Our mission
feeding the aquaculture explosion
why aquafeed ingredients?
Aquaculture is the most important source of protein in the world. As our global population increases to 10 billion people, farmed fish and shrimp will provide over 35% of all meat-based protein. To enable this growth, the aquaculture industry will need to increase production of aquaculture feeds by 25 million tons.
Current aquafeeds utilize ingredients derived from wild caught fish (fishmeal and fish oil), but over the last three decades overfishing and associated regulations have driven down their use. The main alternatives for protein and fat come from plants (isolated soy protein, canola oil, etc.), which are nutritionally deficient for aquatic animals and have a 2 – 6x higher carbon footprint to ingredients derived from fish.
The increased demand for feeds requires us to innovate to find solutions that are sustainable and nutritious. At Nāmaka Algae, we intend to provide solutions for the rapidly growing aquaculture industry with our SeaPro™ aquafeed ingredients and have chosen the Big Island of Hawai’i for our initial production facility. Hawai’i strives for food sovereignty, and we will be working closely with local fish farmers and feed manufacturers to formulate a beachhead product for Hawai’i’s growing aquaculture industry. At Nāmaka Algae, we are innovating ingredient solutions for the aquaculture industry today and tomorrow.
Algae are natural parts of the aquatic food web and provide a holistic solution to this challenge. Our business is focused on growing microalgae and formulating proprietary fish feed ingredients that can replace low-quality protein sources, as well as many of the additives needed to compensate for the low-quality proteins all in one formulation. Nutritionally, this provides a balanced source of marine proteins, omega-3s and micronutrients in a single ingredient.
Nutritious, Sustainably produced, and Locally Grown aquafeed ingredients
Nāmaka Algae is a Hawai’i company, based on the Big Island. Our mission is to provide our local aquaculture farmers with a high quality sustainable nutrition from microalgae. Water, responsible energy use and environmental conservation are a priority for our company, so we have developed methods to produce our algae with no waste and minimal inputs. We ensure the utmost quality and purity of the seawater our product is grown in. Our growth media is 100% recycled, meaning we dispose of no nutrients, and we re-use our water. We are developing disruptive technology to enhance our ability to capture and efficiently use sunlight, Skylight™.
Each batch of Raw Spirulina is hand-washed with sterile Hawaiian aquifer water to ensure the highest quality and the purest product available.
Algae capture sunlight and carbon dioxide while growing incredibly fast (crop harvests every five to seven days). They are the base of the aquatic food web, making them naturally nutritious and sustainable for use in aquafeeds. They possess the unique capability to fulfil protein, fat and micronutrient needs in a single ingredient. Unlike other products algae provide superior nutrition while also minimizing carbon footprints. Not only do algae capture carbon dioxide, they convert it into valuable nutrients. Using our SeaPro™ aquafeed ingredients promotes the sustainability of the aquaculture industry, addressing the critical challenge of feeding a growing global population while minimizing environmental impact.
our technology
Nāmaka Algae is focused on reduction of algal production costs. In response to challenges posed by existing cultivation systems, we are developing a revolutionary algae reactor that specifically targets the enhancement of sunlight availability without imposing prohibitive constructions costs or the use of energy/electricity. Our work to date has involved deep study of algal biology, review of existing design shortcomings, detailed techno-economic analysis, and proof-of-concept experimentation. The culmination our work is a cost-effective, scalable solution that improves productivity up to 12x when modeling with empirical data compared to traditional raceway ponds, while keeping build costs low.
Advanced Cultivation technology
The way to think about Skylight™ technology is to compare it with solar panels. In 1955, solar panels with 2% efficiency had an energy cost of $1,785/watt. Today, this has improved to 20% efficiency and $1/watt.. Traditional algae ponds only capture 1% of the sunlight, while closed photobioreactors may reach up to 4%. Our technology leapfrogs those existing options and approaches the theoretical biological limit of a 12% solar efficiency. As a result, we decrease the cost of production by up to 80% according to our modeling.
