Aquaculture for all

IFFO delivers fishmeal and fish oil updates

Atlantic Salmon Feed ingredients Anchovies +11 more

Trends in the fishmeal and fish oil markets in China, Peru, Mexico and Europe were explored in a webinar held by IFFO this week.

a shoal of fish
A shoal of anchovies

The quota set by the Peruvian authorities on 23 November 2022 for the second anchovy fishing season in the north-centre of the country is at 2.283 million tonnes.

Opening the webinar, IFFO’s director general, Petter Martin Johannessen, underlined the important role that marine ingredients play in supporting the growth of aquaculture, with half of the raw material already certified as being responsibly sourced. IFFO’s China director, Maggie Xu, highlighted the capacity for marine ingredients to contribute to food security. In 2020, based of FAO and IFFO data, marine ingredients contributed to the production of 7 kg of fish per capita. 30 to 40 million tonnes of additional feed ingredients are estimated to be needed in aquafeed globally by 2030.

IFFO’s market research director, Enrico Bachis noted that just over 5 million tonnes of fishmeal and 1.2 million tonnes of fish oil were produced in 2021 - a figure in line with previous years. He also noted that 30 percent of the raw material used worldwide to produce fishmeal and fish oil comes from by-products. According to TripleNine’s chief sales officer, Jon Tarlebø, production of fishmeal in Europe over the last few years has been around 600,000 tonnes, with a good part of production coming from salmon trimmings.

IFFO’s technical director, Dr Brett Glencross reported FAO’s announcement earlier in 2022 that 65 percent of global fish stocks were considered well managed, which represented more than 80 percent of the global fisheries biomass. Importantly, recent studies have clearly demonstrated that when effective fisheries management is put in place, there is clear capacity to rebuild fish stocks.

James Frank, director at MSICeres, shed a light on Peru’s fishmeal and fish oil industry, based on 82 industrial and residual plants. The quota set by the Peruvian authorities on 23 November 2022 for the second fishing season of anchovy and white anchovy in the North-Centre of the country is at 2.283 million tonnes, which is 33 percent of the biomass.

Asia and China provide more than 80 percent of the farmed fish worldwide, and consume 70 percent of the marine ingredients used in aquaculture, but only 30 percent of the fish oil is used in aquafeed, Enrico Bachis explained. However, Dr Xia Fan, executive deputy director of China National Feed Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Beijing), explained that China's domestic fishmeal production is low, therefore most high-quality feed fishmeal is imported.

“It is of great significance to strengthen the safety access and risk analysis of fishmeal to promote the healthy development of feed production, animal husbandry and aquaculture in China,” she insisted.

According to Armando Coppel, of Maz Industrial, Mexico contributes 1.35 percent to the world’s small pelagics catch. Currently, a total of 94 active vessels catch over 750,000 tonnes of small pelagics a year.

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