At the AquaNor 2015 conference currently underway in Norway, participating members of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI), in partnership with their industry feed company associates, announced the launch of an innovative global tender that invites interested organizations to develop novel oils high in omega-3 fatty acids for fish farming, to share their proposals to supply participating GSI members with a minimum of 25,000 tons of novel oil, and up to 200,000 tons, annually for a minimum of two years.

These additional resources will significantly increase the availability of omega-3 rich oils, and support the sustainable use of marine oils in fish feed.

"By working together to resolve industry-wide issues, GSI is demonstrating how collaboration can lead to innovative solutions. We are pleased to see GSI members working proactively in the search for resources needed to ensure a sustainable future for the industry and to provide sustainable sources of protein," said Doris Soto, senior aquaculture officer at the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The farmed salmon industry uses approximately 350,000 tons of fish oil each year, and this is expected to grow by approximately 5% each year, in line with industry growth. Today’s announcement comes as part of GSI’s continued efforts toward improving the sustainability of the farmed salmon industry and its strong commitment to securing the long-term future of the industry.

"Ensuring a long-term supply of our feed resources has always been a key focus for GSI, and through this commitment to new novel oils, instead of waiting for the market to act, we hope to accelerate the development of viable novel oils at a commercial scale to improve the long-term stability of our supply chain," Marine Harvest chief executive officer Alf-Helge Aarskog said.

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"We know there are exciting developments in terms of alternative resourcing for fish oils, and through our partnership project we hope to understand and assess the real potential and environmental benefits of using such novel oils, and hopefully identify a supplier of novel oils to meet the requirements of our industry," added EWOS CEO Einar Wathne.

The tender is open to any organization that is able to supply novel oil resources and meet the requirements stated in the tender document. The deadline for proposal submission is Oct. 31; after this date, the participating members of GSI will review and assess all proposals received in terms of suitability and viability. GSI anticipates a decision will be reached by the end of 2015, at which time a further announcement will be made.

The tender document is available by emailing [email protected].

GSI is a leadership initiative that was established in 2013 by global farmed salmon producers focused on making significant progress on industry sustainability. Today, GSI comprises 14 companies that represent approximately 50% of the global salmon production industry.

GSI members participating in the tender include: Bakkafrost, Blumar, Cermaq, Compania Pesquera Camanchaca, Fjardalax, Grieg Seafood, Huon Aquaculture, Marine Harvest, Multiexport Foods SA, New Zealand King Salmon, Norway Royal Salmon and Ventisqueros.

GSI works closely with feed company associates on the shared vision of improving the sustainability of future feed supplies. By working together, both parties believe that improvements across the supply chain can be reached more rapidly than by working independently.

For this project, the GSI members companies will be working in partnership with feed companies to ensure that the properties requested of non-marine sourced novel oil are sufficient and appropriate to meet the RFP objectives.

The companies involved include Biomar, EWOS, Havsbrun, Salmofood and Skretting.