Seaweed feed will make organic farmed salmon a reality

Galway-based Ocean Harvest Technology announced on Tuesday its intent to begin commercially producing a new seaweed-derived salmon feed ingredient that will make possible the world's first organically raised farmed salmon.

OceanFeed’s development is being celebrated as a key breakthrough in product quality and environmental consciousness within the farmed salmon industry, currently worth a yearly EUR 6 billion.

The new feed is meant to take the place of the synthetic additives now used in commercial salmon feed. Extensive trials with farmed salmon have been conducted with some of the world’s leading salmon farm companies, and they have yielded excellent results regarding the health, taste and appearance of the salmon raised on OceanFeed.

Leading aquaculture feed producers have already been showing great interest across the globe. EWOS UK, a leading salmon feed producer, has already optioned the first year's production, according to Business World.

"The long term importance of aquaculture in helping to feed the world has always meant that sustainable solutions would need to be found,” said Ocean Harvest CEO Patrick Martin. "The belief is that OceanFeed will be a key ingredient in helping to make the industry more environmentally, as well as financially, sustainable."

OceanFeed is made with a proprietary blend of seaweeds harvested from waters around the world, but some of its key elements are sourced exclusively off the Irish coast. It is the first 100 per cent sustainable and organic marine sourced complete aquaculture feed formula.

Martin said Ocean Harvest is developing a firm in the West of Ireland that will eventually be able to supply salmon farms in Scotland, Norway and Chile.