The demand for fish oil rich in omega-3 has long been greater than the supply. Sources that can meet the requirement for omega-3 in the diet of farmed fish have until now been scarce. However, new sources of omega-3 are partly on the market and research shows that these are safe to use in farmed salmon feed.

Fish oil is an ideal source of omega-3 in salmon feed, but the capacity to produce farmed salmon using fish oil as the main source of omega-3 in feed is limited, if the farmed salmon itself is to remain a rich source of omega-3. This means that the salmon feed industry needs access to large volumes of new ingredients that contain omega-3. Experiments at Nofima have shown that a type of algae known as “heterotrophic algae” can fully replace fish oil in feed used for small salmon.

Nofima’s accredited contract and research laboratory offers analytical services in chemistry, microbiology and physical measurements.