KVÆLSTOP

The goal of the action is to develop nitrogen-optimized fish feed that reduces the industry’s nitrogen emissions and climate footprint without compromising fish growth performance or welfare. Nitrogen emissions from aquaculture come from the protein in the feed that fish do not incorporate. Protein makes up about 45% of the feed, but due to the typical protein composition, fish incorporate less than half, with the rest being burned and excreted as nitrogen into the water. Therefore, there is significant potential to optimize the protein composition of the feed so that fish incorporate a larger proportion of protein nitrogen while reducing excretion accordingly. Over 70% of the industry’s CO2 footprint comes from the feed, mainly due to the use of imported soy. Besides the CO2 load and associated transport, soy cultivation is linked to deforestation, making it possible to reduce the industry’s climate footprint by replacing soy with locally-produced protein raw materials with low environmental and climate impact. Overall, it is expected that it through protein optimization and the use of local protein raw materials in the feed will be possible to reduce the specific nitrogen emission (kg nitrogen/ton feed) by up to 21% while simultaneously reducing the industry’s climate impact.