As part of our work to support members, IFFO:

Organised 2 webinars and 5 in-person events including our Annual Conference in Lisbon, our Members Meeting in Miami and our China Workshop in Xiamen, China. As part of our InFocus technical workshop series, a meeting gathered leading experts from across the feed industry in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) to discuss circular feed ingredients and how to optimise nutrient use through aquaculture. A scientific paper will result from these discussions in 2025. 

As of the end of 2024, we have 261 members, with 21 new members joining in 2024. The IFFO team visited members in China, Chile, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Peru, and Mexico.

Beyond the more than 171 market intelligence reports we published in 2024, we carried out an ad hoc study on the Grouper Industry in China. Other market projects launched in 2024 cover mapping global supply of EPA and DHA, and data collection on the  production of fish hydrolysates.

Successfully processed 31 MARA (China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs) import licenses for IFFO members at a very competitive price (75% lower than market prices). Measures to optimise the process have shortened application time by 1 month.

Continued to coordinate with the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) and relevant Embassies in Beijing on China market access issues for IFFO members, and shared 7 updates of GACC-approved establishment lists.

Continued the work with the Global Feed LCA Institute (GFLI) as a member and assisted with data collection to increase transparency and ensure the industry is included in this comprehensive assessment. Visits for the Data-In-Project were carried out with producers in the North Atlantic region. Progress was made on full life cycle impact assessments for three members who provided data in 2024, with assessments undertaken and reports provided back to each member. The data collection template has been updated and remains available for members use. We still would like more participants to engage in the GFLI work.

Regulatory focus was given to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) bulk shipping (IMSBC) maritime dangerous goods (IMDG) codes in 2024, with finalisation of the harmonisation of the IMSBC code with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code. This means that the types of antioxidants and minimum residual levels are now the same on both codes, and this will become part of the code from 2026. In the 2024 we also assisted with the introduction of a new non-dangerous goods code for bulk fishmeal (Group-C Schedule). This new code will also become available for use in 2026.

In 2024, we initiated a work on mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH). The work is continuing in 2025 with development of a follow up project to work with the analytical laboratory sector to improve reliability of the analysis methods.

Microplastic Origins and Uptake: IFFO’s multi-partner project has finished and is available in our Members Area. The project showed that microplastics predominantly enter at point-of-capture, with lots of variability, and there is little to no impact on fed species. The paper has gone for peer review and with the aim of publishing in 2025.

Biodiversity Impacts: Project compared the impacts of different fishing and agricultural activities on biodiversity impacts. The paper is available in the Members area and is waiting to be published in a journal.

Launched two campaigns on social media focusing on fishmeal and fish oil's role in the FAO’s Blue Transformation roadmap, and the strategic use of marine ingredients in aquafeed formulation strategies. Released the latest sustainability metrics figures for marine ingredients and by-product information webpage. Published 2 informative videos with industry experts.

As part of our work in representing the industry and engaging stakeholders, IFFO:

IFFO represented its members by speaking at numerous external events including the GOED Exchange, the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF), the International Symposium of Fish Nutrition and Feeding (ISFNF), OECD-FAO Agri-commodities Working Group, Aquaculture Europe, EFFOP Biennial Conference 2024, the Global Shrimp Forum, FAO Fish Price Index workshop, and the 7th China High-value Aquafeed Development Forum.

Participated in and held the role as Secretariat for Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients, with active workstreams on West Africa and South and South East Asia. Representatives from IFFO and the South and South East Asia workstream took part in the Global Shrimp Summit in Chennai, India, to promote fishery management. The Global Roundtable continued the stakeholder mapping it started for West Africa’s fishmeal and fish oil value chain in 2023 with the Track the Fish report. Two workshops were held with a focus on West Africa’s fishery governance and management and synergies were explored with Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI).

Launched a new Market Statistics section, providing general market data on marine ingredient production, both from wild caught and by-products, along with data on how marine ingredients are used. This section is available to the public, as part of IFFO’s role as being the information source for the industry. Members can find more detailed data and market analysis via our members area. 

3 peer-reviewed articles were published in 2024 and are publicly available, gaining over 10,000 views via Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture: The evolution of sustainability metrics, novel protein SWOT analysis and Omega-3 futures in aquafeed.

Responded proactively to all media and NGO requests, while driving discussions on marine ingredients through 16 press releases and 26 opinion and editorials and blog articles resulting in 274 pieces of positive global press coverage. IFFO actively engages on social media with over 5,200 followers (up by 1,000 in the last year) on LinkedIn. In China, IFFO is active on 4 social media platforms, with 260 new followers and 13,082 hits gained in 2024 on WeChat. IFFO’s China vodcast series released on these platforms as well as on IFFO website have received 10,634 views by end of 2024.