By Mike Montemarano, Associate Editor09.29.23
Peru’s Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) canceled its first of two anchovy fishing seasons of 2023, which is already causing major supply constraints for the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
According to PRODUCE, the season was canceled because incidence of juveniles in the anchovy population reached 86.3%, making up 77% of the anchovy biomass weight. Later, in August, PRODUCE announced that it would look once more into reopening the fishing season with a 10-day exploratory fishing period in August, but it yielded only a small catch.
Peru, the world’s leading fish oil producer, was the source of approximately 90,500 metric tons of fish oil from Peruvian anchovies in 2022, according to the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED).
to Dr. Enrico Bachis, market research director at IFFO, the marine ingredients organization, Peru is the largest producer of all marine ingredients, and represents 20% of all marine ingredient production globally on average, including 30% of all EPA and DHA products.
A Peruvian government commission that studies El Nino recently issued a report that the weather phenomenon, which warms the surface water in the region, will continue with strong to moderate effects until March 2024, resulting in the anchovy populations of the area maintaining a more coastal and deeper distribution than what is typical.
“The Peruvian anchovy, from which fish oil is extracted, is particularly sensitive to the El Nino Southern Oscillation, meaning that fishing and yields could be affected by the oceanic conditions. Over the last 3 years, catches have been good under La Nina [an oceanic cooling of the same region which takes place every 3-5 years] while oil yields have been lower than average. This year, El Nino conditions have so far affected both landings and oil yields. The expectation is that once El Nino is over, landings could go back to average levels as seen many times before,” Bachis said.
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a nonprofit consortium of over 100 colleges and universities, noted that Peru was the biggest fishing nation in the world beginning in the 1960s and 70s. However, in 1972, no anchovies were to be found when El Nino hit.
Since that crisis, the Peruvian government has imposed a yearly quota on anchovies.
More recently, in 2014, the Peruvian government shut down fishing for two consecutive seasons due to similar concerns about the size and proportion of juveniles in the anchovy population. Experts in the field are hopeful that the present impact on the population is a result of the weather phenomenon and not a permanent condition related to climate change, according to Ellen Schutt, GOED’s managing director.
Shutdowns like this year’s, along with strict quotas, are considered benchmark measures of sustainable fishing, said Bachis. “The Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) concept is generally considered the benchmark of what sustainability means in fisheries. For a given fish stock, MSY means the highest possible annual catch that can be sustained over time by keeping the stock at the level producing maximum growth of the biomass. Regulating fishing ... is key to targeting this MSY; it ensures both profitability for the fisheries as well as sustainability for the stocks. The Peruvian anchovy fishery has stayed above the MSY-based reference point since the application of the strict, scientifically-based management techniques.”1
In 2023, only approximately 4,700 metric tons of crude Peruvian anchovy oil were produced ahead of the cancellation.
Schutt reported that it’s unlikely the second fishing season of the year, slated to take place in October to December, will yield enough volume to make up for the supply shortfall of the first fishing season as well as last year’s low production. And with El Nino projected to maintain its strong effects through the rest of the year, that second anchovy season still appears to be hanging in the balance at the time of this reporting. However, Schutt believes the situation is short-term and that supply will stabilize.
“Fish oil production in Peru had already suffered from the lower-than-average fat content reported during the year 2022,” Bachis concurred, noting that prices will continue to rise. “The poor catches and oil yields reported so far in 2023 added pressure on already-stretched international prices. For the regions for which IFFO regularly tracks production of marine ingredients, which is roughly worth 50% of the global output, cumulative total fishmeal production during the first six months of 2023 was down by almost one third compared to the cumulative production reported through June 2022. The primary factor driving such decline is the production drop of approximately 70% reported in Peru year over year.”
Yet another cost hike seems unavoidable, said Ståle Søfting, sales and marketing director at GC Rieber VivoMega. “We may see shortages in some cases, as the total available supply will be constrained in the short term. To tackle this, several changes are being made in the supply chain. For example, feed producers are converting some of their omega-3 input from fish to algae. We have introduced a new line of high-quality algae omega-3 concentrates to complement our fish-based omega-3 solutions portfolio.”
