The tool is the culmination of three decades of research, details of which were recently published in the journal Aquaculture. Researchers from the Universities of Stirling, Lancaster, Aberdeen and Cambridge believe it will dramatically improve nutrient retention in farmed fish.
BFP have created the on-line tool to make the research more accessible for industry and other stakeholders, with a goal to enhance marine resource use efficiency in commercial aquaculture diets. They aim to continually improve the tool, with more features – underpinned by more data – as it becomes available. The tool is currently accessible for free on desktops and tablets, with a mobile web version anticipated for launch later this year. This update will also introduce a benchmarking feature, allowing for comparison of FIFO performance against industry averages.
Background
The aquaculture industry has faced increasing scrutiny due to its use of wild fish to create fishmeal and fish oil. Environmental advocates argue that this practice threatens the health of ocean ecosystems. In response to these concerns, the research team has developed the nutrient fish-in fish-out (nFIFO) ratio, built on established FIFO metrics, which promises to redefine efficiency in aquaculture feed management.
The key reason for using marine ingredients in aquafeeds is their high omega-3 oil content. Omega-3s are important for many human health and development reasons and seafood is the only reliable source in human diets. Farmed fish acquire omega-3s through the marine ingredients that they are fed, but there is a global shortage and therefore it is important to be as efficient as possible in their conversion from wild fish to farmed product.
Traditional fish-in fish-out (FIFO) metrics report the ratio of wild-caught fish used in aquafeeds, but – according to BFP – nFIFO is an improvement on that model, incorporating nutrient retention efficiency of the wild fish by farmed fish. nFIFO also weights the contributions from by-products (parts of fish not consumed by humans) more favourably to encourage their use as a more sustainable source of marine ingredients.
Whereas, older versions of FIFO used global averages for fish inputs, the nFIFO tool represents individual fish species, along with their marine ingredient yields and individual omega-3 content. Users can prioritise species based on perceived sustainability, food/feed competition, or increased by-product inclusions. The nFIFO tool also weights ingredients according to their price, reflecting market volatility that is assumed to be a result of availability and therefore the sustainability of the supply.
BFP points out that the economic weighting is compatible with life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, which therefore allows organisations to integrate the outputs of LCA and nFIFO into comprehensive sustainability assessments to better understand sustainability trade-offs through the supply chain. These methodologies are vital for understanding the full environmental consequences of aquaculture practices and ensuring that resources are used more strategically.
Industry applications
BFP is currently working with companies in the Hatch-supported Crest accelerator to undertake LCAs and other sustainability assessments. The startup offers environmental (including life cycle assessment), socio-economic, nutritional and fish welfare assessments for seafood companies at any point along the value chain and can provide guidance and support to enhance sustainability performance. They also offer bespoke services to validate any organisation’s sustainability claims.
Looking ahead, Dr Malcorps adds that BFP plans add more species-specific whole fish and by-product meals and oils in the upcoming update, providing detailed insights in marine resource efficiency of a variety of farmed species.
The FIFO Tool introduction page is directly accessible here.
