Why have salmon fillets become paler despite more pigment being added to their feed? This is a question that Nofima scientists want to answer.

A new report shows that between 2012 and 2016 there have hardly been changes in the amount of feed being produced for Norwegian salmon farms and in the quantities of salmon being slaughtered at Norwegian fish farms. However, a higher percentage of feed raw materials are now being derived from the land.

Preliminary trials and analyses of omega-3-rich oil from genetically modified rape seed indicate that it is safe to use in salmon feed.

Cleaner fish are kept together with the salmon in the cages, and eat lice off the salmon. This is an important weapon in the struggle against sea lice. But lice are more like ‘snacks’ for the fish, and alone, do not contribute enough nutrition to support them. In a new project, scientists will acquire knowledge of the correct feed and the nutrition needed.

A new doctorate shows that marine omega 3 fatty acids are necessary in feed to protect the good health of farmed salmon.

It's not only farmed salmon that eat salmon feed. Saithe and other wild fish that search for food in the ocean can be tempted to enjoy an easy meal outside the salmon cage. Here, some of the feed that is fed to the farmed fish gets through the net wall with the water currents and is an easy catch for hungry wild fish.

Scientists at the Norwegian food research institute Nofima have found that fillets from farmed salmon that have received feed with less omega-3 than is commonly used are less intensely coloured. Stress is also a factor that the scientists want to study in more detail.

Research during natural outbreaks of the salmon diseases PD and HSMB shows that mortality can be halved through the optimum use of feed.

The Aquafeed Technology Centre has been awarded NOK 30 million (3.7 mill. USD) by the Research Council of Norway, for research into fish feed. The centre will contribute to knowledge about how raw materials in the fish feed of the future can be used in the best possible way during preprocessing.

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg recently referred to salmon as “Norway’s IKEA”, because people buy and eat Norwegian salmon all over the world. In the same way as IKEA needs materials to build furniture, salmon need a feed on which they can grow. The feeds that are currently in use consist principally of raw materials from plants. A revolution in feed has been under way for the past 15 years. And it’s far from over.