In coastal communities from Peru to Denmark, vast quantities of fish that never make it to our dinner plates are transformed into two of the most sought-after commodities in the global food chain: fishmeal and fish oil.
These products, extracted in high-tech processing plants, are critical to industries as varied as aquaculture — where they help feed farmed salmon — and health supplements, where they power the booming market for omega-3 capsules.
But behind their economic value lies a complex story touching on sustainability, climate change, and the ethics of feeding fish to feed other animals — or ourselves. In our latest video investigation, we explore the industrial scale of these fisheries, the environmental trade-offs, and the innovations that could shape the future of how we feed the world.
From the docks of South America to laboratories in northern Europe, this is a behind-the-scenes journey into a hidden yet influential corner of the seafood economy.