1

TMR 4137 - Sustainable

utilization of marine resources

How can global seafood

production be increased?

Yngvar Olsen
NTNU Department of Biology
2
Question addressed in EU
funded report:
Can more food for humans
be produced in the ocean?

Reports delivered to Karmenu

Vella, EU Commissioner for
Environment, Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries,
November 2017
3

The ultimate question and

“hairy goal”:

❑ Can the ocean become as

important as the terrestrial world
for human food production?

❑ What is in case needed?

4

Main conclusions of report:

❑ A significant increase of marine food production
from todays 1.6% require harvesting and production
on lower trophic level of the marine food chain
❑ Mariculture are already in process of going through
this change, which will continue. The “meat”
production in mariculture may become higher than
in agriculture
❑ Harvesting in fisheries will likely not change very
much, a small 50% increase by other improvements
can be achievable
5

Recent global developments in Brackish and Marine

mariculture – a snapshot of production
4 30
Aquatic plants Brackish water Marine plants
Crustaceans Crustaceans
Marine waters
Freshwater fishes 25 Diadromous fishes
Diadromous fishes Marine fishes
Million tonnes per year

Million tonnes per year

3
Marine fishes Molluscs
Molluscs 20

2 15

10
1

0 0
00 02 04 06 08 10 12 00 02 04 06 08 10 12
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
6

Global production of main FAO-groups

30000 Macroalgae
Crustaceans Macroalgae and
25000 Finfish Molluscs:
Molluscs
Extracts food from
Thousand tonnes

20000 the sea

15000

10000
Fish and Crustaceans
5000 Must be fed
0
00

02

04

06

08

10

12

14
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
7
Cultured fishes, globally
Marine and brackish water aquaculture
Production (million tommes year-1)

2.5 Atlantic salmon

Rainbow trout
2.0 Japanese amberjack
Coho salmon
Gilthead seabream
1.5 European seabass
Japanese seabass
1.0 Milkfish

0.5

0.0
00
02
04
06
08
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
8

Aquaculture in Norway – it is salmon!

Atlantic salmon aquaculture
1.4
Production (million tommes year-1)

Norway
1.2 Chile
United Kingdom
Canada
1.0
Faroe Islands
Australia
0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
00
02
04
06
08
10
12
14
16
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
9

Will the major trends continue?

❑ Will farming of macroalgae continue to increase rapidly?
❑ Will mollusc production continue to increase faster than
that of fish?
❑ The slower, but steady, increase in fish and shrimps
feeding aquaculture, will it continue?
❑ Farming of Atlantic salmon, will it continue to increase as
fast as in the last decades?

Will other types of aquaculture become more important?

❑ Freshwater, pond culture and RAS in on-growing?
❑ Sea-ranching?
❑ Macroalgae in western countries?
10

Seaweed?
Sea-ranching of
11

invertebrates?

Seeding and harvesting

12
Norway’s potentials for seafood Report from academies
production - Seafood 2050 – NTVA-DKNVS
academy feasibility report

A report prepared by a working group appointed

by the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and
Letters (DKNVS) and the Norwegian Academy of
Technological Sciences (NTVA)
13
Scenario 2050: value generation potential in the
marine sector

An implementation plan was delivered

to the Norwegian Government in 2017
14

Implementation
plan for Seafood
2050 – academy
feasibility report

Delivered to minister
in 2017

https://www.sintef.no/contentassets/b26c5aed5
3be4385b4ab770c24761a95/sjokart--endelig-
versjon-7.april-2017.pdf
15
“Sjøkartet” is on the table here, basis for planning …..

