The issue of the feeding of farmed fish is drawing increasing attention. It was debated in detail, on 23 February, at a public hearing on the future of aquaculture, organised by the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries (PECH - see Europolitics 3926). The subject was also the focus of discussions, on 3 March, at a meeting of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Subgroup of the Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Chaired by Pat Gallagher (ALDE, Ireland), this session forms part of the discussions under way on reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, including aquaculture.

Once again, the focus was on fishmeal and fish oils as well as the use of fish resources for fattening. “Whatever the use of the fisheries resources, ie animal/fish feed or human consumption, we need to have an effective management of fisheries,” commented UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director Grimur Valdimarsson. Participants argued for a certification mechanism that could play a key role in promoting sustainable activity, mentioning the examples of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO Responsible Supply Standard), whose certification systems are managed on the basis of FAO criteria. This helps cut back on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Despite annual growth of 10% in aquaculture, the use of fishmeal and fish oils in this sector has remained steady in recent years. This results from improved efficiency in their use and the growing use of trimmings from processing of fish for human consumption. Dawn Purchase (Marine Conservation Society) nevertheless stressed that raw materials to feed fish are limited resources and that their use is becoming more strategic in order to maximise their nutritional properties and the content of healthy long chain Omega 3s. Several participants pointed out that numerous research programmes are working on alternative solutions with similar nutritional quality. However, added Gallagher, considering the significant part that fish represent in the diet of many farmed fish species, a complete substitution of marine ingredients would lead to less healthy products for fish and consumers. Intergroup Chair Struan Stevenson (ECR, UK) pointed out that Parliament is looking into ways of reducing or putting an end to the problem of discards and that this is an ideal opportunity to use immature or out-of-quota fish.