How GM canola oil engineered with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids could reduce over-fishing

The surging demand [for Omega 3 fatty acids] has pushed fish oil prices to a record high and presented the aquaculture industry with a problem: how to source more fish oil without putting depleted global fish stocks under even more pressure. About 90 percent of marine fish stocks worldwide are already fully or partially over-fished, according to the United Nations.

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[Cargill, Inc.] plans to pay farmers there to grow a new variety of canola, distinctive for its bright yellow flowers. Half a million acres would be eight times as much farmland as is currently planted with canola in the state.

Vegetable oil made from canola is high in Omega-3s, and Cargill teamed up in November with chemical company BASF SE to develop a canola type by 2020 that it will use to make oils for fish food. The new canola is genetically engineered to make long chain omega-3 fatty acids by introducing genes from algae in the ocean, another source of the fats.

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A half million acres of canola could produce about 159,000 tonnes of oil – the equivalent of one-fifth of global fish oil supplies.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Grain traders prepping fish oil substitutes for aquaculture, health fads