Challenge FAQ
More important than the grand prizes, all participants receive significant publicity through news stories about the challenge in seafood and feed media outlets as well as other popular news outlets. In 2022, 807 news articles mentioned the F3 Challenge and its contestants, which was a potential audience reach of 3.1 billion people.
Even if contestants do not win, all gain significant advantages, such as visibility through F3 communications, seafood trade media, and promotion around major industry events. Participation also connects entrants to the broader F3 network and stakeholder ecosystem, including cross–value chain relationships facilitated through F3 meetings and convenings.
Participation in the challenge is public, and F3 actively promotes contestants through industry media and communications. However, only winners’ production volumes are publicized. F3 focuses on positive storytelling and avoids framing that could reflect negatively on participants.
Success for the F3 Fish Farm challenge, means that alternative ingredients have successfully scaled, prices have lowered, and that aquaculture can continue to grow despite fluctuations in fishmeal and fish oil supply. It means that there is greater food security and robustness in the production of marine proteins. It also means that fishing pressure is taken off of the oceans, so that ocean ecosystems can also thrive.
Success also means that feed companies, farms and consumers have an increased awareness that feed ingredients affect food security and environmental sustainability.
The entrants into the F3 Fish Farm Challenge must distribute their products to one of the challenge markets listed in the contest rules here. Exceptions may be granted upon approval of the judges. To request an exception, email f3farmchallenge@gmail.com.
English is the official language for submissions and all other communications for the Challenge. International competitors need to translate any communications into English for their submissions to be considered.
Non-extractive marine ingredients, such as land-based polychaetes grown in closed-loop systems, are not permitted under the current verification constraints. Even if a marine-derived ingredient is produced in a closed-loop or non-extractive way, the challenge cannot reliably distinguish it from wild-harvested marine ingredients using available analytical methods. For fairness and enforceability, the contest excludes marine-derived biological matter.
Additionally, fish or shrimp hydrolysates derived from trimmings or aquaculture waste are not permitted in the F3 Fish Farm Challenge. While F3 supports the broader use of circular and alternative ingredients in aquafeeds, these ingredients cannot be used in this contest because current analytical testing cannot reliably distinguish marine-derived hydrolysates, or other products, from prohibited marine animal ingredients. To ensure clear verification, all feeds used in the challenge must exclude these items.
For questions about feed eligibility, please refer to the F3 Fish Farm Challenge rules or contact the F3 team at f3farmchallenge@gmail.com.
- Feed verification: Participants submit a feed sample (2 kg) for third-party testing (including isotopic and qPCR analysis) to confirm it contains no marine animal ingredients. Participants should also save feed at various stages of growth, in case further verification is requested.
- Fish product verification: F3 representatives may make anonymous point-of-sale purchases in approved markets. In order to do so successfully, the farm needs to label or package the fish distinctively so that the F3 representatives can identify the fish being sold, and purchase the fish anonymously. To perform that task, the farm needs to notify the F3 Team regarding where the fish is available for sale a month in advance. After purchase, the F3 team will test the fish tissue using multiple methods (e.g., DNA, isotopes, fatty acid/lipid profiles, and several other analyses) to evaluate diet history and confirm compliance.
F3 anticipates hosting another meeting once the F3 Fish Farm Challenge is underway. These events are typically invite-only for previous contestants and current registrants, but interested stakeholders can contact the F3 team to request information.
Then, armed with that information, to break into the aquafeed industry, we recommend that you conduct experiments to determine the actual efficacy of your ingredient, working with fish nutritionists to evaluate its potential for aquafeed in an Ingredient Evaluation Process outlined here. We encourage you to work with credible research organizations during the ingredient evaluation process, to make it more possible that feed companies will accept the results, and perhaps even discuss with them in advance, the types of studies that you need to run that would assist in their evaluation.
If the ingredient is promising, then you can bring the information you have yielded from the Ingredient Evaluation Process with you to Feed companies, who can then discuss replacement.