A new balanced, nutritious, daily fishmeal-free food that’s not only better for fish but also helps protect the world’s oceans has been launched by leading pet and aquatics company Interpet.

FIT & WILD Pond Sticks by Blagdon are based on the natural diet of most pond fish – insects and small crustaceans – and helps prevent the unnecessary depletion of the planet’s resources.

Adrian Exell, Head of Development and Marketing Manager at Interpet, which is part of the Central Garden & Pet company, explains: “Our new FIT & WILD range of food is best for fish and best for the environment. Every year, the world’s oceans are raided of billions of fish to make fishmeal.

“Our FIT & WILD range, including the pond sticks for garden pond fish, has been formulated to be completely fishmeal-free to protect the oceans’ resources, yet it still provides all the nutrition fish require.

“Fishmeal is traditionally one of the main ingredients of many fish foods and is mostly made of small oily fish, unsustainably harvested from the sea.

“Millions of tonnes of these fish are taken from the wild annually, which adds to the over-fishing issues that we face as a planet. These forage fish are also fundamentally important for supporting and feeding the marine food web, including animals like dolphins, sharks and whales. Feeding fish an insect-based food is not only much kinder to the oceans and the wider environment, but also is far closer to their natural diet.

“In the wild, most pond fish don’t eat other fish, yet we still feed them fishmeal-based diets. Instead, most have evolved to eat insects and small crustaceans and have developed a digestive system to fit this.

“That is why we’ve formulated FIT & WILD using these ingredients to give fish the best and most natural diet possible to help keep them fit and healthy.”

The new FIT & WILD fish food is a complete range of food, which offers a more natural diet for garden pond fish and is highly palatable. It contains high quality, palatable protein that is closer to what fish would eat in the wild, including Mealworm meal, Daphnia, Bloodworms and Black Soldier Fly Larvae.

Adrian adds: “Our new range offers garden pond keepers with fish the chance to prioritise the health and wellbeing of their aquatic pets and lessen their environmental impact at the same time.

“Feeding a more natural, complete food will help bring out the best in their fish. With better diet and nutrition, they will maintain a healthier condition, be stronger, have more vitality and vivid colours, as well as enhanced growth and resistance to illness.”

Blagdon’s FIT & WILD pond fish food comes in various options and package sizes:

• FIT & WILD Pond Sticks 180g   £5.99 SSP
• FIT & WILD Pond Sticks 675g   £17.99 SSP
• FIT & WILD Pond Sticks 1.6kg £33.99 SSP                

The FIT & WILD range is available for retailers to order now.

For further trade information, retailers should contact their Interpet Area Sales Manager or sign-up to Blagdon’s new online ordering system: https://trade.interpet.co.uk.

To find out more about the new Fit & Wild range, please visit www.fitandwildfood.com or http://www.blagdonwatergardening.co.uk.