Veramaris wins fish oil challenge

Veramaris CEO, Karim Kurmaly, received the $200,000 prize during a special award ceremony at the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s GOAL conference in Chennai, India.

The goal of the F3 Fish Oil Challenge is to accelerate the availability of cost-competitive, viable alternatives to fish oil that provide the essential nutritional components for fish while at the same time helping reduce demand for wild-caught fish feed and enhancing food security. The contest is sponsored by the Future of Fish Feed—or F3—a collaborative effort between NGOs, researchers, and private partnerships to accelerate and support the scaling of innovative, alternative aquaculture feed ingredients.

Contestants of the F3 Fish Oil Challenge sold a combined total of roughly 850,000 kilograms of ‘fish-free’ oil during the contest, said the organizers.

Veramaris sold nearly 770,000 kilograms—or roughly 90% of the total contest sales—of its algal oil which contains EPA and DHA fatty acids and arachidonic acid, (ARA) produced at its pilot-scale facilities in Slovakia and the US, they added.

Earlier this year, the world’s largest Atlantic salmon producer, Norway-based, Mowi, committed to test the winning formula of the F3 Fish Oil Challenge, along with China-based, Yuehai Feed Group, and AlphaFeed. The companies will provide the results of their trials through the F3 Feed Innovation Network (FIN).

Future challenge ​

In September, the F3 Future of Fish Feed announced its third contest—the F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition​​—is now open to companies or teams that produce and sell “fish-free” feed for farm-raised carnivorous species. A US$35,000 prize will be awarded in each of three categories—salmonid, shrimp, and other carnivorous species—to the contestant that produces and sells the most feed made without using wild-caught fish or any marine-animal ingredient.

Contest registration is open until April 30, 2020.