of protein and lipids. However, as fish meal and oils have rapidly increased in price, many alternatives are being considered. Some of the alternatives, such as soybean and meat and bone meals, are widely accepted and have become basic ingredients. More recently several new technologies have developed that are providing a variety of novel ingredients. Bioreactors for the production of bacteria, algae, and yeast are providing a variety of proteins and lipids. Production of methanotrophs, bacteria fed methane as their primary nutrient, is one of the promising products with amino acid profile similar to fishmeal. Several species of algae are now being produced in bioreactors, tanks and ponds for aquafeeds. Both the protein and lipid components are proving to be valuable. Saccharomyces and other yeasts/fungi have also proven to be valuable bioreactor-friendly producers.
Insect meals derived from the larvae of the black soldier fly and mealworm beetle are also gaining market share. The larvae have been tested in aquaculture diets for many years, but the recent development of factory-scale production has lowered the price of the larvae meals approaching the price of fishmeal. Lipids generated from the process of converting the fresh larvae to dry meal also are gaining interest as an oil source.
The F3 contests were designed to encourage feed companies and farms to give more consideration to the use of novel ingredients. The benefactors of the prize are committed to protecting more forage fish in the oceans for the benefit of native marine species including predatory fishes, sea birds, pinnipeds, and cetaceans by encouraging the more wide-spread adoption of these novel ingredients. The first prize ($200,000) was awarded to the company which sold the most fish meal free aquafeeds in an18-month period ending in September 2017. The second prize will award $100,000 to the company which makes and sells the best alternative oil source capable of replacing fish oil in aquafeeds in October 2019.
The next step in the F3 effort is developing a Fishfeed Innovation Network (FIN) that links a series of labs and training centers that will share information and demonstrate novel ingredients in practical feeds and educate feedmills, formulators and farmers regarding the pro's and con's of various novel ingredients and feeds. The initial centers in Myanmar, Vietnam and China are linked to the Fish Technology Center in the US, which provides technical information on ingredients and design of feeding trials, while the Asian centers will be able to prepare demonstration diets for various species and test them on-site or with farmer partners. The ability to explain the costs and benefits of these F3 diets will be a primary goal of the FIN Centers.
An additional goal of the F3 effort is to encourage consumers to consider seafood produced without the use of fishmeal or fish oil as the environmental equivalent of free-range chicken or grass-fed beef. Preserving more forage fish in the environment will benefit many marine predators, reduce the price increases that have slowed the growth of the aquaculture industry and further dissuade those who have committed illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and egregious human rights abuses while fishing for these forage fishes in various parts of the world.