IFFO’s Technical Director Brett Glencross opened the Challenges and Opportunities session held at IFFO's Annual conference on 24 October with a quick recap of IFFO’s technical and regulatory work. Most notably he reviewed one of the key outcomes from the Members Meeting held in Madrid earlier in the years, which aligned well with IFFO’s work building a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and Threats) analysis on feed ingredients used by the aquafeed sector. Our findings showed that there is no such thing as the perfect ingredient, but that by better appreciating the positives and negatives of all ingredients we can significantly increase our adaptability.
What is precision nutrition?
Delving further into the formulation of aquafeeds, Dr Jorge Dias (Sparos Lda) noted that the industry has evolved greatly over recent decades and is now entering an era of knowledge based precision nutrition. This concept takes into account broader elements of production performance and sustainability criteria, but in particular focuses on the precise definition of nutrient and energy supply and the feed design specifications required to deliver that. Formulators need to cover the requirements of all essential nutrients (40), promote the well-being of the animals, ensure good feed intake and now also incorporate carbon-footprint metrics.
Fishmeal, fish oil supply has been stable over the last decades and are now seen as strategic/functional ingredients as they bring benefits beyond the coverage of nutritional requirements. Marine ingredients are often used in the early growth stages, but this fluctuates from region and species. Taking a closer look at the optimal range of amino acids, in terms of protein digestibility but also the metabolic protein use. Digestible and closely controlled ingredients are key and the industry continues to learn about the bioactivity of fishmeal. Not all fishmeals are equal and we need to differentiate the products between species and manufacturing processes. There is still a strong reliance on fish oil and alternative sources of EPA and DHA appearing but with sensitive use alongside fish oil. The industry needs to continue refining it optimisation of nutrient specifications and targeting those ingredients that bring benefits beyond basic nutrient supply. This includes increasing the range of ingredients available and focusing on more efficient feeds through more precisely defining what animals need. The industry needs to do better with the existing resources, focus on emerging trends and rising challenges.
Filling the data gaps in marine ingredients
Continuing with the environmental perspectives on feed, but now focusing on lifecycle assessment (LCA) data gaps, Skretting’s Jorge Diaz Salinas raised awareness on what data is needed to carry out LCA following the appropriate GFLI methodologies. Skretting needs this data as it is required by regulators, feed customers are increasingly asking for this data, the retailers are now demanding this information through science-based targets; and lastly it is needed to comply with certifications. The GFLI has rough average data for fishmeal/oil from 10 countries, with specific data for 15 different species (13 whole fish/3 trimmings) mainly from Norway, Peru, Mexico, and the US. Marine ingredient suppliers need to work on their own primary data and there are many gaps that the industry needs to fill.
Raw materials used in the feed are the main driver of emissions by the feed sector and tracking and reduction of that footprint can only be achieved with the correct data. In order to calculate carbon footprint, water footprint, and all the other footprints required as part of the LCA process, data is needed from various stages in the ingredient production process, including catching, transport, processing and storage. The information required includes such detail as the types of vessels used, their construction, the use of refrigerants, and fuel used in the fishing operation, and this is all before we consider what happens once the fish comes ashore for the fishmeal and oil production process.
Why where something comes from matters
The need for data was echoed by Dr Wesley Malcorps, (Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling), who explored how understanding where and how seafood is produced is crucial to verify the status of those raw materials in relation to laws on food safety and production practices. But this information is also critical for the LCA story as raw material origin plays a big part in how environmental burdens are allocated. He noted that “we need to first define what sustainability is and decide on what we want to achieve first. Sustainability is a journey, not an endpoint and saying that something is sustainable can limit further improvements”. Sustainability is not just about the environment, but includes many aspects, such as social and economic aspects as well as fish welfare indicators. If we don’t include them all, we are not really talking about sustainability.
Traceability is a key part of this if we want to understand where things come from, how we are moving things forward, and transferring that information along the supply chain to stakeholders and final consumers. Businesses need to identify key data elements and who needs them, including the end consumers to inform their choices and drive market change. Feeds perform differently depending on the impact categories used and companies need to understand the trade-offs between these different environmental and social impacts, and marine and terrestrial environments. Malcorps stated that “we are interested in marine ingredients, and they have a low carbon footprint compared to plant ingredients. However, if we are going to produce more sustainable marine ingredients, we need to use more by-products. Traceability is crucial to ensure that the by-product resources are from safe and sustainable resources.”
The use of a shared network along the supply chain is the way forward. This could be done by using IoT devices, with a trusted database that is not managed by a single authority, immutable, decentralized and hard to hack. It is important to note, that in a shared network, participants need incentives to share data, and they need to feel that protected, and that they are not being monitored.
What Omega-3's do in Humans
Moving our focus to human nutrition, Professor Philip Calder (University of Southampton) explored the lessons learned from human omega-3 physiology. EPA and DHA provide special and unique biological properties to humans, changing the physicality of the membrane and its function, changing protein and lipid function and structure in a more optimal way. This changes gene expression patterns, altering when proteins are produced, cell responses and activation, and “raft” assembly in the cell membrane, which affects the way in which proteins and cell membranes function. The overall benefit varies among the different organs throughout the body, including aiding visual function, cognitive function, metabolism, inflammation regulation, immune responses, oxidative stress, blood coagulation, organ function (e.g. Heart, Liver, Lung, Muscle), and wound healing.