Nofima’s Heterotrophic Algae to Replaces Fish Oil in Salmon Feed
Nofima, the Norwegian institute of food, fisheries and aquaculture research, has shown through their experiments that heterotrophic algae can completely replace fish oil in salmon feed.
The Algae meal seems to be a better alternative in various aspects
The tested heterotrophic algae grow in the presence of oxygen and a carbon source, while a phototrophic alga specifically requires light and carbon dioxide
The productivity for heterotrophic algae is approximately 10 gram/l when grown in large reactors, while it is 0.06 gram/l for phototrophic algae
It contains 3 times more fat, particularly omega-3, when compared with fish oil
This alga is a non GMO
Small Salmons fed with 200 grams of this algae meal for a period of 12 weeks, have tripled their body weight irrespective of the feed they received
The presence of short chain saturated fatty acids in the algae meal eliminates the use of palm oil as a stabilizing agent in the fish feed
Nofima currently works on improving the processing methods of algae, and focuses on the use of algae meal as a whole-life food.
