Tag F3 Challenge

The third marine-ingredient-free feed contest launches today with an eye on carnivorous species, which face scrutiny for their dependence on fishmeal and fish oil. 

At the F3 (fish-free feed) Companies Got Talent event in Burlingame, Calif., last week, alternative (non-marine) aquafeed ingredient companies spoke of decoupling aquaculture from fishmeal and fish oil in their quest for greater sustainability. 

The Future of Fish Feed (F3) initiative aims to jumpstart innovation in terms of viable fish-free substitutes to fish oil through the global F3 Fish Oil Challenge. 

The inaugural F3 Challenge sought to drive innovation in the aquafeed sector and reduce aquaculture's reliance on marine ingredients like fishmeal and fish oil. 

Building off the success and excitement of the fish-free aquaculture feed cash-prize contest that concludes this fall, the F3 Challenge has set its sights on a new target: fish oil alternatives. 

Aquafeed manufacturers and alternative feed ingredient suppliers from all over the world gathered in Silicon Valley for F3, the Fish Free Feed contest. In the hub of innovation, solutions to a global problem were on full display. 

What started out as a simple yet ambitious contest to drive innovation in the aquafeed sector has evolved into a fully global competition – and collaboration – amongst ingredient suppliers and feed manufacturers.  

A competition designed to drive innovation in aquafeeds has doubled its original funding goal and has attracted some of the biggest names in fish feed. F3 has also served as a catalyst for collaboration among feed manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. 

In an opinion piece for the Advocate, the director of ocean sustainability science at the New England Aquarium talks about the F3 Challenge and what the first X Prize for aquaculture could do for the industry: drive innovation.  

Interest is growing in a two-year-long competition aimed at driving innovation in the aquafeed sector. The F3 prize for a demonstrably fish-free feed comes with a cash reward, and possibly a glimpse at the future.