In relation to alternative fish feeds it is important to understand, especially from a consumers' perspective, how vegetable-based feed will affect the taste and texture of farmed salmon. The fatty acid profile of fish is affected by what the fish eat and using vegetable oils in place of fish oils may alter the balance of healthy Omega-3 and less-desirable Omega-6 fatty acids. Consequently, flavour and marketability may be affected which in turn may negatively affect consumer demand. It should be noted that making predatory fish into plant eaters is extremely complicated, and at present, there are lots of areas of scientific uncertainty.

Consumer acceptance  of fish produced on the new Aquamax diets

Sea bream fed the AquaMax diet has been produced under commercial conditions by a private partner SELONDA and distributed through a retailer (Carrefour) outlet in Marousi, Greece. Prior to dispatch, the fish were tagged using barcodes containing traceability data. These tags were used by consumers at the info kiosk in the outlet to retrieve information on the origin of the fish and the conditions under which it was farmed. Consumer feedback after consumption was collected through questionnaires and through telephone interviews. 

Some preliminary results of the survey are: 

• 87% of the consumers thought that farmed fish is fresher than wild fish
• 95% of the consumers thought that AquaMax sea bream tasted better than usual.

These results reflect what has also been found for AquaMax salmon and trout, that is relatively high indices of satisfaction and consumer acceptance.