CHARTING A SUSTAINABLE COURSE FOR FISH FARMING

No. 18 - Autumn 2014 - The magazine of Skretting Italia SpA
SKRETTING
Informa
w w w.skretti n g. i t
CHARTING A
SUSTAINABLE
COURSE FOR
FISH FARMING
Viggo Halseth
Nutreco Chief Innovation Officer
Efficiency is crucial to ensuring
sustainability
While the global challenge of needing to feed two billion more mouths by 2050 places significant
pressure on us all, other important forecasts need to be acknowledged such as that by 2030 the
middle classes will likely grow by a further 3 billion people and per capita seafood consumption will
increase from 17.2kg to 18.2kg.
At the recent AquaVision 2014 conference, a number of speakers stated that we cannot expect a
greater contribution to total seafood production from wild catch fisheries, and this presents aquaculture with a huge opportunity. In the 20 years between 2010 and 2030, total aquaculture output is
projected to double, but it must do so without increasing its environmental footprint.
The global supply of fishmeal and fish oil at about 6 million metric tons combined is large enough
to support the continued growth of the sector. However, far greater emphasis on the efficient use of
resources can make a major contribution to the future sustainability of the industry.
In addition, there is no farmed animal on this planet, including fish and shrimp, that needs any one
particular raw material. Therefore, what we must do together is establish a far better understanding
of our species’ nutritional needs and then look to fulfil those with alternative raw materials so that the
marine resources that we do have can go a lot further.
In the four years since Skretting launched MicroBalance to the salmon and trout sectors, we have
been able to reduce our fishmeal inclusion from 25% to 10% without any change in fish performance
or health. MicroBalance has been extended to marine species and this has helped us to increase our
annual feed production by 700,000 metric tons for all species while reducing our fishmeal consumption by 115,000 metric tons. At the same time, and while not linked to MicroBalance technology, we
have reduced our fish oil consumption by 50,000 metric tons.
Our long-term ambition is to be totally independent of marine raw materials. It will be a challenge, but
with so many alternative ingredients available not only is it doable, the soaring cost of fishmeal and
fish oil will also make it the most cost-efficient approach.
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DESIGN
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Improving the
SUSTAINABILITY
of Mediterranean
farmed fish
In providing nutritionists with significantly improved flexibility in the selection of feed raw
materials, Skretting’s MicroBalanceTM technology is enabling fish farmers in the Mediterranean to use diets containing vastly reduced
levels of fishmeal and fish oil without detracting from feed performance, fish welfare or
end-product quality.
The rapid expansion of fish and animal farming in recent years has placed increased pressure on wild fishmeal resources. At the same time, the global population is growing at an unprecedented rate and is widely
forecasted to reach 9 billion people by 2050. The challenge is to produce more seafood without increasing
the pressure on wild fish stocks and this can only be
accomplished by further developing the aquaculture
industry in a sustainable, efficient and profitable manner. Skretting’s innovative MicroBalanceTM concept
successfully functions within these parameters.
In 2011, MicroBalanceTM was implemented in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), gilthead
sea bream (Sparus aurata) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) feeds, including Alterna, Optiline, Optibass and Optibream. Since then, Skretting
has been able to significantly reduce the amount
of fishmeal and fish oil in its diet formulations. As
a result, and despite these species being highly
carnivorous, they have become net fish protein
and fish oil producers. For example, market-size
freshwater rainbow trout now produce three times
as much fish protein and twice as much fish oil as
they consume from wild capture sources.
This contribution
– to reduce the
impact of our
activity over marine
resources – is
very good news
for the aquaculture
industry
Mari Angel Palacios
Quality Manager of Piszolla
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SKRETTING
INFORMA
KEY
NUMBERS
“Nowadays, high-quality feed concepts extend
beyond food safety and high nutritional value.
Large supermarket chains care about supplier issues such as social responsibility and sustainability too. This contribution – to reduce the impact of
our activity over marine resources – is very good
news for the aquaculture industry,” says Mari Angel
Palacios, quality manager of Piszolla, the largest
trout producer in Spain.
Coop Italia is among those food retailers that can
see benefits in the use of fish feeds that incorporate technology like MicroBalanceTM, particularly if
the nutritional quality of the fish in terms of fatty acid
composition is not jeopardised.
