The sales competition will pay out US$100,000 in each of three categories—salmonid, shrimp, and other carnivorous species—to the contestants in each that produce and sell the most ‘fish-free feed’
A collaborative effort between NGOs, academic institutions, and private partnerships, the Future of Fish Feed (F3) is aiming to accelerate the commercialization of innovative, substitute aquaculture feed ingredients to replace wild-caught fish.
“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.”
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 contest organizers cited a study from 2018 that found that if ‘business as usual’ continues, forage fisheries will reach ecological limits by 2037.
The line-up
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 have signed up — Empagram in partnership with Veramaris, Jiangsu Fuhai Biotech Co., Ltd, Remediiate and De Heus.
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 Sea Bream feed.
The contestants have until the end of this month to submit feed samples and add partners. The winners will be announced in autumn next year.
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.
