Objective 1: to develop feeds based on sustainable alternatives to fish meal and fish oil to produce healthy and minimally contaminated fish that are highly nutritious and acceptable to consumers, by:

·         surveying and analysing a wide range of possible alternative feed stuffs

·         strengthening and extending our analytical capacity for undesirable compounds

·         formulating and producing novel aquafeeds

·         conducting short- and long-term fish feeding trials and farm-level demonstrations

·         analysing metabolic consequences for the fish when fed the new feeds

·         developing and applying molecular tools to assess the performance of fish

·         analysing nutrient x genome interactions in the fish fed the new diets

·         analysing transfer kinetics of toxicants and xenobiotics from new feeds to the fish

·         analysing impacts of veterinary drugs on fish fed new feeds

·         assessing the health and welfare of fish fed the new feeds

·         analysing and ensuring quality of fish farmed on new feeds

·         assessing the ecological sustainability of producing fish on the new feeds

·         producing fish tailored for human intervention studies and for market research 

Objective 2: to assess health benefits of fish produced on new feeds, by:

·         conducting a nutritional trial in pregnant women focussing on predictors of atopic disease and on the development of immune competence and atopic disease in early infancy;

·         supporting the nutritional trial with a parallel study during pregnancy and early infancy in communities that consume different quantities and types of fish.

Objective 3: to assess the safety of fish farmed on the new feeds, by:

·         developing innovative food safety toxicity tests by identifying and characterising signature effects of key toxicants in fish;

·         elucidating actions of key toxicants and their amelioration by fish nutrients in developing animals and cultured cells;

·         conducting food safety tests in animals fed fish farmed on traditional and new feeds. 

Objective 4: to assess perceptions regarding farmed fish and to devise a framework to communicate the risk and benefits of consuming farmed fish to the public and other Stakeholders, by:

·         understanding the current perceptions the public has towards the consumption of farmed fish

·         analysing media coverage of farmed fish consumption

·         assessing the awareness and the perception of the risks and benefits associated with the consumption of farmed fish

·         formulating proactive strategies so as to communicate to the public and other stake holders

·         the risks and benefits of consuming fish farmed using the sustainable diets developed in the Project.