HoloFood Salmon Trials

    HoloFood aims to improve current salmon farming practices by exploring the impact of two new sustainable food sources on commercially farmed salmon. The inherent biological interactions between the host (salmon) genome, their associated microbiome and their combined response to food sources will help guide industry to more sustainable feeding strategies with optimised output. 

    Holo-Salmon

    Reliance on aquaculture production and output is expected to increase dramatically in the near future. 

    In the last decades the ingredients in the fish feed has been changed towards more sustainable raw materials.


    In HoloFood we will explore the impact of novel feed additives and protein sources, by characterising both the fish and their respective microbiomes at different time points of their growth in controlled fish tank environments, together with records of their overall health, growth and other indicators of well-being. Together this information will provide a unique insight into the health benefits of the novel feed resources and provide an optimised guide for a more efficient feeding regime for future salmon production practices. 

    Food Sources

    Fermented Seaweed

    Exploring the potential health effects of using farmed seaweed, including a life microbial biofilm community, as a source of synbiotic (i.e. a combined package of both prebiotics and probiotics) feed additive. The seaweed is grown locally and is considered a more sustainable and natural resource of beneficial microorganisms. 

    Novel protein sources

    Naturally occurring marine protein sources, such as blue mussel, will be tested as more sustainable as alternatives to both fishmeal and plant based protein sources.