NEW MARINE FEED RESOURCES The building of a consortium towards exploitation of un-utilised marine resources for diets to farmed fish

The farming of high priced salmonid species in the northern hemisphere focuses on the production of marine PUFA-rich fillets. In recent years, farming of marine species has increased with higher protein and lower lipid demands. The main feed ingredients, have been fish meal and oil. But predictions suggest shortage in oils within a few years, and in proteins within a decade, so alternative feed resources are required. Vegetable products can be used, but most protein sources contain unvanted compounds like antinutritional factors and sterols, and vegetable lipid will alter depot lipids from a marine ?healthy? PUFA composition to a ?vegetable? like composition. This may jeopardize the competitiveness of aquaculture products as health benefit for human consu mption. In order to produce fish with high marine PUFA profiles without antinutiritional factors, new marine feed resources are needed. The only significant biomass is found at lower trophic levels. But the knowledge on their suitability as fish feeds are at present very limited, and a major effort is required in order to obtaine reliable data. The current initiative we will create a multidisciplinary platform containing national and international institutions having dedicated activities into this field. The group will contain expertise in biochemistry, microbiology, histology, analytical chemistry (environmental toxins, fluoride), and will cover science areas from catch conservation, process technology, feed production, fish growth, behavior, welfare an d health. This project will cover the aspects of raw material characterizing, processing and feed production: These products will then be evaluated with respect to suitability, the effect on growth, utilization, welfare and health, and finally product qua lity will be assessed. Recruitment of new scientists, MSc, PhD and post doc. to the research field will be an integrated and important part of the project.