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UPDATE: Due to the fast-changing situation with COVID-19, the F3 Team has made the decision to extend the registration period for the F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition. Companies may continue to register until a new deadline is announced. A new contest timeline and dates for informational webinars will be shared at that time.
Information source: F3 challenge media release
The Problem
Fish farms, or aquaculture, now provide well over 50% of the world’s seafood and continue to grow. But two of aquaculture’s key feed ingredients face a supply-chain bottleneck – fishmeal and fish oil. What is more, some of the most popular seafood choices for consumers rely heavily on these ingredients. Crustaceans (including shrimp) consume roughly 31% of global fishmeal production, while salmonids consume around 23% of global fishmeal and 60% of global fish oil (2015-2016 figures).
Reliance on forage fish also threatens commercial fisheries as larger fish such as cod, salmon, and tuna, eat these small, oily fish (sardines, anchovies, and menhaden) in the wild. These fish also sustain seabirds and marine mammals such as whales, seals, and dolphins. Currently, many forage fish are ground up to feed aquaculture. If the fish at the center of the ocean food chain disappear, so will the life that depends on them.
The industry has made tremendous strides to vastly increase the productivity of fishmeal and fish oil, but if it is to expand, most scientists agree that more needs to be done to find substitute ingredients. Fish farm owners need new and reliable ingredients to derisk their supply chain and ensure continued production and growth.
The Challenge
The next challenge is to create a Fish-Free Feed for one of three categories: Salmonid, Shrimp, or Other Carnivorous Species. The goal of this challenge is to reduce aquaculture’s demand for forage fish by advancing substitute feeds for the industry’s biggest consumers of forage fish. If progress can be made towards finding sustainable, fish-free feeds for these species, then substantial progress can be made towards increasing forage fish populations worldwide.
Who Can Participate?
The contest is open to companies that sell or aim to sell a fish-free feed for shrimp, salmonid, or other carnivorous species, as described in Product Criteria outlined in the challenge rules. These sales can be directly to end customers in aquaculture or indirectly through distribution channels during the contest period. VIEW CHALLENGE RULES
How to Win
There will be a $35,000 USD prize for each the of 3 species categories:
(1) Salmonid F3 Feeds
(2) Shrimp F3 Feeds
(3) Other Carnivorous Species F3 Feeds
Each prize will be awarded to the team that has sold the greatest amount of F3 Feeds in their category at the conclusion of the Challenge sales period.
F3 Feed Criteria
For an F3 Feed to qualify towards the Challenge prize, it must meet the following Product Criteria:
- be formulated as aquaculture feed, for either Shrimp, Salmonid, or Other Carnivorous Species. If a contestant submits feed for “Other Carnivorous Species,” the contestant must get approval from the judges for the species.
- be free of marine animal ingredients
Sales Criteria: The F3 Feed sales must be tracked by the customer, and represent only the F3 Feed eligible for the Challenge. The sales volumes must be reported at a regular frequency as outlined in the timeline section. Customer contact information must be provided to the judges, but this will be kept confidential.
Further information and registration:
https://carnivore.f3challenge.org/