According to a book published in 2019 by the American Geophysical Union, El Nino is likely to increase in severity and frequency with rising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The book is “the first comprehensive examination of how ENSO [El Nino Southern Oscillation], its dynamics and its impacts may change under the influence of rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere,” wrote Michael McPhaden, senior scientist with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle and co-editor of El Nino Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate.2
Extreme El Nino events may double in frequency by the end of the 21st century, McPhaden noted. “The strongest events may also become even stronger than they are today.”
Today, El Nino events are still on track with historical patterns, said Bachis, and while the present cancellation is discouraging, the high proportion of juvenile anchovies suggests that a major population rebound is possible.
“This year’s short fishing season in North Central Peru is the result of the Peruvian government’s efforts to protect the health of the fisheries during El Nino events,” he said. “The biomass remains healthy, in fact, as it was estimated to be over 6 million metric tons in spite of all the difficulties encountered by scientists to find the anchovy shoals, meaning that the real biomass could be much larger … This year’s first fishing season has so far delivered only 20% of the granted quota, but the presence of juveniles suggests a healthy biomass will be available for future fishing when the young fish mature … A potential rebound could thus come next year.”
As concern for the ocean grows, expect sustainability certifications to likewise grow in popularity among environmentally conscious consumers, who will seek out brands that adapt to the effects of climate change.
“Adapting wisely to these changes is crucial to the industry’s overall sustainability,” said Søfting. “The pioneering producers who have embraced both sustainability-verified omega-3 fish oil production and ‘catch-free’ vegan omega-3 sourcing ought to be emulated widely, not least because they are growing market share. This is another way in which marine omega-3 supplement companies are uniquely equipped. They enable consumers to decide where their omega-3 nutrition comes from and how regeneratively it can be produced.”
The increased total catch could also reduce insufficient intakes of iron deficiencies in 4 million people, vitamin B12 deficiencies in 18 million people, zinc and calcium deficiencies in 2.5 million and 24 million people, respectively, and vitamin A in 5 million people. These findings are based on the Aquatic Foods Composition Database, created by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Presently, one third of global fish stocks are exploited at an unsustainable level, according to MSC.
“By 2030, the world population is projected to reach 8.5 billion. That’s half a billion more people than we currently have, and half a billion more people who need to eat, putting even more pressure on the earth,” said Nicole Condon, Marine Stewardship Council U.S. Program director. “Catastrophic climate impacts and overfishing are threatening ocean health, making managing our wild seafood sources sustainably more important than ever.”
In addition to the Peru fishery being the most dominant by volume, the fat derived from fish local to the region is also especially high in EPA and DHA content compared to other regions of the globe, and fish oil manufacturers will need to deal with variable omega-3 richness in fish oil products depending on where they source from.
“Although no other country has the natural resources to match the Peruvian anchovy catch, the final balance for the global supply of fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids both in 2023 and 2024 will depend on many variables in many regions which are difficult to account for at the moment,” said Bachis.
According to a recent review published in Nutrients, before fish oil concentrates reach their standardized content, fatty cold-water fish can range from having 5-15% omega-3 fatty acids content in total triglycerides. Fish from coastal regions and aquaculture, in general, have less content by weight of omega-3 fatty acids.3
The second-largest fishery in which crude fish oil is produced is the sardine fishery in Morocco, Schutt said. The Moroccan government, at press time, is still evaluating an agreement which covers its fisheries partnership with the EU, however.
Other small fisheries the industry could turn to include Turkey and Oman, as well as fisheries in Chile and India, although these latter two fisheries typically have crude oil with 20% EPA/DHA content, well below the standard 30% supplement manufacturers are accustomed to, Schutt noted.
While there are plenty of other sources of omega-3s available on the market, including oil derived from salmon, tuna, cod liver, pollock, krill, calanus, and algae, all of these sources combined won’t fully compensate for the shortage in Peruvian anchovy oil.
Challenges will be frequent at all points in the supply chain—whether refiners, concentrators, and finished product brands have enough stock to meet consumer demand until 2024 may be a case-by-case situation, Schutt reported.
Like in other markets, the fishing industry is scrutinizing food waste and potential efficiencies. VivoMega, for example, is utilizing upcycled material from the fishmeal industry thanks to specialized processing technology.
