It is hard to find a more diverse company than Alltech. At their recent REBELation, breakout sessions covered topics from digital media to aquaculture. Headlining discussion on algae was, Becky Timmons, Director for Applications Research and Quality Assurance for Alltech Algae. She started with Alltech 30 years ago and also has a very diversified background. She has been everything from a lab technician to head of the flavor and now into the world algae.

Becky quoted Rick Barrows, USDA, who said finding a replacement for fish oil would be like the ‘holy grail’ for the aquaculture industry. “In our bid to feed more people a high quality protein and as we have a growing population, everyone is expecting the aquaculture industry to really grow.”

She explained that there is a stagnant amount of fish oil available, about 1 million tons. Consumption is right at the amount as well. If aquaculture needs to grew, so does the production of fish oil. The human population is also consuming more fish oil than every before.

Alltech has the answer. “We are producing an algae that is about 70% fat and very high in DHA. We have done work in both trials and commercial to show that we can successfully replace the fish oil. The fish eat it very well and you actually see nutritional benefits to the fish. And that fillet quality is still just as good, preferred in sensory testing and has the healthy fatty acid profile that we need.”

Trials have shown that this method is cost-effective for producer and consumer and Becky believes we are going to see a great shift of algae use soon. Listen to my complete interview with Becky to learn more about Alltech’s algae production here: Interview with Becky Timmons, Alltech Algae

Don’t forget to check out photos from the event here: 2015 Alltech REBELation Photo Album