Contestants competing in the F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition have sold a combined 3,185 tonnes of fish-free feed in the sales contest designed to spark innovation in the aquafeed industry to find viable, cost-competitive replacements to fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture feeds.
Dainichi Corporation remains in the lead in the Other Carnivorous Species Category for its “fish-free” feed for red sea bream. The contestants Star Milling Co (salmonid category) and Empagran/Veramaris (shrimp category) maintain their leads in their respective categories.
An estimated 88 million forage fish have not been used as feed ingredients since contestants began reporting sales, according to the F3 Feed Innovation Network’s forage fish savings calculator.
The F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition winners will be announced in October at the Global Seafood Alliance’s GOAL conference in Seattle.
A collaborative effort between NGOs, academic institutions, and private partnerships, F3 - Future of Fish Feed’s goal is to assure greater global food security by reducing the aquaculture industry’s reliance on fishmeal and fish oil derived from small forage fish such as menhaden and sardines and to future-proof the industry against shocks to the supply chain.
Contestants began recording sales as of 1 October 2020 or after submitting their feed.
The qualifying F3 feeds for all prize categories must not contain any ingredients consisting of or derived from marine animals, including but not limited to fish, squid, shrimp or krill. The award is US$100,000 in each of the three categories.
Sponsors of the F3 Challenge include the University of Arizona, The Campbell Foundation, Synbiobeta, The Nature Conservancy, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Anthropocene Institute, Dawson Family Fund, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Tides Foundation, Cuna Del Mar, the National Renderers Association and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