Department of Finance, Oslo

 Norwegian salmon production
16

The scenery of a
large Norwegian
✓ Relatively exposed, inside tiny salmon farm, in
islands Central Norway
✓ Up to 1000 tons per cage and
year (~2000 cows)
✓ Environmental management
✓ Feeding control – economy and
environment!
✓ Strong companies
 The “brain” in salmon farming –
17

feeding control unit

Feeding Control
❑ One person feeds more than 15.000 tons of salmon
❑ Camera assisted feeding of pelleted feed, the key is low feed losses
❑ Detailed planning and monitoring of production
❑ Environmental monitoring and assessment
18
Norwegian salmon production
The current trends – 1) moving step by step to more
exposed water and
2) more innovative new
concepts (not always offshore)
❑ Further evolution of salmon technology
❑ New developments inspired by the oil-offshore
sector
❑ The scale needed is there!
❑ Major logistic innovations needed
❑ High investments costs
❑ What are the risks?
o Salmon prizes
o Authorities, regulations
o Available resources for feed
19

Norwegian salmon farming (cont.)

❑ Same technology used over long time,
gradually improved
❑ Improved operations and logistics
❑ More coastal space is needed for expansion
❑ In ca 2017: New rules came for obtaining licenses for
production, inspired by the oil/gas sector:
“Invest in new innovative technology and get licences
“for free”
❑ Salmon producers are economically strong, these new rules
for licenses has driven technology development
❑ Larger scale, closed and open systems, for land based and
exposed/offshore waters
20

Closed and open systems

Most are still visions
21
OCEAN FARMING
❑ 110 m diameter, stocked with 1 million Next step:
salmon juveniles, capacity 1.6 million Press release 12. April 2018
❑ 2nd generation fish, approaching slathering ❑ «Smart Fish Farm» for
❑ Approved by the Government, after offshore mariculture
monitoring and reporting of external ❑ Up to ~30m waves
environment, fish welfare and cage ❑ 160 m diameter
structure
❑ 3 million salmon juveniles
❑ Major technological developments in the
❑ Approved for testing, no
operational phase, still a way to go
investment decisions so far
22

“New” coastal space in exposed water

? Where?
Frohavet

•Trondheim

Ocean Farm 1 in Frohavet

Smart Fish Farm in International Sea?
23
The Chinese has already
produced Ocean Farm 2, they
will according to rumours
produce another 200
Risky business, but Deep Blue
2 is on its way!

❑ Ocean Farm 1 was built in

Qingdao, China
❑ The main structure was
not patented by Salmar
❑ It is the “contents” that
counts – software and
hardware
24

Industry 4.0
New paradigm for
Mariculture 2030

CRISPR/Cas9
Industry 4.0 - Cyber physical
systems, IoT, ..
❑ Affects farming technology
❑ Provision of feed resources
❑ ICT and Biotechnology; enabling
technologies
25
2030 - Marine farming as we know it will
change as all other production
26
Norwegian salmon farming in 2030
Eggs and larvae
❑ Diversification of breeding programmes, tailor made breed,
supported by new methods in genetics/biotechnology
❑ State of the art first feeding, recycling systems
Juvenile salmon
❑ Recycling aquaculture systems
❑ Further on-growing to ~0.8 kg in closed land based or
suspended closed systems
On-growing till market size
❑ Coastal state-of-the-art technology, further evolution from today
❑ New technology for open ocean and closed systems aquaculture
❑ Enabling technologies; ICT and biotechnology,
how will these affect technology?
27

Potential “show-stoppers of aquaculture”

❑ Feed resources for marine aquaculture
❑ Available marine coastal space for aquaculture
❑ Other user conflicts
❑ Technology for exposed mariculture
❑ Environmental carrying capacity for farming fish
along the coast
❑ Knowledge and tools supporting policy making
and management
❑ Disease control
❑ There are other factors
28

Why is feed resources a challenge in

aquaculture, but not that much in agriculture?

Because we produce mainly carnivores in the sea, they

have other nutritional requirements than grass eaters
(herbivores) in agriculture
29
Availability of feed resources containing LC n-3 fatty acids
(“marine fat”) is a potential show-stopper for mariculture
of fish
✓ Why this, while there as said is no similar shortage in feed resources
for cattle, pigs and chicken?
✓ Because cold blooded animals, and in particular carnivores (meat
eaters), have a higher requirement for life of long-chain n-3 fatty acids
(LC n-3) in their food than warm-blooded, and, we do not produce
carnivore animals (meat eaters) in agriculture
LC n-3 fatty
acids
EPA
(≥ 20 carbon
atoms in chain)
DHA
30

