Enhancing the potential of Calanus finmarchicus as raw material for sustainable aquaculture feed ingredients

A major challenge for the aquaculture sector is access to sustainable and cost-effective feed ingredients. The zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus, also known as red feed, is a natural resource widely available in Norwegian waters. The current estimates of Calanus finmarchicus' biomass is 290 million tons of new production per year in the Norwegian Sea alone. However, there are still challenges to overcome to unlock the potential of this species. Even though Norway opened up for commercial harvesting of C. finmarchicus in 2019, only 352 tons of the 254 000 tons annual quota were harvested last year. In order to better utilize this resource, new technology and know-how are needed to make harvesting and processing more effective, and research and documentation of the resulting products is necessary to make them commercially desirable. The overall aim of the CalaFeed project is to enhance the potential of C.finmarchicus as an aquafeed ingredient, thereby contributing to the sustainable growth of the Norwegian aquaculture sector. Topics covered in the project include technology for full utilization of the harvested biomass and the effect of the proteins in feed for salmon, both as a protein source and as an attractant in critical phases of salmon production. Fish feed is the single factor that contributes most to the carbon footprint of salmon production. In CalaFeed, the environmental footprint of produced ingredients will be evaluated and compared with traditional feed ingredients. CalaFeed is coordinated by SINTEF Ocean, and consortium partners are Nofima, NTNU ,CSIC (Spain), Calanus AS and Skretting. Today, Calanus f. is frozen onboard for further processing on land. An important goal in the project is to find suitable on-board handling methods that are suitable for large volumes and possible for harvesting further away from the land. The on-board stabilization should keep the quality of the oil, while also result in protein fractions suitable for feed. In this first project period a batch of C. finmarchicus (July 2021) has been obtained and chemical composition has been analyzed. Experimental plans for studying the stability of the biomass have been finalized. In the next months the effect of different pH on the quality will be studied, to evaluate the stability of C.finmarchicus during different storage conditions. Extracts both from traditional fishmeal processing, hydrolysis and silage will be produced and bioactivity tests will be performed at CSIC (antioxidative and anti-inflammatory responses) and Nofima (anti-microbial bioactivity screening). The lipid content of C.finmarchicus is known to vary greatly according to different life stages/seasons. Levels between 15- 63 % of dry weight have been reported in the literature for copepodit IV and V stages. The July 2021 batch had a lipid content of 17% of dw. Initial processing experiments have been performed. In the next project period focus is on optimizing processing technologies for producing suitable fractions for use in bioactivity tests, and for feed production. Text to the 2-year Post-doctoral researcher's position at NTNU on sustainability assessment of Calanus-based feed ingredients has been finalized. The position will be published shortly, and the postdoctoral position's start is planned for April 15th of 2021.

A major challenge for the aquaculture sector is access to sustainable and cost-effective feed ingredients. The zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus is a natural resource widely available in Norwegian waters, and has a beneficial chemical composition for use in salmon feed: the lipid fraction is astaxanthin rich and with high n-3 PUFA content, the proteins have well balanced amino acids composition, and free amino acids are known to induce strong feeding responses. However, there are still challenges to overcome to unlock the potential in utilization of the species. The overall aim of the CaleFeed project is to enhance the potential of C.finmarchicus as an aqua feed ingredient, contributing to a sustainable growth of the Norwegian aquaculture sector. The project will develop handling and processing technologies for production of nutritional feed ingredients, and evaluate their effect in feeding trials. The project will increase knowledge on the potential of commercial production of feed ingredients from C.finmarchicus, and evaluate social, economic and environmental sustainability. The project is closely coordinated with newly financed SFI Harvest, coordinated by SINTEF Ocean, which aims to develop cost-efficient harvesting solutions. The CalaFeed project brings together a pioneering Calanus processing company and the aqua feed producer with most experience on using C.finmarchicus as an ingredient, expertise within feed raw material sourcing, together with research experts on raw material processing, nutrition and sustainability. The project covers: On-board handling, processing, feed nutrition and whole value chain sustainability. The main outcomes are new feed ingredients enhancing the beneficial composition of C.finmarchicus, an overview of Calanus' potential as a feed ingredient for salmon, and a sustainability assessment of C.finmarchicus- based feed production.