“Protecting wild fish stocks and reducing environmental impacts have always been priorities for
Coop Italia. For this reason, we promote sustainable fisheries, both from an ecological and social
point of view. Examples of our commitments include our support of the ‘Dolphin Safe’ campaign,
the exclusion of bluefin tuna from our stores and
becoming the first retailer in Europe to supply
Friend of the Sea-certified wild and farmed fish
products,” says Claudio Mazzini, Coop Italia’s sustainability, innovation and values manager.
NET PROTEIN PRODUCTION
The aquaculture industry has traditionally used the
Fish Feed Dependency Ratio (FFDR) to calculate
how many kilogrammes of wild fish are required to
produce 1kg of another commercial species, such
as trout. FFDRs therefore measure the sustainability of fish farming with respect to inputs from wild
fisheries. Only fishmeal and fish oil derived directly
from a pelagic fishery should be included in the
FFDR calculation. Fishmeal and fish oil derived
from fisheries by-products, such as trimmings,
should not be included because the FFDR is intended to be a calculation of direct dependency
on wild fisheries.
Historically, the FFDR was much greater than 1.0,
meaning that fish farming depended on the use
of wild fish to be feasible. However, the latest ratio calculations confirm that MicroBalanceTM has
enabled Skretting to dramatically reduce its use of
wild fish ingredients. Portion-size sea bass and sea
bream (400 grams) have an FFDR of 0.65 and 0.6,
respectively, while portion-size trout (300 grams)
has an FFDR of 0.45.
Fish oil sourced from wild fisheries used to be the
main contributor to FIFO scores of 1.0 and above but
the introduction of alternative oils into diets, derived
from vegetables and fish trimmings, has resulted in
a significant reduction in the use of anchovy, capelin
and other oil-rich wild fish. Furthermore, Skretting Aquaculture Research (ARC) has acquired vast knowledge about the use of plant protein as sources of
nourishment for Mediterranean farmed fish. The wider use of fish trimmings and the legal reintroduction
of some ingredients from non-ruminants land animal
by-products have also contributed to this success.
0.65
& 0.6
THE FFDR OF
PORTION-SIZE (400G)
SEA BASS AND
SEA BREAM
0.45
THE FFDR OF
PORTION-SIZE
(300G) TROUT
50%
REDUCTION IN THE
SALMON INDUSTRY’S
USE OF FISHMEAL
OVER THE LAST
SEVEN YEARS
Javier Ojeda, manager of the Spanish marine fish
farmer association APROMAR (Asociación Empresarial de Productores de Cultivos Marinos de
España) also welcomes the results given by MicroBalanceTM -based diets.
“Today, fish farming is one of the most efficient
food producing industries. This productivity covers
the use of biological resources, energy consumption and fresh water demand. Getting here has
been driven by societal concerns and our industry’s long-term vision. One of the main milestones
has been aquaculture becoming a net producer
of fish through huge improvements in fish feeding
knowledge and technology,” says Ojeda.
Photo: Getty Images
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INFORMA
One of the main
milestones has
been aquaculture
becoming a net
producer of fish
through huge
improvements in fish
feeding knowledge
and technology
Javier Ojeda
Manager of APROMAR
DELIVERING CONSISTENT QUALITY
Leading bass and bream producer Cromaris began
using the MicroBalanceTM-based feeds Optibass
and Optibream, supplied by Skretting Italy, three
years ago when the Croatian company learned of
the greater flexibility of feed ingredients as well as
the subsequent reduction on wild fish resources
without impacting on fish health or quality.
Founded in 2009, but incorporating more than 30
years of fish farming tradition through the three companies Cenmar, Marimirna and Marikultura Istra, Cromaris is renowned for its strong focus on sustainability and minimising environmental impacts wherever
possible. It has therefore embraced the new concept and is pleased with the results it has seen.
“We are completely satisfied with the products. In
using them, we have achieved the desired results:
the fish quality is just as good as it was before and
there have been no changes to our production systems,” says Goran Markulin, director at Cromaris.
SKRETTING PUBLISHES FIRST ONLINE
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Skretting’s first online annual sustainability report, which
comprehensively details its activities in 2013, is now live at
www.sustainability.skretting.com
The international animal nutrition and fish feed group
Nutreco, owner of Skretting, has established a robust
focus on sustainability throughout all its Business Units.
