As mentioned in a post earlier this month, ABO member TerraVia (formerly Solazyme, Inc.) and Bunge Ltd. reached a definitive commercial supply agreement to provide algae-derived omega-3 oils for incorporation into feed for farmed salmon.
The announcement has since captured the attention of those outside the biomass industry, including the San Francisco Chronicle, which published a story last week shedding light on the big picture of the partnership.
Wild fish such as sardines are in rapid decline due to overfishing. It takes one pound of wild fish to produce just one pound of farmed salmon, so it’s no wonder that two of the largest fisheries that supply fish oil closed in the past two years due to population decline—The Pacific sardine fishery closed most recently after its population plunged from 1.1 million tons in 2007 to just over 100,000 tons in 2015.
TerraVia’s production facility in Brazil can “produce 100,000 tons of feed, which could offset one-tenth of the worldwide supply of fish oil.”
AlgaPrime DHA will be a major facilitator in replenishing the ocean’s wild fish population and sustainably farming salmon in a cost effective manner. And it’s all thanks to algae!