A research project recently began in collaboration between Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish parties with a new composition of feed in charr farming, but it can be said that this is preceded by the development and research of Matís, Hólar University and domestic charr producers with new protein sources and raw materials in feed.
Jón Árnason, feed scientist and project manager at Matís, will lead the project. He says that in light of Iceland being the world's largest charr producer, Iceland has a leading role in research and development.
"We have been examining with the farming companies the protein needs of char and whether it is possible to use protein sources other than fishmeal in the feed and thereby increase the efficiency of char production. With the Nordic project, we will test fish farmers in all three countries and then we will see the results in different situations. Subsequently, we will examine the impact of environmental factors on charr farming, assess growth and feed utilization based on changed feed, follow the impact all the way to the market and examine the reactions of consumers. Given that we are applying this new source of protein to the rainforests of Brazil and the plains of America, we are also going to assess with everyone involved in charr farming and sales whether this change in feed can affect the image of charr in the high Nordic markets. fish species. The end of the project will thus be a kind of evaluation meeting with everyone in the char chain's value chain, "says Jón.
In addition to Matís and Hólaskóli, the project involves two farms in Iceland, the Norwegian company Polarfeed and one Norwegian farm, while in Sweden the Swedish Agricultural University and one farm are participating. The project will take two years.
For further information Jón Árnason.