“Knowing where the byproduct materials are sourced from is equally important. We only source raw material certified by Friend of the Sea and MarinTrust, two leading organizations for sustainable and responsible fishery management,” said Søfting. “VivoMega’s processing technology takes this further by allowing the company to minimize unwanted waste material. We use the biofuel from fish oil production, reducing the need for external energy sources. Our local aquaculture and food production industries use the remaining biofuel and fertilizer byproducts. This entire process and its day-to-day environmental initiatives allow VivoMega to minimize its eco-footprint dramatically.”
Spearheading efforts to minimize waste can be one of the most straightforward ways a fish oil producer can improve its overall impact, Søfting said. “We are in a position to work together and guide the marine products industry into implementing better principles and techniques from the initial catch to the finished product,” he said.
Over the past decade, GC Rieber VivoMega has increased the volume of crude fish oil that gets turned into nutrient-rich feed by more than 165%, salvaging it from repurposing for biofuel.
Compared to fish oil, algae-sourced DHA is still nascent when it comes to strain development and other technological improvements, Søfting said. “We believe that fish and algae oil go hand-in-hand.”
GC Rieber VivoMega launched its first algal oil product earlier this year. “Overall, the most crucial aspect for us is sourcing the best quality raw materials to produce the highest quality omega-3 concentrates with little to no waste or environmental setbacks,” he noted.
According to Greg Cumberford, vice president of science and regulatory at Natures Crops International the biggest near-term growth drivers for plant-based omega-3 sources are: the relatively stable prices and reliability of supply; climate-induced declines in marine EPA and DHA content, which cause increased fishmeal demand; increased practitioner and consumer awareness of the efficacy of plant-based omega-3s; the popularity of veganism and vegetarianism for ecological purposes; commercial success to date; and massive production capacity increases of algae farms.
Ahiflower, an ingredient from Natures Crops, is an oil from the seeds of the Buglossoides arvensis plant rich in alpha-linoleic acid (ALA) and stearidonic acid (SDA), which are converted to EPA and DHA in the body.
The sustainability credentials of this ingredient include its potential in crop rotation and diversification, as well as minimizing synthetic farm inputs, maximizing water conservation, climate resilience, and carbon capture regenerative farming strategies, Cumberford said.
Relying solely on wild-harvested marine omega-3 sources to meet global needs will be an ecological disaster, he added, and both algal and terrestrially-farmed omega-3 sources are needed to lessen human impact.
“Ahiflower oil is the richest naturally occurring source of SDA, at around 20%,” he noted. “Crop production and processing is hugely scalable and can be done following regenerative practices. In many ways, increasing oilseed production for omega-3 at the expense of some omega-6 rich commodity crops like soy or corn could have a net positive impact on rebalancing omega-3: omega-6 intake ratios … We are developing markets and applications for upcycled seed byproducts in agriculture, skin care, and animal supplementation.”
Studies are shedding light on the efficacy of Ahiflower oil not just in conversion to EPA but to DHA as well. In an animal study slated for publication at the end of this year in Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, Ahiflower was shown to convert to DHA in plasma and key tissues at bioavailability levels comparable to fish-based DHA, while already boosting circulating EPA levels more efficiently than flaxseed oil, according to the company.
Another study slated for publication by a team at University of Moncton led by Professor Marc Surette demonstrated that Ahiflower oil reduced markers of inflammation comparably to fish oil, Cumberford noted. These findings add to published research on mice which concluded that, compared to fish oil emulsion, Ahiflower emulsions achieved overall superior “immuno-nutrition” through gut microbiome balancing, insulin sensitizing, and inflammatory-modulating effects.
Similar to marine omega-3s, top priorities of the plant-based segment include creating high-payload powdered oil formats for functional foods and beverages, low- and no-sugar soft chew and gummy applications, upcycled byproducts for pet nutrition, technologies to fortify protein powders, and create emulsions for medical foods, children’s fruit and veggie purees, oils, dressings, dips, and spreads.
“As always, taste and oxidative stability are paramount. Incorporating shorter-chain C18 fatty acids into all of these formats is easier than longer-chain C20 and C22 fatty acids which are inherently more oxidatively sensitive,” Cumberford said.
A new report slated for publication in Sustainability co-authored by Nuseed Nutritional and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) underscored the need for the nutrition industry to respond to both environmental pressure and consumer preference for fish-free omega-3s.4
Nuseed collaborated with CSIRO to enhance canola with microalgae genetics to produce long-chain fatty acids, in order to produce a plant-based oil called Nutriterra which contains the omega-3s DHA, EPA, ALA, and a lesser-known omega-3 fatty acid called DPA. DPA is becoming recognized for having similar properties to other more established omega-3s in inflammatory modulation, altering blood lipids, and more.
