Fish in: Fish Out (FIFO) ratios for the conversion of wild feed to farmed fish, including salmon
How FIFO ratios are calculated
The way that IFFO calculates FIFO ratios is based on the following:
For individual species groups, the total amounts of fishmeal and fish oil are calculated based on the required feed volumes, in turn based on FCR estimates. These figures are extrapolated to whole fish equivalents for raw material, based on the yield figures. A conversion factor is then applied to the raw material figures to account for the byproduct volume used in production, reflecting the reality in the sector. The species groups are sorted against fishmeal and fish oil use, in order to allow for differences in inclusion rates in the feeds of different groups (e.g. salmonids use more fish oil, shrimps use more fishmeal).
These data are presented below, alongside the figures calculated for 2000, and 2010.
There is one exception to the trend in the 2015 figures, where crustaceans (i.e. farmed shrimps) are similar to the 2010 figures. This may be readily explained by the impact of the disease problems in the sector, reducing yield and affecting FCRs, set against a fishmeal inclusion rate that has declined only slightly between 2010 and 2015 when viewed across the industry.
On the whole this is a very positive message about the contribution that marine ingredients make to global protein production. The fishmeal industry supports the production of a significantly greater volume of protein for humanity than would be supplied merely through the direct consumption of the fish used as raw material in the production process.
Interview with IFFO Dr Neil Auchterlonie on FIFO 2015 ratios
In summary the key points on 2015 FIFO ratios are:
It has been asserted, and widely disseminated in the media and conference platforms, that five, or even more, kilos of wild feed/industrial fish are harvested to produce, via fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeed, just one kilo of farmed salmon. This is often expressed as a Fish In: Fish Out (FIFO) ratio of 5:1.
This ratio probably entered common parlance from academic papers, notably those of Tacon and Metian (2008)i - which put forward a FIFO of 4.9:1 for farmed salmon, and Naylor et al. (2009)ii - who used 5:1.
Against a background of concern about overfishing and how to feed a growing world population, using five kilos of fish to produce one kilo of fish seems obviously wasteful and inefficient. Critics usually go on to insist that fishing to produce fishmeal and oil for aquaculture or land animal feed is simply not acceptable in terms of resource use and should be banned or severely curtailed.
In short, this 5 to 1 assertion damages the public, commercial and political acceptance of the use of fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeed. How can their use be responsible and sustainable if that is the ratio?
Q. Are these 5:1 FIFO figures correct?
A. No. In fact the FIFO for salmon for 2010 (using the data of Tacon and Metian), but recalculated by Dr Andrew Jackson, Technical Director of IFFO, was 1.4. In other words, only 1.4 (NOT five) kilos of feed fish were used to produce each kilo of farmed salmon. Now that figure has declined below 1 to 0.82, meaning that more farmed salmon are produced than feed fish used.
Q. These lower FIFOs give a much more positive picture of the efficiency of using fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture feed. How were they calculated?
A. Previously, Andrew Jackson of IFFO took the same data as used by Tacon and Metian and studied the method by which they had calculated a salmon FIFO of 4.9:1. He found two important errors:
The summary table below shows that FIFOs are not only lower than have been asserted but continue to fall steadily. Taking the example of salmon, in 2010 the was 1.4, compared with 2.6 in 2000, then reaching 0.82 in 2015. The same trend applies to other species.
FIFOs are falling and will continue to fall as a result of:
- Increasing volumes of by-product waste being used to make fishmeal and fish oil;
- better conversion of feed into live weight gain on the fish farm (improved technology and farming systems);
- falling percentages of fishmeal and fish oil being used in fish feeds;
- fishmeal and fish oil being used more strategically in aquafeeds.
Q. Are these FIFOs accepted by scientists, the value chain and NGOs?
A. From 2009, when Jackson first recalculated FIFOs, to date, the revised FIFOs and the method of calculation have been presented at more than 20 conferences and meetings with key players in the value chain. They were the topic of a major article in the journal of the European Aquaculture Society, Aquaculture Europe, in September 2009vi and they were published again by OECDvii in 2010.
However, given that the economic value of the fish oil and fishmeal per tonne produced are the same this argument does not have much logic.
The over-sight committee of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s "Best Aquacultural Practice" (BAP) has just adopted FIFO, as calculated by IFFO, as a measure in their BAP standards.
Q. But could the fish used for fishmeal and fish oil production not contribute more to feed the world if they went directly for human consumption?
Overall Wijkström concluded that there were not human consumption markets for most feed/industrial fish. He also concluded that feeding fishmeal and fish oil to farmed fish and shrimp expanded the effective supply of fish for human consumption by 7-8 million tonnes a year.
Q. Are FIFOs really the best measure of efficiency?
A. Frankly it is not, but it is one most widely quoted - so it needs to be addressed.
Neither the FIFO, nor the feed conversion ratio (FCR), are true measures of nutritional efficiency, and what fishmeal and fish oil provide to aquafeeds from a nutritional perspective goes well beyond the mere supply of protein and energy. That is why IFFO describes marine ingredients as strategic ingredients, because as well as the growth of the farmed animal, they also make significant contributions to health, welfare and quality. This view is supported by scientific studies. .
It should also be remembered that fish are much more efficient converters of feed to flesh than any other animal including pigs and poultry.
i Albert G J Tacon and Marc Metian: Global overview of the use of fish meal and fish oil in industrially compounded aquafeeds: Trends and Future Prospects. Aquaculture, 285:146–158. 2008
ii Rosamond L. Naylor, Ronald W. Hardy, Dominique P. Bureau, Alice Chiu, Matthew Elliott, Anthony P. Farrell, Ian Forster, Delbert M. Gatlin, Rebecca J. Goldburg, Katheline Hua, and Peter D. Nichols: Feeding aquaculture in an era of finite resources. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 106, no. 36, 2009
iii The expression ‘fed aquaculture’ refers to farmed fish and crustaceans (shrimp) fed with factory compounded feed, often including fishmeal and fish oil.
iv Andrew Jackson: Fish In- Fish Out, Ratios Explained. Aquaculture Europe, Volume 34 (3) 2009.
v C.J. Shepherd & A.J. Jackson, Global fishmeal and fish oil supply - inputs, outputs, and markets 6th World Fisheries Congress, Edinburgh 2012. Andrew Jackson: Fish In- Fish Out, Ratios Explained. Aquaculture Europe, Volume 34 (3) 2009
vii Andrew Jackson and C J Shepherd (2010), Proceedings of Workshop on Advancing the Aquaculture 15-16 April, 2010, OECD