US agricultural bioscience company Yield10 Bioscience and the Danish aquafeed supplier the BioMar Group have signed an agreement to produce omega-3 oil from camelina.
Branded as Omega-3 Camelina, the omega-3 oil produced from the project would be used as an alternative to marine long-chain fatty acids used in aquafeed, Yield10 said on 31 October.
Developed for the aquaculture industry, the new omega-3 camelina products contained eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at comparable levels to many fish oil sources, the companies said.
BioMar has been involved with the Rothamsted Omega-3 Camelina development project since it started in 2013 and has conducted many of the salmon trials published by the Rothamsted research team.
“Scalable sources of EPA and DHA are critical for aquafeeds to ensure the sustainable development of the aquaculture industry,” BioMar Group CEO Carlos Diaz said.
As part of the partnership, Yield10 said it would scale-up camelina planted areas to supply oil to BioMar for formulation and testing while also working towards securing regulatory approval for commercial production of Omega-3 Camelina oil and meal.
“A partnership with BioMar has the potential to combine the strengths of both companies for the accelerated development of camelina produced omega-3 oils,” Yield10 Bioscience president and CEO Oliver Peoples said.
The main source of essential fatty acids EPA and DHA is currently ocean-caught fish.