In earlier times, and today:

Most common feed resources for
aquaculture
✓ Harvested resources from fisheries
(foraging fish, 30-35 mill t year-1)
o Fish meal
o Fish oil
o Trash fish

✓ Agriculture products (large quanta

available)
o Oils
o Meals
o Wastes
o Animal products
31

Possible «new» resources for fish

feed must contain LC n-3 rich lipids

✓ Lost resources in fisheries and aquaculture

✓ Harvested zooplankton – krill and red feed
✓ Mesopelagic fish and other unexploited
animals
✓ Single-cell biomass, different
microorganisms
o Microalgae (DHA/EPA)
o Heterotrophic bacteria/yeast (GMO?)
o Thraustochytrids (high DHA)
✓ Farmed seaweed – the last unexploited main
resource of humans (proteins)
✓ Genetic modified higher plants, with DHA
32
Optional marine feed
resources that are not
utilised
Antarctic krill
(production >100 mill t/yr)

Reed feed
(production >100 mill t/yr

Mesopelagic fish
(biomass <1-2 bill. t/yr?
33

Brave global Mesopelagic fish

production Silvery lightfish
estimate
Million tons produced globally
8000
(absolute maximum)
6000
Determined by a
trophi-model of the Herring like
4000
species
Mackerel like
2000
Trophic level decides

0
Up to 1-2 ov y
r in g
fis h
er el
cod una
ch er ht ck t ic n
t
billion tons n
an
t ic
h
r y
lig
c
m
a
t la
n
ow
fi
ia n e t i A ll
per year ?? r uv Atla Silv lan Y e
Pe At
34
Mesopelagic fish has an important role in global
climate
❑ They transport vast amounts of carbon from surface to
deep water
❑ By this, they mitigate climate change
❑ Can it still be exploited?
35
Single Cell Biomass
– Industrial biotechnology is the enabling technology
✓ Marine lipid profile of organism, DHA
✓ Issues: GMO, substrates used, costs and quality
✓ A paradigm shift for aquaculture – feed resources are more
and more produced – control of food chain
36

After >20 years of R&D

Transgenic oil from higher
plant Camelina sativa has
up to 4% DHA and higher
EPA (of total fatty acids)
37

Outline of strategic roadmap for fish

mariculture – to be further explored
Ultimate question:

Can aquaculture become as important as

agriculture in human food production?
What is needed?

Some fundamental issues of production in

terrestrial and marine ecosystems needs to be
considered
38

Global planteproduksjon
Milliarder tonn karbon (Giga t)
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Land Hav
✓ 4-5% of terrestrial plant
production is used as human
food
39
FoodMatproduksjon
production onpå land and sea
land og hav
(FAO(2010,
statistics, 2010)
kilde FAO) The contribution to food
10 production from fisheries and
Planter aquaculture is only 1.9 % of
Milliarder tonn (Giga t)

Kjøtt
8 that from agriculture (1.6 %
from the ocean)
6
This is the situation although
4 the primary production is
equal and better available in
2 the ocean

0 It is a main challenge to
change this pattern!
ke
ts
ng

fis
fa

og
og

uk
uk

br
br

av
nd

H
La
40

The production of harvestable

marine resources are not
efficient

Why is it so?

A fundamental biological
principle can explain most
41

Losses: 80 – 95% (90%)

Planktivore fish
Third level of food chain
(Trophic level 3)

Simplified Losses: 80 – 95% (90%)

food chain in Zooplankton
the ocean Second step of food chain
(Trophic level 2)

Losse: 80 – 95% (90%)

Phytoplankton
First step of food chain
(Trophic level 1)
42

Production and losses in the marine

food web
✓ The knowledge on losses and yields of matter
and energy in the food chain is mostly based on
empirical research over more than 50 years
✓ 5 – 20% yield from one level to the next is
common,10% is commonly used in
calculations
✓ The principle is universal, a law of nature,
comparable the laws of thermodynamics
43

The human food chain for agriculture food

and seafood
Agriculture food chain Seafood chain

❑Humans eat ~2 Eaters of

wolf-eaters . 5th
steps higher Wolf-eaters 4th
Tuna

from the Wolverine 3rd

Salmon
Herring
seafood chain Wolf

2nd
than from the level
Mussels Zooplankton
agriculture Sheep Cow
1st trophic level
food chain Phyto-
plankton
❑Correspond Grain/rice
Vegetables Algae
Fruits Seaweed
well with 1.6%
After Duarte et al 2009
44

What is needed for increasing seafood

production to the level of agriculture?

