Aquaculture Feed Technology Center opened in Bergen, Norway. The work conducted at the center aiming to develop environmentally-friendly aquaculture feed has been based on open research.

The Minister of Fisheries and Seafood in Norway, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, cut the ribbon when the Aquafeed Technology Centre was opened in the Norwegian city of Bergen. Researchers and the industry will now work together towards a more environmentally friendly fish feed. More than 70 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the salmon we eat comes from fish feed. Every year, the Norwegian salmon industry uses 1.6 million tons of feed and 90 percent of the raw materials are imported. The industry is calling for more environmentally friendly feed, and this will be one of the main tasks for the research center in Bergen, Norway. In 2015, Nofima, the University of Bergen (UiB) and Norce received funding from the Research Council of Norway regarding an application for infrastructure funding. The infrastructure is now pretty much complete and a total of NOK 33.9 million (app. 3.2 million €) has been spent. NOK 32.8 million has been granted by the Research Council of Norway. “Today, researchers and the industry have received the instruments they need to develop the feed of the future”, says Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen before cutting the ribbon. The minister made it clear that the work conducted at the center has been based on open research. This means that all industry actors will have access to the results and therefore the pace of innovation can be increased.