Ewos Innovation, the Research and Development company of Cermaq, has published a more accurate way to calculate the Fish In to Fish Out ratio
To help counter the misleading and often quoted assertion by both scientists and media commentators that it takes about 4 kg of wild fish to grow 1 kg of salmon, Ewos Innovation, the Research and Development company of Cermaq, has published a more accurate way to calculate the Fish In to Fish Out ratio.
"This Fish In to Fish Out ratio (FIFO) is a misleading number put out by people who want to portray our industry as unsustainable and wasteful of marine resources. The truth of the matter is that commercial salmon farming is close to being a net producer of both marine protein and marine oils", the company says on its website..
The two main methodologies used to date are those used byTacon& Metian (2008) in the Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogue draft v2.0 and the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO) method. Tacon & Metian's method suggests fish-to-fish ratios. Ewos points out that these are based on the weight of fish caught and produced but assumes that the extra fishmeal produced from the fish caught for fish oil is wasted. The IFFO method corrects this but doesn't take into account nutrition.