Depending on a number of factors, it’s estimated that global warming could lead to a loss of 10-58% of globally available DHA by 2100, according to study authors. Because farmed fish need sustainable sources of omega-3s in their diet, aquaculture can only mitigate this effect for so long. While fermenting microalgae is promising, land-based crops that require minimal energy inputs have much less overhead and more regenerative agriculture potential, the authors noted.
“In terms of environmental considerations, nearly 60% of all wild-caught fish is used to provide omega-3 oil for the burgeoning global aquaculture industry,” the authors wrote. “One widely cited paper describes the amount of large predatory fish in the oceans as being only 10% of pre-industrial times. One of the authors claimed in a later publication that the state of the oceans, combined with the impact of climate change and the effect of these factors on fish stocks, were such that ‘all commercial fish and seafood may collapse’ by 2048. A land-based sustainable and scalable source of the health-benefitting DHA and EPA can play a critical role in providing nutritional security and reducing the chance of depleting wild fish stocks.”5-6
2. McPhaden et al. (2020). “El Nino Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate.” American Geophysical Union. DOI:10.1002/9781119548164
3. Singer P. et al. (2021). Analyses and Declarations of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Canned Seafood May Help to Quantify Their Dietary Intake. Nutrients. 13 (9): 2970. Doi: 10.3390/nu13092970
4. Zhou, X. et al. (2023). New Sustainable Oil Seed Sources of Omega-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: A Journey from the Ocean to the Field. Sustainability. 15 (14) 11327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411327
5. Myers et al. (2003). Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature. 423(6937):280-3 doi: 10.1038/nature01610
6. Worm et al. (2006). Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science. 314(5800):787-90. DOI: 10.1126/science.1132294
According to PRODUCE, the season was canceled because incidence of juveniles in the anchovy population reached 86.3%, making up 77% of the anchovy biomass weight. Later, in August, PRODUCE announced that it would look once more into reopening the fishing season with a 10-day exploratory fishing period in August, but it yielded only a small catch.
Peru, the world’s leading fish oil producer, was the source of approximately 90,500 metric tons of fish oil from Peruvian anchovies in 2022, according to the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED).
to Dr. Enrico Bachis, market research director at IFFO, the marine ingredients organization, Peru is the largest producer of all marine ingredients, and represents 20% of all marine ingredient production globally on average, including 30% of all EPA and DHA products.
Historical Precedent
Historically, shutdowns have taken place due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, as anchovies rely on cold, nutrient-rich water upwelling to the surface in order to thrive.A Peruvian government commission that studies El Nino recently issued a report that the weather phenomenon, which warms the surface water in the region, will continue with strong to moderate effects until March 2024, resulting in the anchovy populations of the area maintaining a more coastal and deeper distribution than what is typical.
“The Peruvian anchovy, from which fish oil is extracted, is particularly sensitive to the El Nino Southern Oscillation, meaning that fishing and yields could be affected by the oceanic conditions. Over the last 3 years, catches have been good under La Nina [an oceanic cooling of the same region which takes place every 3-5 years] while oil yields have been lower than average. This year, El Nino conditions have so far affected both landings and oil yields. The expectation is that once El Nino is over, landings could go back to average levels as seen many times before,” Bachis said.
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a nonprofit consortium of over 100 colleges and universities, noted that Peru was the biggest fishing nation in the world beginning in the 1960s and 70s. However, in 1972, no anchovies were to be found when El Nino hit.
Since that crisis, the Peruvian government has imposed a yearly quota on anchovies.
More recently, in 2014, the Peruvian government shut down fishing for two consecutive seasons due to similar concerns about the size and proportion of juveniles in the anchovy population. Experts in the field are hopeful that the present impact on the population is a result of the weather phenomenon and not a permanent condition related to climate change, according to Ellen Schutt, GOED’s managing director.
