How much feed would a farmed salmon eat over its lifetime?
Food consumption varies from one species to another. For example, salmon are efficient feed converters, requiring 1.2 kg of dry food to gain 1 kg of weight. One market-size farmed Atlantic salmon, weighing six kilograms (kg), would eat approximately 7.2 kg of feed over its lifetime. The relatively efficient and low food-conversion ratio hinges on a number of factors. Domesticated fish, like animals raised using traditional terrestrial agriculture practices, have been selected for faster growth, higher survival, better feed efficiency and higher protein yield. The farm environment removes the biological requirement for the animal to search for food and avoid predators so that more food energy can be put toward growth.
