FISH GROWN WITHOUT WILD CATCH...

Supports healthy oceans Enables aquaculture to grow Enhances food security Improves seafood responsibly Feeds our growing population

F3 Future of Fish Feed is an endorsed UN Ocean Decade Action.

OVERVIEW

Fish farming, or aquaculture, provides more than half of the world’s seafood and is one of the fastest growing food sectors today. The diets of some of our most popular seafood choices —like salmon and other carnivorous fish—rely heavily on wild-caught marine ingredients such as forage fish and krill that are at the bottom of the food chain and sustain whole ecosystems as well as provide ingredients that are currently critical for farmed seafood. Depletion of wild-catch will then both threaten the supply chain of farmed fish, and cause ecosystem collapse.

To help improve the future of seafood and support healthy and resilient ocean ecosystems in the future, the F3 – Future of Fish Feed hosts a series of contests to challenge the industry to encourage substitutes that can replace wild-caught marine ingredients in aquaculture. The existence of new substitutes and novel ingredients will create new sources of nutrition, and diversify the supply chain for feed. With a lesser reliance on wild-catch whose availability fluctuates, aquaculture supply chains will become more resilient. Aquaculture can continue to grow, and decrease the demand pressure on wild-catch, which will help ecosystems to continue to flourish for future generations.

 

THE NEXT F3 Challenge: Farms

 

This fifth F3 Challenge will move up the supply chain closer to the customer. Its goal is to recognize and reward farms that successfully produce and sell the most farmed fish fed without any marine animal ingredients—including, but not limited to: no fishmeal, fish oil, krill, squid or clams.

By placing the emphasis on the farm, this challenge aims to offer consumers more responsibly fed seafood choices. As fish producers go to market, and advertise the differences, consumer awareness of the role feed ingredients play in sustainable seafood production will increase. Fish farmers are in the driver’s seat and our hope is that some day, responsibly-fed fish, without marine animal ingredients, will be preferred and as well understood, as “insect-fed” chicken or “grass-fed” beef.

As in prior challenges, we do not explicitly oppose the use of ‘waste to feed’ or the use of fish or krill or other marine byproducts, but maintain the goal of marine animal-ingredient free feeds because it is easier to test because of the difficulty of distinguishing marine byproducts from wild catch. The goal of ‘marine animal ingredient free’ also pushes the bounds of technology, and facilitates food security as it encourages the development of novel ingredients and alternative sources of nutrition that will be needed if wild-caught ingredients continue to decline.

Fish farms can register to receive updates about the challenge and be notified when entry opens.

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PAST F3 CHALLENGES

Learn more about the previous challenges and their winners.

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