‘Aquamax’ has surveyed and analysed a wide range of alternative ingredients, considering fully their nutritional suitability for fish, their economic viability, their sustainability and their safety. A comprehensive database of potential alternatives has been put in place and validated by Life Cycle Analysis.
At the beginning of the project, a range of analytical methods was already available for a range of undesirable contaminants within farmed fish and their feeds. However, increasing consumer concerns necessitated continuous development of analytical methodology to achieve even lower limits of detection than were available at that time.
‘Aquamax’ has advanced analytical methodology in order to detect very low levels of contaminants and has applied these upgraded techniques to alternative feeds and farmed fish to ensure they are as low in contaminants as possible.
Persistent organic pollutants analysed in feed ingredients and fillets have been detected only attrace levels while market-size fish, fed ‘Aquamax’ diets, show only tracelevels of pollutants - well below EU maximum permitted levels.
The new ‘Aquamax’ diets have been tested in short and long-term feeding and field trials.
The radical dietary changes developed in ‘Aquamax’ have required particularly extensive and thorough monitoring and evaluation of the different fish species fed on these new diets. ‘Aquamax’ has achieved most of this by developing and applying molecular genetic technology using powerful performance-monitoring tools based on transcriptomics and also by the application of proteomic techniques. These approaches also contributed to our understanding of the underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms that determine the fish’s ability to convert the new diets into high quality nutritional products, and their capacity to cope with these diets so as to ensure their health and welfare.
Results confirm that both fish meal and fish oil in feeds can be substantially replaced, without affecting the growth performance of the fish and their feed/nutrient utilisation, thus reducing the “Fish-In Fish-Out (FIFO)” ratios.
Assessing the environmental burdens associated with aquafeeds is a critical component for evaluating and improving the environmental performance of aquaculture. Going beyond the environmental impacts at the farm level, associated with feeds and their utilisation, studies undertaken under ‘Aquamax’ aimed to apply the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to all stages of feed and fish production under diverse farming systems. LCA is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout the life of a product or service.
Results showed that the development of new feeds led to improvements in terms of net primary production, whilst the increased use of vegetable sources can induce an increase in land competition as well as other impacts such as eutrophication and terrestrial ecotoxicity. This has to be taken in consideration in the feed formulation in order to minimise these environmental effects.
‘Aquamax’ has assessed the fish produced on the new diets by expert taste panels, by electronic olfactory analyses, and by direct surveys of consumers purchasing fish through retailers.
Results from the flesh samples of ‘Aquamax’ fish that were subjected to electronic nose analysis and to evaluation of organoleptic properties by expert panels have established that the differences in sensory attributes are slight and that only small changes in odour, flavour and oiliness are detectable.
Consumer evaluation studies, made in Greece and France, on ‘Aquamax’ sea bream and trout have resulted both in high acceptance and appreciation of the fish farmed on the new diets. In both studies consumers’ satisfaction was at least equal or even better for the fish farmed on ‘Aquamax’ feeds, showing that the substitution of FM and FO with vegetable alternatives is a fully feasible option for widespread implementation in the near future.
