I recently posted about the use of menhaden in making fish oil dietary supplements and the potential risk that poses to the entire Atlantic Ocean ecosystem. One of the alternatives to using menhaden for omega-3 supplements is algae oil, because algae is the primary diet of the menhaden and is actually the source of all that omega-3 in the first place. Algae oil also seems to be poised to take off as a source of biodiesel, so maybe in the future you can fill up your car AND reduce your cholesterol at the same time…but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Meanwhile, the other primary commercial use for menhaden is to be ground up and turned into fish meal, which is then fed to farm-raised fish (because, after all, the sea is a hungry place), continuing to keep pressure on the fishing stock. Now, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking at using genetically-modified barley protein as an alternative to menhaden in farm fisheries. The researchers believe that the barley could be sold at half the price of conventional fish meal. Also, a second derivative of the barley called beta-glucan also has potential health benefits.
