Nutritional Flow of Phosphorus in Atlantic Salmon: A mass balance approach in recirculating aquaculture system

The aquaculture industry is one of the fastest growing and most important fields to feed the growing population of the world today, and with the expected future production increase, in the aquaculture field, waste produced and released along the Norwegian coastline will become significant. Of the waste produced, Phosphorus (P), is a limited resource crucial for the development of bone, teeth, and muscles in animals and fish, but for salmon production, we lack knowledge on how the chemical content of P changes, when bone, teeth, and muscles develop in the salmon body. The project aims to fill this knowledge gap and determine the minimum P requirements to secure maximal growth and optimal fish health for farmed salmon in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), through a mass balance approach where feed, retention rate to biomass, waste produced and water treatment steps in RAS are the main focus areas. Production of salmon in RAS is complex with both physical and chemical variables. To understand the interaction between the feed, the fish and the system, our approach will be to combine physical trials and chemical analyses of the fish and also the production water at different places in the systems and at different intervals and intensities. The research tasks will give challenges on selection of analytical tools, method development, interpretation and application of the results. Improved understanding of the nutritional flow of P in RAS will contribute to a more sustainable aquaculture production, by possibly reducing the environmental impact of P. This will also be important in the development of new cost-effective diets for salmonids.

The aquaculture industry is one of the fastest growing and most important fields to feed the growing population of the world today, and with the expected future production increase, in the aquaculture field, waste produced and released along the Norwegian coastline will become significant. Of the waste produced, Phosphorus (P), is a limited resource crucial for the development of bone, teeth, and muscles in animals and fish, but for salmon production, we lack knowledge on how the chemical content of P changes, when bone, teeth, and muscles develop in the salmon body. The project aims to fill this knowledge gap and determine the minimum P requirements to secure maximal growth and optimal fish health for farmed salmon in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), through a mass balance approach where feed, retention rate to biomass, waste produced and water treatment steps in RAS are the main focus areas. Production of salmon in RAS is complex with both physical and chemical variables. To understand the interaction between the feed, the fish and the system, our approach will be to combine physical trials and chemical analyses of the fish and also the production water at different places in the systems and at different intervals and intensities. The research tasks will give challenges on selection of analytical tools, method development, interpretation and application of the results. Improved understanding of the nutritional flow of P in RAS will contribute to a more sustainable aquaculture production, by possibly reducing the environmental impact of P. This will also be important in the development of new cost-effective diets for salmonids.