A Norwegian research project is assessing poultry meal as a potential replacement for soy in salmon feed, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a more circular economy in the food industries. While processed animal proteins are already used in salmon feed in other countries, European salmon farmers have so far been reluctant to take it into their feed formulations.
"If we succeed, the Norwegian salmon industry will have a new alternative, either to fishmeal, which is a limited resource, or to soy protein concentrate, which is the component of salmon feed that is usually attributed to the heaviest climate footprint," said project manager Bjarne Hatlen, senior scientist at Nofima AS.
In today's salmon feed, over 70% of the protein is from vegetable sources. The most important is soy, which requires significant land areas and resources. By upgrading residual raw materials from chicken production to salmon feed, the environmental footprint can be reduced and local value can be created.
The project is about more than fish feed. Consumer attitudes are also crucial. Many people may ask themselves: "Is it okay for salmon to eat chicken?" However, researchers said that the industry does not know how concerned consumers are about this. By asking European consumers, the researchers behind the project hope to gain more knowledge about their attitudes towards new raw materials such as chicken meal, and how these are affected when they receive information about how residual raw materials from chicken can contribute to both safe food, better resource utilization and a smaller footprint.
The development of new feed raw materials is a priority task for several project partners. In order to help achieve the Norwegian government’s environmental and climate goals, it is important to find new alternatives that can be used in Norwegian salmon feed.
"We need to think new and big if we are to achieve the climate goals, and animal residues are a resource that is nutritionally well-suited to salmon feed and is already used in feed in other parts of the world. Making fish feed even more sustainable is Cargill's most important contribution to increasing the production of sustainable and healthy Norwegian seafood for a growing world population," said Ted Andreas Mollan, category manager for Raw Material Supply from Cargill.
The Norwegian government's social mission for sustainable feed has accelerated development. The authorities and the business community are now working together to find innovative solutions that can reduce the climate footprint of the industry.
"For example, insects, tunicates, mussels, bacteria and yeast. Many of these have a long way to go before they can be produced in volumes and at a price that is interesting for salmon feed producers," said Hatlen. "Animal byproducts from the land, such as poultry meal, stand out from the other new raw materials in that they are already available in large volumes. Nevertheless, there is still some research that can remove the last obstacles for the Norwegian salmon industry to start using it."
But despite the great potential, Hatlen points to two challenges in particular that must be solved before chicken meal can become a natural part of Norwegian salmon feed: the digestibility of the chicken meal offered is variable and often too low in salmon, and the lack of knowledge about consumer acceptance of salmon fed with chicken meal.
The three-year project brings together players from important parts of the value chain: Nofima, Mowi Feed, Nutrimar, and NCE Seafood Innovation make up the project participants, while Cargill, the Norwegian Seafood Council and Cermaq are part of the reference group.
The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) has financed most of the project, with contributions from partners Mowi Feed and Nutrimar. With a budget of NOK 18 million and a strong team, the ambitions are high.
"We will work at both ends of the value chain, and research both raw material processing and customers' attitudes towards the salmon that eat poultry meal. But the benefit is just as great for the links between them, such as feed producers and fish farmers," Hatlen concluded.
