FAQ

Aquaculture is defined as the breeding, rearing and harvesting of plants and animals in a variety of water environments. According to World Wildlife Fund’s 2015 Living Blue Planet Report, aquaculture now supplies 58 percent of the fish we eat, has kept the overall price of fish down, and has made protein and improved nutrition more accessible to communities around the world. Responsible aquaculture results in fish that equal the taste and nutritional profiles of wild fish without the potential exposure to environmental toxins.

We feed our farm-raised Norwegian Atlantic Salmon a marine-based diet that includes wild-caught fish trimmings, herring, microalgae, and other responsibly sourced ingredients to reduce environmental impact.

For every pound of salmon we produce, we take less than half a pound of fish out of the ocean for feed.

Learn more on our About Us page.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, currently provides more than 50% of the world’s seafood, and that number will continue to grow. The Global Aquaculture Alliance predicts that, by 2030, 62 percent of all food fish will come from aquaculture. Fish farming is here to stay, making it critical to implement healthy and sustainable aquaculture practices, including improvements in fish feed.

Traditional aquaculture feed relies on wild fish stocks like herring, mackerel and anchovies to supply marine ingredients such as fish oil and meal. Because of overfishing, these wild fish stocks have become increasingly depleted. Because of pollution, they can also be contaminated with mercury and PCBs.

At Blue Circle Foods, we do a few things to mitigate these problems:

1. All wild fish sourced for feed is from an MSC Certified sustainable fishery.

2. Instead of only using whole fish for feed, we upcycle trimmings from MSC Certified feed fish.

3. We use microalgae in our feed. This shortens the food chain, allowing the Omega-3s and protein from microalgae to to go directly to the salmon, bypassing smaller fish. This allows us to take way less fish out of the ocean for feed.

4. We test our feed and final product fish for the presence of mercury. Our most recent test on Atlantic Salmon was<0.0071 mercury ppm, which is 141x below the FDA allowable limit of 1ppm.

5. We clean our feed to remove PCBs. Furthermore, PCBs are not very soluble in microalgae, which makes up a significant portion of our feed.

Blue Circle Foods farm-raised Norwegian Atlantic Salmon contains higher Omega-3 content than the average wild salmon. This is due to the quality of our feed, which includes microalgae, the base source of Omega-3s in the marine food chain.

Not all farm-raised salmon is created equal though. If the quality of the feed is low (i.e. grain-based vs marine-based) then the Omega-3s will also be low.

No. Blue Circle Foods does not use synthetic colorants in the diet of it's farm-raised salmon.

In the wild, salmon swim around eating shrimp, krill, and other marine microorganisms high in carotenoids. Carotenoids are what make carrots orange, flamingos pink, and salmon red.

In a farm environment, salmon are not eating these high-carotenoid microorganisms. In come Panaferd and Astaxanthin.

Panaferd and Astaxanthin are both used in farm‑raised salmon feed to create the characteristic pink‑red color due to their high concentration of carotenoids, but they differ in composition and source.

Synthetic Astaxanthin is a single carotenoid pigment that is directly responsible for salmon coloration and also acts as a key antioxidant for fish health.

In contrast, we use Panaferd. Panaferd is a natural feed additive derived through the fermentation of the marine microorganism Paracoccus carotinifaciens.

Panaferd contains natural Astaxanthin and a broader spectrum of carotenoids - such as adonirubin and canthaxanthin - along with proteins and other nutrients. Because of this, Panaferd functions as a more complex supplement for salmon health, providing pigmentation plus additional antioxidant and nutritional benefits.

Both wild and farmed salmon are red in color because of what they eat. In nature, wild salmon eat crustaceans (like shrimp and krill), which contain red-hued carotenoids. Carrots and other orange fruits and vegetables also contain carotenoids. Carotenoids provide vitamin A and are an essential part of a healthy salmon's diet. We use a naturally derived carotenoid called Panaferd in our salmon feed, which of course turns the salmon red! FDA regulations state that we need to call this out by saying "color added".

Blue Circle Foods Atlantic Salmon comes from carefully regulated Norwegian farms where, unlike wild-caught salmon, the fish are fed a controlled diet. Because we control what our salmon eat, we can ensure that all ingredients are clean and free of toxins. The most recent mercury test on our Atlantic Salmon showed <0.0071 mercury ppm, which is 141x below the FDA allowable limit of 1ppm.