Using rendered poultry remnants as feed undermines the aquaculture industry\u2019s attempts to position its product as \u2018natural\u2019, or at least an approximation of the wild version: wild salmon are obviously not swimming around the Atlantic feeding on chickens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, increased demand for traditional fishmeal \u2013 which is made from small species caught in the open ocean \u2013 has sent the industry scrambling for alternatives.<\/p>\n
A supply crunch caused by this year\u2019s super El\u00a0Ni\u00f1o weather event and restricted anchovy fishing in the southern Pacific \u2013 a major source of fishmeal \u2013 has exacerbated the industry\u2019s problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe margins on farmed Atlantic salmon are quite tight, so when that price goes up, they have to find alternative protein sources at a lower price point to feed the salmon \u2013 and the next best thing is rendered poultry product,\u201d explains Finnian Harnett, a fish nutritionist with a PhD in aquaculture.<\/p>\n
The stuff being used to make fish feed is a byproduct of the poultry industry \u2013 it\u2019s what is left over after the parts of the chicken consumed by humans and the remains used for cat and dog food have been removed.<\/p>\n
In other words, it\u2019s very cheap.<\/p>\n
![\"PHOTO-2026-10-16-13-00-37\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792416490_1_.jpeg\")
\n Fish nutritionist Finnian Hartnett\n<\/p>\n
From the industry\u2019s point of view, it is also an easily digestible form of protein and widely available, given the scale of mass poultry production globally.<\/p>\n
Hartnett believes that only a small proportion of farmed salmon currently on Irish supermarket shelves is likely to have been fed chicken \u2013 but in the next few months it will become \u201cway more common\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crop from this summer would be predominantly fishmeal and soybean meal fed, but there will always be a few farms that are using poultry meal. It\u2019s not a novel ingredient. Over the next 12 months there will be a lot of it,\u201d Hartnett said.<\/p>\n
![\"view-of-salmon-jumping-in-a-circular-aquaculture-net-pen-at-a-fish-farm-in-the-fjord-more-og-romsdal-norway\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792416491_717_.jpeg\")
\n Salmon leaping in an open water cage at a Norwegian fish farm. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
The Financial Times has reported that Mowi<\/a>, one of the biggest suppliers to supermarkets and the dominant player in the Irish salmon farming industry, is planning to introduce poultry-based feed at its farms in Norway and Scotland. (Mowi did not respond to a request for comment from\u00a0The Journal.)<\/p>\n Another major Norwegian producer,\u00a0Ler\u00f8y, has already done so \u2013 after coming clean about its plans last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Irish-produced farmed salmon is typically produced as \u201corganic\u201d, which in aquaculture means lower stocking density and restrictions on the use of medicines.<\/p>\n It does not, however, mean that the fish cannot be fed on rendered chicken remnants.<\/p>\n The organic standard for carnivorous fish such as salmon \u201cprioritises\u201d protein from aquatic species but does not prohibit protein from other animals, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) told\u00a0The Journal.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Information for consumers<\/p>\n So how do consumers figure out what they are eating (and what it has been eating)?<\/p>\n If shoppers are bothered by the idea of chicken-fed-fish, they are likely to struggle to find the information they need to reassure them on supermarket salmon packaging.<\/p>\n Under food labelling law there is no requirement for the type of feed to be indicated on the label for any food of animal origin, including farmed fish, the FSAI said.<\/p>\n Nor is there any requirement for suppliers to be named. That means there is no point in going looking for\u00a0Ler\u00f8y or Mowi\u2019s logos. The law does not require the name of producers to be declared. Salmon packaging will often simply state \u201cproduced for [name of supermarket]\u201c.<\/p>\n It looks like salmon from Norway and Scotland is most likely at the moment to have been fed on poultry \u2013 but it\u2019s not even easy to figure out where salmon has been produced from looking at the labels, even though it is mandatory to declare the country of origin.<\/p>\n In practice, the country of origin is normally indicated through a single letter at the end of the batch code, often found near the barcode: N for Norway, S for Scotland, IS for Iceland and so on.<\/p>\n Even farmed salmon products carrying Irish brand names will often have the telltale \u201cN\u201d at the end of their batch code, especially if the salmon is not labelled as \u201corganic\u201d.<\/p>\n Good idea or bad idea?<\/p>\n There is no requirement on producers to inform the FSAI \u2013 Ireland\u2019s food law enforcement agency \u2013 what they are using in their feed.<\/p>\n However, the FSAI said the EU regulations on sourcing and processing of animal by-products for feed are \u201cstrict\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ler\u00f8y has argued that poultry by-products would otherwise not be used for human food and are also a more sustainable option than another important component of fish meal \u2013 soy.<\/p>\n Soy production is a major driver of deforestation in South America.<\/p>\n Liam Carr, a senior lecturer at the University of Galway\u2019s School of Geography, agrees that using poultry byproduct to feed farmed fish is \u201chighly sustainable\u201d, since this waste would probably otherwise be incinerated.<\/p>\n Both Carr and Hartnett point to another important environmental benefit: feeding salmon on chicken protects stocks of the smaller wild fish currently being caught to feed farmed salmon for our supermarket shelves.<\/p>\n Catching small oily fish for fishmeal, or for that matter to make food supplements such as omega 3 capsules, removes an important part of the ocean\u2019s food web.<\/p>\n However, Carr emphasises that the environmental benefits of switching to poultry-based feed only go so far \u2013 the wider environmental impact of fish farming remains.<\/p>\n The threats posed include the risk of infection and the fish\u2019s susceptibility to pathogens and parasites due to being packed into cages. Farmed fish \u2013 which are kept all around Ireland\u2019s coast \u2013 can and do escape.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese risks are borne to both farmed salmon and also the surrounding wild populations, and habitats,\u201d Carr said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unlikely that choice in feed is the only \u2013 or major \u2013 concern when it comes to maintaining a healthy farmed stock or not adversely impacting wild populations.\u201d<\/p>\n Salmon could be farmed in tanks on land or in closed cages \u2013 but this would be a lot more expensive.<\/p>\n Does Carr himself eat farmed salmon? No, he says, he does not, because of the environmental impact of current open cage farming, although he believes changes can be made to make salmon farming more sustainable and allow wild populations to recover.<\/p>\n He suggests mussels and oysters are probably a good option for an ethical seafood choice, as well as locally caught wild fish, once the species is known to be doing well at the moment \u2013 there are apps for that.<\/p>\n Ultimately, feeding chicken to salmon is not \u201cnatural\u201d, but neither is keeping a migratory species in a cage.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear whether consumers will care \u2013 we seem to just want more and more salmon. Global demand for the fish increased by 9% in the second quarter of the year, according to Mowi\u2019s latest financial results<\/a>. Demand for chicken \u2013 the most consumed meat globally \u2013 also continues to grow.<\/p>\n