The Aquafeed Technology Centre (ATC) will address challenges related to sustainability of the world aquaculture industry by offering research infrastructure dedicated to improved and novel utilization of ingredients based on available marine, plant, animal and single cell resources. Norway is the world-leading nation within farming of Atlantic salmon. Research on new and sustainable feed ingredients and formulations will fortify this position and strengthen the reputation of the Norwegian aquaculture industry. Nofima has a leading position within the processing of feed ingredients and fish feed. Main actors within this value chain use the existing facilities and support the further development of the infrastructure in collaboration with the University of Bergen and Norce. A main challenge is the understanding of ingredient properties and its influence on the feed production process and final feed quality. Development of new methods and technology for the processing and characterization of ingredients and formulated feed will be of high industrial- and societal importance. The centre will extend the present research platforms in Bergen to include state of the art equipment within biotechnology, process and feed technology, and analytical techniques. The upgraded infrastructure will offer four research units within the fields:
1. Development and optimization of ingredients of high nutritional and technical quality
2. Separation of bioactive compounds, removal of toxic compounds and development of added-value functional ingredients.
3. Research and development on fish feed based on extrusion and agglomeration technology.
4. Characterization of physical and chemical properties of ingredients and feed pellets.
ATC is based in the center of the Bergen Marine Research Cluster and NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster. The infrastructure is open for the national and international research community.
The Aquafeed Technology Centre (ATC) will address challenges related to sustainability of the world aquaculture industry by offering research infrastructure dedicated to improved and novel utilization of alternative marine resources (fish and fishery by-products, krill, amphipods, copepods) in combination with animal by-products, plant and single-cell (bacteria, yeast, algae) resources. Improved utilization of such resources into aquafeed and high value seafood products offers a unique possibility to put Norway in an international leading position and to strengthen the reputation of the Norwegian aquaculture industry. The ATC application addresses specific upgrading of existing process equipment and new investments to meet current and future needs for cost efficient, sustainable and environmental friendly feed ingredients and feed production, and high quality seafood products to the consumers. The centre will establish a platform of advanced technological equipment for the execution of state-of-the-art research in the fields of bio-resource processing, feed ingredient development, biotechnology and feed technology and provide a national and international outstanding arena for research, education and industrial contract work within these fields. The facility will be open for international research collaboration and will strengthen Nofima's position as main supplier of experimental ingredients and diets for fish nutrition research. It will also represent an open innovation platform where the industry can test the performance of new ingredients for food and feed applications. ATC will be based in the center of Bergen Marine Research Cluster and NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster. The University of Bergen, UNI Research and University of Nottingham will be active project partners.