Shutdowns like this year’s, along with strict quotas, are considered benchmark measures of sustainable fishing, said Bachis. “The Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) concept is generally considered the benchmark of what sustainability means in fisheries. For a given fish stock, MSY means the highest possible annual catch that can be sustained over time by keeping the stock at the level producing maximum growth of the biomass. Regulating fishing ... is key to targeting this MSY; it ensures both profitability for the fisheries as well as sustainability for the stocks. The Peruvian anchovy fishery has stayed above the MSY-based reference point since the application of the strict, scientifically-based management techniques.”1
Mitigating the Fish Oil Supply Gap
According to Schutt, the shutdown of Peruvian anchovy production comes at a tough time, as the production of crude anchovy oil from the area was particularly low in 2022, down to just over 90,000 metric tons from over 155,000 in 2021.In 2023, only approximately 4,700 metric tons of crude Peruvian anchovy oil were produced ahead of the cancellation.
Schutt reported that it’s unlikely the second fishing season of the year, slated to take place in October to December, will yield enough volume to make up for the supply shortfall of the first fishing season as well as last year’s low production. And with El Nino projected to maintain its strong effects through the rest of the year, that second anchovy season still appears to be hanging in the balance at the time of this reporting. However, Schutt believes the situation is short-term and that supply will stabilize.
“Fish oil production in Peru had already suffered from the lower-than-average fat content reported during the year 2022,” Bachis concurred, noting that prices will continue to rise. “The poor catches and oil yields reported so far in 2023 added pressure on already-stretched international prices. For the regions for which IFFO regularly tracks production of marine ingredients, which is roughly worth 50% of the global output, cumulative total fishmeal production during the first six months of 2023 was down by almost one third compared to the cumulative production reported through June 2022. The primary factor driving such decline is the production drop of approximately 70% reported in Peru year over year.”
Yet another cost hike seems unavoidable, said Ståle Søfting, sales and marketing director at GC Rieber VivoMega. “We may see shortages in some cases, as the total available supply will be constrained in the short term. To tackle this, several changes are being made in the supply chain. For example, feed producers are converting some of their omega-3 input from fish to algae. We have introduced a new line of high-quality algae omega-3 concentrates to complement our fish-based omega-3 solutions portfolio.”
According to a book published in 2019 by the American Geophysical Union, El Nino is likely to increase in severity and frequency with rising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The book is “the first comprehensive examination of how ENSO [El Nino Southern Oscillation], its dynamics and its impacts may change under the influence of rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere,” wrote Michael McPhaden, senior scientist with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle and co-editor of El Nino Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate.2
Extreme El Nino events may double in frequency by the end of the 21st century, McPhaden noted. “The strongest events may also become even stronger than they are today.”
Today, El Nino events are still on track with historical patterns, said Bachis, and while the present cancellation is discouraging, the high proportion of juvenile anchovies suggests that a major population rebound is possible.
“This year’s short fishing season in North Central Peru is the result of the Peruvian government’s efforts to protect the health of the fisheries during El Nino events,” he said. “The biomass remains healthy, in fact, as it was estimated to be over 6 million metric tons in spite of all the difficulties encountered by scientists to find the anchovy shoals, meaning that the real biomass could be much larger … This year’s first fishing season has so far delivered only 20% of the granted quota, but the presence of juveniles suggests a healthy biomass will be available for future fishing when the young fish mature … A potential rebound could thus come next year.”
As concern for the ocean grows, expect sustainability certifications to likewise grow in popularity among environmentally conscious consumers, who will seek out brands that adapt to the effects of climate change.
“Adapting wisely to these changes is crucial to the industry’s overall sustainability,” said Søfting. “The pioneering producers who have embraced both sustainability-verified omega-3 fish oil production and ‘catch-free’ vegan omega-3 sourcing ought to be emulated widely, not least because they are growing market share. This is another way in which marine omega-3 supplement companies are uniquely equipped. They enable consumers to decide where their omega-3 nutrition comes from and how regeneratively it can be produced.”
Plant-based omega-3 sources are emerging at a fast pace.
Future-Proofing Omega-3 Supplies
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) reported that eliminating overfishing worldwide is the number-one means of improving omega-3 intake gaps in widespread deficient populations. The nonprofit organization estimated that if all global fisheries implemented standard sustainable practices, 16 million more tons of seafood could be harvested yearly, which could achieve optimal intakes of EPA and DHA in 90% of Americans currently failing to meet recommended intakes of seafood per week.The increased total catch could also reduce insufficient intakes of iron deficiencies in 4 million people, vitamin B12 deficiencies in 18 million people, zinc and calcium deficiencies in 2.5 million and 24 million people, respectively, and vitamin A in 5 million people. These findings are based on the Aquatic Foods Composition Database, created by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Presently, one third of global fish stocks are exploited at an unsustainable level, according to MSC.