✓ The primary production in the ocean

cannot be increased
✓ The high losses in the food chain for
seafood must therefore be
minimised
✓ Only an efficient use of the marine
global primary production can increase
seafood production substantially
✓ In addition, there is a need to establish
new feed resources for marine
aquaculture, marine lipids and proteins
45

General strategy for increasing mariculture

S1: Produce more organisms low in the food chain
❑Macroalgae ( Marine plants)
❑Molluscs (e.g., shellfish species)

S2: Move farmed «carnivores» down in the food chain

❑By using more feed resources from lower trophic levels
❑Thereby using less fishmeal and fish oil

S3: Derive new LC n-3 rich lipid sources for feed

❑Marine and terrestrial wastes
❑New captured resources and wastes (discards, zooplankton,
mesopelagic fish
❑Cultured resources (single cell biomass,
macroalgae, transgenic LC n-3 rich plants,
marine animals)
46

Mariculture
❑ The use of limiting marine primary
production of farmed Atlantic salmon
and other species has decreased with
time

❑ This is the result of using less marine

animal resources and more plant
ingredients in the feed
47
S2: Move farmed «carnivores» down in the food chain
Use of more plant resources in fish feed
Fraction of terrestrial and marine
material in salmon feed (data from
Skretting AS) From 100%
marine food
in 1980, the
Percent fraction

salmon has
58 53 become more
62 69 71 74
and more
vegetarian

42 47
37 32 29 26

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Sum Marine Sum terrestial
48

The trophic level of farmed salmon has been reduced

by almost two steps from wild salmon

4.5
Higher carnivores
4.0
- Eaters of carnivores
3.5
Trophic level

Carnivores
3.0 – Meat eaters (wolfs and bears)
2.5

2.0 Herbivores
– plant eaters (cow and sheep)
1.5
Primary producers
1.0
– plants and algae
3
mo
n
995 2007 01 016 2020
al 1 S2 2
i ld
s
T&
M
T&
M MA T&M
W
49

Feed ingredients in salmon feed 2016

50
State of the art feeding and feed composition of salmon
and other marine fish (also trout, sea bass, sea bream)
2016 - case for Atlantic salmon:

0.24 kg marine resources

(fishmeal+oil)

1.2 kg 1.0 kg fresh fish

captured fish

1.15 kg dry
0.91 kg pelleted feed
agriculture resources
Similar feed for:
❑ Atlantic salmon
Farmed fish utilise feed efficiently ❑ Rainbow trout
❑ Energy retention: ~40% ❑ European sea bream
❑ Protein retention: ~45% ❑ European seabass
❑ And others
51
Our ultimate challenges:
➢Can we increase mariculture production to the
level of that in agriculture?
❑ Yes, but then we need to establish new and
sustainable “low food chain resources” of marine
lipids and proteins for feed!

❑ The option of “diluting” available marine resources

as feed production increases will soon come to an
end

❑ And we must increase our culture of

macroalgae and low food chain animals
52
When, if so, can this happen?

2040?

Hardly!
53

The trophic level of a species (TL)

Trophic level: each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem,
consisting of organisms sharing the same function in the food
chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources
of energy (“eat similar food”).
n
1 + Ʃ (Fj x TLj)
TLi = j=1
where Fj is the fraction of a food organism of species i.
TLj is the trophic level of that food component and n is the
number of food organisms (Gascuel and Pauly, 2009)

Example:
F1= 0.4 TL1= 1 (plant, algae)
F2 =0.6 TL2=2 (herbivore animal)
→ TL = 1 + (0.4 x 1 + 0.6 x 2) = 2.6
54 http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/en