Land animal products, including poultry, contribute to the ingredient options that we have in Australia. These products provide a high-quality sustainable source of proteins and fat, reducing the amount of marine derived ingredients required. Making use of these by-products is a great example of the circular economy. Using discarded material from one industry to supply important ingredients to the other significantly improves the sustainability of both land-based agriculture and sea-based aquaculture.

All animal feed in Australia is rigorously controlled by the federal government. Salmon are not fed unprocessed poultry products. Parts of the chicken discarded in the human food production are cooked, pressed, dried and milled into a high protein powder that we can use as an alternative to fish meal.

Just like all animals, when fish eat protein they digest it in their stomach’s and the enzymes split the protein into building blocks called Amino Acids. These are absorbed by the fish and carried around the body in the blood. They are used to repair tissue, renew cells, and support growth. These amino acid building blocks are reassembled into fish proteins regardless of their original source, whether marine, land animal or vegetable. Exactly the same thing happens in our bodies, if we eat a steak, beans, chicken or fish we remain stubbornly human.