C-Feed: Producing feed for baby fish

Copepods, small crustaceans normally found in the sea and freshwater habitats, are destined to become a new Norwegian industrial product. In laboratory conditions near Trondheim, copepods are also reproduced for commercial purposes by C-Feed, a spin-off from Scandinavia’s largest independent research organisation SINTEF.

The tiny copepods are used as live feed for recently hatched fish (also known as “fry”) that are not yet able to actively feed itself. Some of the most common species include tuna, ballan wrasse, lobster and halibut, which are in largest demand by fish lovers around the world. While salmon fry eat dry feed from day one, saltwater species need live start-feed.

C-Feed’s innovation in the production of more sustainable fish feeds is timely, not least in the context of the global competition for food resources amidst a growing population in the world. Norwegian farmed salmon production, for example, is predicted to more than triple by 2050.

Many researchers and companies have already tried without success to make fish cultivation more efficient and sustainable, but a large proportion of the young fish die during the early stages. Only the copepods and copepod eggs supplied by C-Feed have been able to achieve better results by decreasing mortality rates in the critical phases, increase growth and produce healthier fish.

In February 2016, C-Feed opened a new production plant, which enabled a 10-fold increase of the production capacity and is expected to supply enough copepods to raise 50-60 million farmed fish. “Thanks to funding from investors, we were greatly looking forward to making the jump from small-scale production to the industrialisation of copeped cultivation”, said CEO Rune Bjerke.

SINTEF Venture IV, the Technology Transfer fund commercialising eco-innovation results from its research organisation and the largest investors in C-Feed, is backed by EIF since 2013.

Company: C-Feed (Norway)
Type of business: eco-innovation, fish feed
EIF financing: CIP GIF 1
Financial intermediary: SINTEF