TerraVia and Bunge are introducing whole algae DHA as a sustainable specialty feed ingredient, which is an omega-3 fatty acid important for humans and animals, especially fish, for healthy growth and development.
The two companies will produce AlgaPrime DHA at their SB Renewable Oils joint venture facility in Brazil, where the full product upgrade took place in late 2015. The joint venture partners will be exclusive distributors of AlgaPrime DHA.
The two companies carried out product sampling to aquaculture feed producers across the world in the past several months.
Following the sampling process, Terra Via and Bunge have entered into a commercial supply agreement with one of the world's largest aquaculture feed suppliers.
Although the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, AlgaPrime DHA is expected to be incorporated into fish feed for salmonids during July-August 2016.
TerraVia CEO Jonathan Wolfson said: "AlgaPrime DHA is our first major new product from the expanded joint venture with Bunge and could be a real game changer in keeping our oceans healthy by offering a non-marine based, sustainable source of omega-3s to help address the growing 'fish in, fish out' problem today.
"It provides a far more sustainable non-fish based source of DHA to help maintain healthy oceans while improving the nutritional value of seafood for our families."
Long chain omega-3s such as DHA and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are important elements widely used in aquaculture feed, with fish oil and meal as their main sources.
AlgaPrime DHA claims to offer a sustainable and efficient source of DHA that can be produced at high volumes to meet the increasing global demand without endangering fish stocks.
It is said that around one million tons of omega-3 rich fish oil is produced annually for aquaculture, animal feed and human nutrition.
In order to meet this demand, large quantities of wild fish are caught and processed to extract the fish oil. While the demand for omega-3s is increasing, its availability from wild caught ocean fish is limited due to nature.
Wild fish and their prey naturally consume microalgae as their key and original source of DHA, making AlgaPrime DHA a suitable substitute for fish oil or meal, the company claims.
World Wildlife Fund UK aquaculture policy officer Piers Hart said: "Aquaculture is becoming an increasingly important contributor to the global food system. To meet the continuing growth in demand for fish oil and fish meal, sustainable alternatives are needed.
"We are eager to see sustainable sources of omega-3 rich oils come to market at scale and reduce pressure on scarce marine resources. The high yield and potentially reduced environmental footprint of algae products produced at SB Renewable Oils in Brazil could make this a more sustainable source of fish feed ingredients."
