Big Data Study Chile
2026
Higher Dietary EPA & DHA Levels Improve Feed Efficiency and Harvest Quality in Chilean Salmon Farming
Better Diets, Better Yields: The Proven Pathway to Resilient Salmon Farming
This study confirms that higher dietary EPA & DHA inclusion positively influences production outcomes in salmon farming, consistent with previous commercial observations from Norwegian farming systems. Inclusion levels exceeding 7.2 % are associated with improved biological feed conversion and reduced melanosis incidence and severity at harvest.
The results also show that the benefits of higher EPA & DHA inclusions become more pronounced under higher mortality pressure. Importantly, the best outcomes are observed when higher EPA & DHA inclusion is combined with a balanced N6:N3 ratio.
Together, these findings indicate that managing fatty acid composition within salmon diets provides a practical pathway to improve feed efficiency, maintain harvest quality and support resilient farmed salmon production.
Key Findings
Farm Data Performance Results
Biological feed conversion ratio (bFCR) is a key performance indicator in salmon farming, as it directly affects feed cost, resource efficiency and the carbon footprint of farmed salmon. Commercial farm data from Chilean farmers in regions X & XI (Los Lagos & Aysén) show that salmon receiving diets containing EPA & DHA inclusion levels above 7.2 % (of total fatty acids) achieved improved feed conversion performance compared with those receiving EPA & DHA inclusion levels below 6.2 %.
When the data is classified by mortality pressure, the improvements in eFCR and bFCR become even more pronounced in those groups experiencing higher mortality.These results indicate that the performance advantage associated with higher EPA & DHA inclusion becomes more pronounced when fish are challenged.
Processor Data Results
Melanosis is one of the most economically significant quality defects in salmon processing, influencing grading outcomes, downgrade risk, and value retention. Published evidence1 shows that melanosis can reduce product price by approximately 9 % in mild cases (score 1), 26 % in moderate cases (score 2), and between 67 % and 100 % in severe cases (score ≥4). Such reductions represent a direct margin risk for producers and processors.
Fillet data from this Big Data study show that higher dietary EPA & DHA inclusion (>7.2 %) was associated with substantially lower melanosis prevalence and severity compared with lower EPA & DHA inclusion (<6.2 %).
Specifically, dietary EPA & DHA inclusion levels above 7.2 % (of total fatty acids) were associated with:
The Benefits of Better Nutrition Were Consistently
Observed across All Mortality Levels:
