Nofima, the Norwegian institute for applied research within the fields of fisheries, aquaculture, and food research, launched the Millennial Salmon Project with partners across the value chain to accelerate the development of sustainable solutions for the future of farmed salmon.

The goal of the four-year project is to create the most sustainable-farmed salmon using novel ingredients from the circular economy and with a low carbon footprint while addressing the initiative’s “millennial principles of life” – living healthy; leading a purposeful live; trusting peers; and considering their societal and environmental impacts.

With a €1.3 Million budget, the Millennial Salmon Project is primarily funded by the Research Council of Norway and made up of leading organizations, Nofima, InnovaFeed, Corbion Algae Ingredients, Cargill, SINTEF Ocean and Auchan.

The project will study two alternative feed ingredients – protein-rich, insect-based feed ProtiNova from InnovaFeed, and algae-based omega-3s, AlgaPrime™ DHA from Corbion, both of which offer minimal land use.

The evidence-based study will test the levels that are required to optimize physical and nutritional needs of salmon, discover the practical and functional properties of both alternatives, as well as demonstrate the environmental and societal aspects of the suggested innovations. SINTEF Ocean will be conducting a life cycle analysis of the resulting Millennial Salmon feed.

“This project is one critical piece to pave the way for a healthier and more sustainable salmon. We are pleased to collaborate with leading organizations across the value chain. By joining forces, we are accelerating the innovation in the sector to find new solutions to increase the flexibility in the choice of sustainable raw materials for future fish feed,” says Katerina Kousoulaki, project leader and senior scientist at Nofima.

The Millennial Salmon Project was formed as a response to the critical need to accelerate the global momentum around sourcing, scaling and developing sustainable, alternative solutions for aquaculture and to address changing consumer behavior. The UN FAO predicts the world will reach 9 billion people by 2050 and with its +5% year-over-year1 production growth, aquaculture is expected to play a critical role in assuring global food security. To meet this need, the FAO urges the industry to catalyze change, calling on it to produce more nutritious food using less resources, emitting lower carbon dioxide emissions and protecting biodiversity and the resilience of ecosystems.

The Millennial Salmon Project addresses this industry demand by working to provide by 2025 an integrated solution to salmon farmers that balances the raw materials in the feed basket and provides greater flexibility from the use of finite marine resources and land-demanding resources. The Millennial salmon will be a healthy product for the consumer, but also a healthier farmed animal, fed with and grown with higher levels of omega-3s derived from microalgae.

Learn more about Millennial Salmon Project here: nofima.no/en/project/millennial-salmon/