Europe’s leading salmon producers are turning to chicken byproducts in fish feed as fishmeal prices rise, despite concerns that consumers may find the practice unnatural, the Financial Times reports.
Lerøy Seafood Group, a Norwegian salmon farmer supplying British supermarket chain Tesco, has introduced poultry byproducts at all its offshore farms.
Mowi plans to use poultry-based feed in Norway and Scotland, the report said.
Grieg Seafood has introduced chicken meal and oil, while SalMar is testing them.
Fishmeal prices have nearly doubled in two years as stocks fall and Chinese demand rises, while poultry feed costs less than half as much, it added.
Producers say chicken feed can cut costs and emissions while easing reliance on wild fish, as anchovy fishing off Peru is disrupted and blue whiting loses sustainability certification, per the Financial Times.
Margareth Øverland, a professor of aquaculture nutrition at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, told the Financial Times that consumers had historically been sceptical, but the market now appeared more receptive.
Chicken byproducts include bones, liver and brains unfit for human consumption. Though used in Chile and Canada for years, the practice has been slower to catch on in Europe.
Britain lifted its ban on livestock byproducts in fish feed in 2013 over disease concerns.
The shift could also benefit Britain’s poultry industry by increasing demand for animal byproducts. Alistair Collins, a director at processor JG Pears, said salmon farming was driving up their value.
A 2026 Nofima study found shoppers in the UK and France considered chicken-fed salmon “unnatural and disgusting”, the Financial Times reports.
Supermarkets have differing policies, the report notes. Tesco previously banned poultry-derived meal and oil in fish feed, while Waitrose has prohibited processed animal proteins.
Sainsbury’s told the newspaper that poultry ingredients were banned in feed for its own-label salmon.
Retailers are not legally required to disclose feed ingredients on packaging, leaving shoppers unaware of how their salmon was raised.
Animal welfare campaigners say consumers who avoid chicken for ethical or environmental reasons should be informed.