Atlantic Sapphire proud to use poultry in feed
As a New York Times article claims to lift the lid on marine ingredients supply, the US salmon farmer highlights its chicken-dominated formulation
It’s not unusual in fish farming to see the same facts spun in completely different ways, depending on whether the storyteller is supportive of or opposed to the industry. It’s rarer to see two different takes from the same sector, but that’s what’s happened on the issue of using poultry by-products in feed.
The imperative to seek alternatives to marine ingredients increased last Friday when Peru, the world’s biggest anchovy producer, confirmed it will not authorise a second anchovy season in the country’s North-Central zone in order to protect stocks that have been affected by the El Niño climate event.
Ahead of that confirmation, the Financial Times had reported that the world’s biggest salmon farmer, Mowi, was planning to use poultry by-products in aquafeed in Norway and Scotland.
The report remains unconfirmed by Mowi Scotland and trade organisation Salmon Scotland and if Scotland is to follow in the footsteps of Norwegian salmon producers Grieg and Lerøy, which have already started using poultry by-products, the industry isn’t yet ready to say so.
40% bird
But there’s no such coyness on the other side of the Atlantic, where consumers have different priorities and where a New York Times Magazine article last week highlighted serious safety and other issues in the global marine ingredients supply chain.
United States land-based salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire has used social media to proudly highlight the fact that the feed it uses at its Bluehouse facility in Florida contains and 40% poultry by-products comprising 29% poultry meal, 6% feather meal, and 5% poultry oil, and just 5% fishmeal and 5% fish oil.
“Reducing our reliance on marine resources has always been a core part of Bluehouse Salmon’s mission. We are a net marine protein producer, meaning we use fewer marine resources from the ocean than the amount of salmon we produce,” Atlantic Sapphire said in a post on LinkedIn.
MSC forage fish
“While our feed still includes some fishmeal and fish oil, these ingredients make up just 10% of our total feed and are 100% certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or MarinTrust, supporting responsible sourcing.
“We are continually working to replace marine ingredients with innovative alternatives. We have already introduced algae oil to replace fish oil and continue exploring novel ingredients such as insect meal and single-cell protein to further reduce our reliance on marine resources.”
Atlantic Sapphire goes into more detail on its website, pointing out that every ingredients in its feed, which is supplied by Skretting North America, is certified, meeting or surpassing regulations in the United States and Canada.
Land animal proteins
“We’ve created a salmon diet that mirrors the natural nutritional needs of wild salmon. Instead of traditional fish and fish oil, we’ve incorporated alternative ingredients such as algae oil and land animal proteins. We’re also exploring innovative options like black fly larvae and single-cell proteins,” writes Atlantic Sapphire.
It adds: “Our goal is to further reduce marine ingredients in our feed, safeguarding wild seafood populations and contributing to a healthier ocean for current and future generations.”
Skretting also supplies the feed formulations for Mowi in Norway and Scotland, although these are produced by Mowi-owned companies, and do not necessarily include formulations with poultry by-products.
Rejected by retailers
Eight years ago, when marine ingredients were more plentiful and cheaper, the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (now the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Cluster) organised a project called “Exploring the use of avian proteins in salmon feeds”, but this was ended early after supermarket retailers took an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the concept.
Feed expert Brett Glencross, who was then a professor in the nutrition department at Stirling University’s Institute of Aquaculture (IoA) and is now technical director of marine ingredients organisation IFFO, led the study.
Glencross had previously argued that supply of poultry meal is more reliable that fishmeal, with half a million tonnes of it being produced in the UK each year.
He argued that it had been shown to be a safe ingredient, and had rightly been given regulatory approval, including by the EU. It has been safely used in salmon feed in North America, Australia, and Chile for years.
