Methane-eating bacteria could reduce the impact of our big appetite for fish

Conventional fish feed is hard on the environment. A California-based company is aiming to produce a non-animal, non-vegetable alternative

A California-based company has been busy working on a non-animal, non-vegetable feed for fish farms made using a bacterium called methylococcus. It may not sound like something edible but when placed in fermentation tanks and fed methane, before being spun at high speed to remove the water, it creates dried pellets that prove appetising for fish.

First developed in the 1980s, the idea has since been revisited as a potential answer to the growing demand for fish feed and fears of collapsing fish stocks.