Sea bream ‘fish-free’ feed innovator maintains lead in sales contest

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Credit: GettyImages/franckreporter (Getty Images)

Contestants competing in the F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition have sold a combined total of over 3,185 metric tons of fish-free feed to date.

Eight qualifying F3 feeds were submitted by the participants; they began recording sales as of October 1, 2020 or after submitting their feed.

Dainichi Corporation remains in the lead in the Other Carnivorous Species Category for its ‘fish-free’ feed for red sea bream, reported the organizers.

The contestants Star Milling Co (salmonid category) and Empagran/Veramaris (shrimp category) maintain their leads in their respective categories, they added.

The F3 Challenge - Carnivore Edition winners will be announced in October at the Global Seafood Alliance’s GOAL conference in Seattle.

The award is US$100K in each of three categories—salmonid, shrimp, and other carnivorous species.

All sales reported by companies remain unverified. F3 Challenge judges will verify F3 feed sales prior to announcing the winners per the contest rules.

Future-proofing the industry 

The Future of Fish Feed (F3) is a collaborative effort between NGOs, academic institutions, and private partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of innovative, substitute aquaculture feed ingredients to replace wild-caught fish.

The effort is aimed at boosting global food security, with the stakeholders looking to reduce the aquaculture industry’s reliance on fishmeal and fish oil derived from small forage fish such as menhaden and sardines, to future-proof it against shocks to the supply chain.

Sponsors 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.