Nine companies from across the globe have officially joined the F3 Challenge - Carnivore Edition, the aquaculture industry’s premier race to replace fishmeal and fish oil in feeds for farm-raised carnivorous species. The sales competition, designed to accelerate the development and adoption of fishmeal and fish oil substitutes in feeds, will award $100,000 in each of three categories, salmonid, shrimp, and other carnivorous species, to the contestants that produce and sell the most “fish-free feed” within their designated category.
“We are thrilled by the global participation we have for this challenge, definitely our most challenging contest to date,” said Kevin Fitzsimmons, F3 Challenge chair and professor at the University of Arizona. “Unlike omnivores, carnivores are choosier eaters and present a greater challenge.”
Four contestants have registered in the salmonid category, Chapul Farms, F4F Food for the Future, Jiangsu Fuhai Biotech Co., Ltd, and Star Milling Co. in partnership with The Scoular Company. In the shrimp category, four contestants registered, Empagram in partnership with Veramaris, Jiangsu Fuhai Biotech Co., Ltd, Remediiate and De Heus LLC. In the other carnivorous species category, BGreen Technologies is competing with Asian seabass feed, Jiangsu Fuhai Biotech Co., Ltd with largemouth bass feed and Dainichi Corporation with red seabream feed.
Contestants have until November 30 to submit feed samples and add partners. The winners will be announced in the fall of 2022. The qualifying feeds for all prize categories must not contain any ingredients consisting of or derived from marine animals, including but not limited to fish, squid, shrimp or krill.
The goal of the F3 Challenge contest series is to eliminate the use of wild-caught fish and other marine animals in aquaculture feed to assure greater food security in the future from both wild and farmed sources. Supporting organizations of the F3 Challenge include the University of Arizona, The Campbell Foundation, Synbiobeta, The Nature Conservancy, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Anthropocene Institute, Dawson Family Fund, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Tides Foundation, Cuna Del Mar, the National Renderers Association and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
For official contest rules, visit f3challenge.org.