“By 2030, the world population is projected to reach 8.5 billion. That’s half a billion more people than we currently have, and half a billion more people who need to eat, putting even more pressure on the earth,” said Nicole Condon, Marine Stewardship Council U.S. Program director. “Catastrophic climate impacts and overfishing are threatening ocean health, making managing our wild seafood sources sustainably more important than ever.”
In addition to the Peru fishery being the most dominant by volume, the fat derived from fish local to the region is also especially high in EPA and DHA content compared to other regions of the globe, and fish oil manufacturers will need to deal with variable omega-3 richness in fish oil products depending on where they source from.
“Although no other country has the natural resources to match the Peruvian anchovy catch, the final balance for the global supply of fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids both in 2023 and 2024 will depend on many variables in many regions which are difficult to account for at the moment,” said Bachis.
According to a recent review published in Nutrients, before fish oil concentrates reach their standardized content, fatty cold-water fish can range from having 5-15% omega-3 fatty acids content in total triglycerides. Fish from coastal regions and aquaculture, in general, have less content by weight of omega-3 fatty acids.3
The second-largest fishery in which crude fish oil is produced is the sardine fishery in Morocco, Schutt said. The Moroccan government, at press time, is still evaluating an agreement which covers its fisheries partnership with the EU, however.
Other small fisheries the industry could turn to include Turkey and Oman, as well as fisheries in Chile and India, although these latter two fisheries typically have crude oil with 20% EPA/DHA content, well below the standard 30% supplement manufacturers are accustomed to, Schutt noted.
While there are plenty of other sources of omega-3s available on the market, including oil derived from salmon, tuna, cod liver, pollock, krill, calanus, and algae, all of these sources combined won’t fully compensate for the shortage in Peruvian anchovy oil.
Challenges will be frequent at all points in the supply chain—whether refiners, concentrators, and finished product brands have enough stock to meet consumer demand until 2024 may be a case-by-case situation, Schutt reported.
Like in other markets, the fishing industry is scrutinizing food waste and potential efficiencies. VivoMega, for example, is utilizing upcycled material from the fishmeal industry thanks to specialized processing technology.
“Knowing where the byproduct materials are sourced from is equally important. We only source raw material certified by Friend of the Sea and MarinTrust, two leading organizations for sustainable and responsible fishery management,” said Søfting. “VivoMega’s processing technology takes this further by allowing the company to minimize unwanted waste material. We use the biofuel from fish oil production, reducing the need for external energy sources. Our local aquaculture and food production industries use the remaining biofuel and fertilizer byproducts. This entire process and its day-to-day environmental initiatives allow VivoMega to minimize its eco-footprint dramatically.”
Spearheading efforts to minimize waste can be one of the most straightforward ways a fish oil producer can improve its overall impact, Søfting said. “We are in a position to work together and guide the marine products industry into implementing better principles and techniques from the initial catch to the finished product,” he said.
Over the past decade, GC Rieber VivoMega has increased the volume of crude fish oil that gets turned into nutrient-rich feed by more than 165%, salvaging it from repurposing for biofuel.
Eyes on Plant Sources
Algal oils and omega-3s derived from terrestrial plants have surged in popularity both because of the growing niche of vegan/plant-based consumers as well as consumers’ fundamental concerns about the impact their choices have on the environment. While plant-based omega-3 products only began to emerge in the mainstream over the past few years and represent a sliver of all omega-3 products, proponents consider them a solution to ease the strain on the world’s fisheries.Compared to fish oil, algae-sourced DHA is still nascent when it comes to strain development and other technological improvements, Søfting said. “We believe that fish and algae oil go hand-in-hand.”
GC Rieber VivoMega launched its first algal oil product earlier this year. “Overall, the most crucial aspect for us is sourcing the best quality raw materials to produce the highest quality omega-3 concentrates with little to no waste or environmental setbacks,” he noted.
