About the project

Improving feed and resource efficiency is a major challenge but also a major opportunity in aquaculture. In Atlantic salmon production, feed represents more than 50% of production costs and over 70% of the total carbon footprint. At the same time, key marine nutrients such as EPA and DHA (omega-3 fatty acids) are limited resources, and their levels in salmon have declined as feed ingredients shift towards more plant-based sources instead of fish and marine sources.

DigiFishent aims to address these challenges by combining digital phenotyping and genomic selection to improve both feed efficiency and nutritional quality in salmon.

A major barrier to genetic improvement has been the lack of large-scale phenotypic data, particularly for individual feed intake, lipid content, and omega-3 levels. DigiFishent tackles this by developing novel methods to measure these traits across the full production cycle: from freshwater stages to harvest.

The project develops a new method for recording individual feed intake using metal tracers in feed. This is combined with growth trials on genetically related groups of salmon across freshwater and seawater phases, where feed intake, growth, and lipid content are recorded.

At harvest, EPA and DHA levels are measured using advanced analytical tools, including Raman spectroscopy. These phenotypic data are integrated with genomic information and analysed using advanced models to estimate genetic potential and relationships between traits.

By linking feed intake, growth, lipid composition, and omega-3 content, DigiFishent provides new insight into the biological and genetic mechanisms underlying feed and resource efficiency in Atlantic salmon.

Read more about the project

Project participants

NMBU participants

External participants

NOFIMA:

Senior researcher Nils Kristian Afseth - WP leader
Senior researcher Jens Petter Wold