The interview is part of a new series filmed by The Fish Site’s team at dsm-firmenich’s recent Global Aqua Days event in Athens. In it, Johnsen – whose family has been supplying synthetic astaxanthin to the aquaculture industry since the 1970s – discusses the benefits of the carotenoid compound with The Fish Site’s Moritz Mueller. As Johnsen explains, while often perceived by consumers as a purely cosmetic additive, astaxanthin is far more than a pigment – it is essential for fish health, performance and reproduction. In the early days of salmon farming, farmers supplemented feeds with shrimp byproducts as a natural source of astaxanthin. A breakthrough came in the 1970s, when the molecule was chemically isolated, enabling consistent large-scale production, and soon synthetic astaxanthin became the industry standard.