Farmed fish not getting enough, erm, fish oil?

By 21. November 2014Blog, Health, Nutrition

Yes, believe it or not, the omega 3 content of farmed fish could be seriously dropping at the moment as they are not getting enough omega 3 fatty acids in their fish food.

Fish do not produce omega 3 fatty acids themselves, they come from algae that they normally feed on, or smaller fish who fed on the algae. Farmed fish such as salmon are given a fish food containing fish oil to ensure they get enough and will contain enough omega 3 fatty acids.

According to an article on the website Nutraingredients.com, the shortage of fish oil is all due to the weather event El Niño that has caused the closure of an anchovy fishery in Peru. This fishery supplied 70% of the omega 3 fatty acids used in human nutrition. Makers of fish food are looking for alternatives to the fish oil they normally get from the fishery and in some cases they have been using vegetable oil.

It’s a shame there is such an aversion to GM (that’s genetic modification not General Motors) as there would now be a plant source for high levels of omega 3 fatty acids that could be used to feed the fish as we reported on back in January.  

Click here to read the article on the Nutraingredients website.