Environmental efficiency is the lifeblood of sustainable, competitive fish production and blue growth based on water resources. With the development of feeds and more precise feeding methods, the Finnish fish farming industry has invested heavily in reducing nutrient loads since the early 1990s. The industry has been able to reduce the phosphorus load from fish farming by more than 80% and the nitrogen load by almost 70%.
Fennoaqua’s product range offers the possibility to go even further. As a forerunner, we help fish farmers succeed while respecting the environment. We also help consumers make informed, sustainable choices. Rainbow trout and whitefish farmed in Finland are both on the WWF’s green list of recommended fish.
Our first-ever sustainability report has been released. In this report we disclosure our achievements and commitments towards environmental and social sustainability.
Our ESG report and the ongoing calculation of our carbon footprint are crucial for guiding our future growth. At the core of our operations lies a commitment to resource efficiency, minimizing our operational footprint, and upholding overall accountability for our actions.
The Baltic Blend® trademark indicates that purified fish meal and oil made from Baltic Sea fish are used as raw materials. Every kilo of fish farmed with Baltic Blend feed recycles nutrients and even removes phosphorus from the Baltic Sea. It has also helped reduce the nitrogen load from fish farming by 75%. Indeed, Baltic Blend is an excellent example of the circular economy at a local level. Marine raw materials from sustainably caught fish stocks naturally meet the nutritional requirements of fish.
Our Baltic Blend feed is a significant innovation for the entire fishing industry, including fishers, fish meal manufacturers, the fish feed industry and consumers. The widespread use of the Baltic Blend feed promotes fishing and brings the underutilised herring and sprat onto our plates, purified in the processing chain, in the form of rainbow trout or whitefish, for example.
Alltech Fennoaqua started producing Baltic Blend in 2016. Between 2016 and 2022, the use of Finnish fish meal and oil made from Baltic herring and sprat as feed raw material has resulted in 18,000 kg more phosphorus being removed from the Baltic Sea each year than the total amount of phosphorus released by Finnish fish farming. The amount removed is equivalent to the annual amount of phosphorus discharged into the environment by approximately 225,000 people through wastewater treatment.
Traditionally, marine fish oil has been used as an energy source in fish feeds. In Fennoaqua’s Opti feeding concept, fish oil is largely replaced by rapeseed oil. This saves a significant amount of valuable marine resources and is cost-effective for the farmer. The feed with more fish oil is only used at the final growth stage. This ensures that food fish accumulate adequate amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are important for human cardiovascular health. This provides consumers with a top-quality end product that is proven to be healthy and of which the farmer can deservedly be proud.
Fennoaqua’s grower feeds contain phytase enzyme, which significantly reduces the nutrient load of fish farming on water bodies. Phytase improves the fish’s ability to use the phosphorus in the feed and plant-based sources of phosphorus that are otherwise poorly digestible. Thanks to phytase, the feeds contain less phosphorus. Phytase also improves the protein utilisation efficiency of fish.