According to Greg Cumberford, vice president of science and regulatory at Natures Crops International the biggest near-term growth drivers for plant-based omega-3 sources are: the relatively stable prices and reliability of supply; climate-induced declines in marine EPA and DHA content, which cause increased fishmeal demand; increased practitioner and consumer awareness of the efficacy of plant-based omega-3s; the popularity of veganism and vegetarianism for ecological purposes; commercial success to date; and massive production capacity increases of algae farms.
Ahiflower, an ingredient from Natures Crops, is an oil from the seeds of the Buglossoides arvensis plant rich in alpha-linoleic acid (ALA) and stearidonic acid (SDA), which are converted to EPA and DHA in the body.
The sustainability credentials of this ingredient include its potential in crop rotation and diversification, as well as minimizing synthetic farm inputs, maximizing water conservation, climate resilience, and carbon capture regenerative farming strategies, Cumberford said.
Relying solely on wild-harvested marine omega-3 sources to meet global needs will be an ecological disaster, he added, and both algal and terrestrially-farmed omega-3 sources are needed to lessen human impact.
“Ahiflower oil is the richest naturally occurring source of SDA, at around 20%,” he noted. “Crop production and processing is hugely scalable and can be done following regenerative practices. In many ways, increasing oilseed production for omega-3 at the expense of some omega-6 rich commodity crops like soy or corn could have a net positive impact on rebalancing omega-3: omega-6 intake ratios … We are developing markets and applications for upcycled seed byproducts in agriculture, skin care, and animal supplementation.”
Studies are shedding light on the efficacy of Ahiflower oil not just in conversion to EPA but to DHA as well. In an animal study slated for publication at the end of this year in Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, Ahiflower was shown to convert to DHA in plasma and key tissues at bioavailability levels comparable to fish-based DHA, while already boosting circulating EPA levels more efficiently than flaxseed oil, according to the company.
Another study slated for publication by a team at University of Moncton led by Professor Marc Surette demonstrated that Ahiflower oil reduced markers of inflammation comparably to fish oil, Cumberford noted. These findings add to published research on mice which concluded that, compared to fish oil emulsion, Ahiflower emulsions achieved overall superior “immuno-nutrition” through gut microbiome balancing, insulin sensitizing, and inflammatory-modulating effects.
Similar to marine omega-3s, top priorities of the plant-based segment include creating high-payload powdered oil formats for functional foods and beverages, low- and no-sugar soft chew and gummy applications, upcycled byproducts for pet nutrition, technologies to fortify protein powders, and create emulsions for medical foods, children’s fruit and veggie purees, oils, dressings, dips, and spreads.
“As always, taste and oxidative stability are paramount. Incorporating shorter-chain C18 fatty acids into all of these formats is easier than longer-chain C20 and C22 fatty acids which are inherently more oxidatively sensitive,” Cumberford said.
A new report slated for publication in Sustainability co-authored by Nuseed Nutritional and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) underscored the need for the nutrition industry to respond to both environmental pressure and consumer preference for fish-free omega-3s.4
Nuseed collaborated with CSIRO to enhance canola with microalgae genetics to produce long-chain fatty acids, in order to produce a plant-based oil called Nutriterra which contains the omega-3s DHA, EPA, ALA, and a lesser-known omega-3 fatty acid called DPA. DPA is becoming recognized for having similar properties to other more established omega-3s in inflammatory modulation, altering blood lipids, and more.
Depending on a number of factors, it’s estimated that global warming could lead to a loss of 10-58% of globally available DHA by 2100, according to study authors. Because farmed fish need sustainable sources of omega-3s in their diet, aquaculture can only mitigate this effect for so long. While fermenting microalgae is promising, land-based crops that require minimal energy inputs have much less overhead and more regenerative agriculture potential, the authors noted.
“In terms of environmental considerations, nearly 60% of all wild-caught fish is used to provide omega-3 oil for the burgeoning global aquaculture industry,” the authors wrote. “One widely cited paper describes the amount of large predatory fish in the oceans as being only 10% of pre-industrial times. One of the authors claimed in a later publication that the state of the oceans, combined with the impact of climate change and the effect of these factors on fish stocks, were such that ‘all commercial fish and seafood may collapse’ by 2048. A land-based sustainable and scalable source of the health-benefitting DHA and EPA can play a critical role in providing nutritional security and reducing the chance of depleting wild fish stocks.”5-6
Warmer waters from El Nino are affecting the Peruvian anchovy fishery.
References
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