Preserving wild fish stocks

Every year around one million metric tons of fish oil is produced worldwide and its only source now is wild fish. Most of the oil produced is used in aquaculture to feed fat-rich fish species, such as salmon. Just like humans, farmed fish need to regularly consume the oil rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids to be healthy and grow. However, as the wild fish stocks are declining all across the world, the amount of fish oil available for farmed animals is decreasing too.

Royal DSM and Evonik have managed to produce omega-3 fatty acids without using wild-caught fish. They have developed sustainable fermentation processes on naturally occurring marine algae. This new omega-3 source will be used in salmon aquaculture as well as in pet food and could potentially be used to feed other types of fish.

Associated SDG targets