Netting zero: Helping fish farmers fight climate change

Reducing aqua nutrition emissions with … soil?

Farmer Alan Petch (center) explains what regenerative agriculture means in practice to a group visiting Petch’s farm in the United Kingdom last fall.

You might not think of wheat and rapeseed as crucial to reducing the carbon footprint of fish feed.

Yet those two important ingredients in salmon feed are at the heart of a new Cargill program that supports farmers in adopting processes that regenerate the soil and benefit the environment.

Reducing emissions in producing those two crops is an important way to help lower salmon feed’s footprint without impacting the fish’s nutrition. That is why Cargill carried out a pilot project with eight farmers across 1,500 hectares (about 3,700 acres) of rapeseed and wheat fields in the United Kingdom. Through regenerative agricultural methods, the pilot reduced 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents.

“Regenerative and sustainable practices must be commercially viable; we must look at them with production in mind,” says Alan Petch, one of the participating farmers. “The project acknowledges this, which is why I was keen to get involved.”

The project also connects farmers like Alan with other stakeholders throughout the supply chain, allowing them to collectively address carbon emissions.

“In aquaculture, retailers, farmers and feed companies have set emissions reduction targets, but can only achieve these with activities further upstream,” SeaFurther Sustainability Program Lead Dave Robb notes. “This pilot project shows us the potential impact that can be made through applying regenerative agricultural practices.” 

Sustainability from the inside out

Aquaxcel is bringing cleaner water for growing shrimp in Indonesia, thanks to the recent development of micro-pellets for feeding.

When it comes to sustainability, seemingly small changes can make a big impact.

Take our packaging operations, for example. Cargill recently introduced lighter bags for our Nurcare and Aquaxcel feed brands in Vietnam, which contain 15% less plastic. That means 72 tons less plastic this year (and 144 tons less per year by 2032) and 2,500 tons less GHG emissions just in Vietnam.

Aquaxcel is also bringing cleaner water for growing shrimp in Indonesia, thanks to the recent development of micro-pellets for feeding. As small as .5 millimeters, the high-quality pellets help shrimp grow quickly and with strong immune systems.

Beyond that, the pellets leach less and take longer to dissolve, which means less food in the ponds, cleaner water, less water treatment, and a healthier and more sustainable growth cycle.

“We are committed to improving the livelihoods of farmers and contributing to Indonesia’s economic growth,” says Chia-Ye Siam, Cargill aquaculture’s managing director for Malaysia and Indonesia. “The new micro-pelleted shrimp feed helps produce high-quality shrimp in shorter cultivation periods and in larger quantities.”

Insects and algae in fish feed? Yep. 

Cargill is innovating sustainably by introducing novel ingredients with a lower carbon footprint, like insects and algae oil (Photo courtesy of Innovafeed).

Speaking of feed: In the past, marine ingredients — like fishmeal and fish oil derived from wild-caught fish — were a big component of aquaculture feed. But as the industry grows, aquaculture will need more than the finite supply of marine ingredients to produce enough seafood. 

Cargill is helping supplement those marine ingredients with novel inputs like insects and algae oil. Why? Those alternatives offer important nutrients without taxing ocean ecosystems.

Take, for example, the expansion of our partnership with Innovafeed, a growing producer of insect meal that increases our customer offerings across novel ingredients and feed sustainability. Beyond offering high-quality feed, Innovafeed’s insect meal saves up to 16,000 tons of CO₂ for every 10,000 tons of insect protein.