Market challenges
Seafood is a major source of animal protein and a livelihood for many populations. Fisheries and aquaculture production reached 178 million tons of aquatic animals in 2020 (FAO). Environmental issues are at the heart of this market. They will guarantee the long-term supply of aquatic food products.
While the fishing industry needs to make further progress to manage stocks* sustainably and reduce its impact on ecosystems, aquaculture also needs to be part of sustainable production. For example, the substitution of non-renewable raw materials such as fish oils and fish meal from industrial fishing. These are still widely used in the manufacture of feed for farmed fish.
Substituting controversial raw materials with microalgae biomass will require the capacity to produce on a large scale and at compatible prices. Feed represents 50% of aquaculture production costs.
Let's not forget that the primary producers of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA**) are microalgae, the first link in the oceanic food chain. These omega 3, which accumulate in abundance in the flesh of oily fish, are essential to the development of the juvenile stages of many aquatic animals and essential to human beings, for cognitive, ocular and cardiovascular health, at all stages of life.
FAO 2022: 35% of the world's fish stocks are overexploited
**EPA: EicosaPentaenoic Acid; DHA: DocosaHexaenoic Acid
