The assessment of omega 3 oil sources for use in aquaculture – alternatives to the unsustainable harvest of wild fish stocks

ABSTRACT Worldwide harvest of wild marine fisheries for fish oil cannot increase. However, the demand for fish oil is increasing due to a rapidly expanding aquaculture industry and is further increased by nutraceutical/biomedical and agricultural companies. Aquaculture uses fish oil as a source for essential fatty acids in particular omega-3 long chainpolyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3 LC-PUFA) and for energy. Other novel sources of renewable, environmentally sustainable oil that provide these nutritional requirements for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) are needed. This research looked at alternate sources of oil containing the ω3 LC-PUFA that are associated with the many health benefits of eating Atlantic salmon. This thesis also contributed to the development of three techniques for use in aquaculture lipid nutrition research: 1) advanced chromatography and mass spectroscopy to examine intact molecular membrane lipids; 2) nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) to assess the regiospecific distribution of ω3 LC-PUFA in oil, and 3) molecular RT-PCR to investigate endogenous ω3 LC-PUFA production