This priority is borne from the global challenge of feeding the 9 billion people that are forecast to be populating the planet by 2050. It has been well documented
that if we intend to feed all those people in the same
way that we provide for the current population then we
will need 3.5 Earths. Clearly, we do not have that luxury,
which means everyone has a role to play in ensuring the
resources that we do have are exploited to their maximum sustainable level.
While Nutreco’s Integrated Report 2013 includes information related to the fish feed activities of the group,
Skretting’s new Sustainability Report 2013 enables us
to provide much more detailed information about our
aquaculture activities and to be more visible and transparent in the marketplace.
“Skretting has developed a sustainability focus to be proud
of. Looking ahead, the group is abundantly aware that one
of the most positive impacts that it can have in the context of sustainability is to ensure it manufactures feeds from
responsibly-sourced raw materials. It will therefore endeavour to improve the sustainability of its formulas, including
taking further steps to reduce the amount of marine raw
materials in its feeds, and will continue to plough resources
into R&D in order to develop new concepts and protocols
that will progress the global aquaculture industry,” says
Viggo Halseth, Nutreco Chief Innovation Officer and COO
of Skretting in 2013.
“Our company has adopted a very positive attitude towards sustainability and we will always try to progress
by taking the most responsible approach possible.
At the same time, and while it differs from market to
market, we are generally finding that customers are
becoming increasingly interested in fish feed origins
as well as fish farming practices,” he says.
As well as being applied in feeds for sea bass,
sea bream and rainbow trout, the MicroBalanceTM
concept has been introduced in diets for yellowtail
(Seriola quinqueradiata) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo
salar). In fact, the MicroBalanceTM concept is part
of a programme that has made it possible for the
salmon industry to reduce its use of fishmeal in the
diet by 50% over the last seven years.
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SKRETTING
INFORMA
FEEDING 9
BILLION PEOPLE
Challenges and opportunities
In June, Skretting hosted AquaVision 2014,
the 10th edition of the world aquaculture business conference, in Stavanger, Norway, attracting some 400 delegates from 45 countries. Heading the conference agenda was
the global challenge of establishing a sustainable supply of food capable of feeding a
population that is widely expected to swell to
9 billion people by 2050.
Current global food production needs to increase
70% by 2050 in order to feed the additional 2 billion people that are forecast to be inhabiting the
planet by that date, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO),
and delegates heard at AquaVision 2014 that sustainable aquaculture growth will be one of the main
solutions to feeding this expanding population.
Dr James Anderson, advisor for oceans fisheries and aquaculture leader for the World Bank’s
Global Programme on Fisheries and Aquaculture
(PROFISH) explained that as the population grows,
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SKRETTING
INFORMA
so too will its wealth and its meat consumption,
including seafood, which means the role of aquaculture will become increasingly important in the
years ahead.
Quoting from the World Bank report ‘Fish to 2030:
Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture’, Anderson said fish accounted for about 28% of total
meat consumption in 1980. Of that, aquaculture
contributed just 3%. By 2009, fish accounted for
31% of meat consumption with aquaculture supplying 14%. Today, aquaculture supplies 50% of
the seafood for human consumption and this will
rise to reach two-thirds by 2030.
The main species driving this trend are shrimp and
tilapia, which will experience growth between 90%
and 100% in the next 20 years. Over the same period, molluscs, carp, pangasius and salmon production will increase between 40% and 90%, he said,
adding that a lot of the growth will be with freshwater species and in regions such as Latin America,
South East Asia, the Caribbean and India.
Aquaculture
is the fastest
growing
food sector,
increasing at
about 8% yearon-year, which
is nearly double
that of the other
sectors
Dr James Anderson
advisor for oceans, fisheries
and aquaculture leader for
the World Bank’s Global
Programme on Fisheries and
Aquaculture (PROFISH)
Global Consumption of Fish and Meat
1980-2009
400
14%
n Farm-raised fish
n Wild-caught fish
n Mutton & Goat Meat
n Poultry meat
n Pork
n Beef
350
300
250
17%
Fish
31%
Meat
69%
Fish & meat consumption (million tons)
200
3%
25%
150
WORKING WITH NGOs
Fish
28%
AquaVision 2014’s keynote speaker, the rock star
turned campaigner Sir Bob Geldof believes the
complex challenge of feeding the world’s growing
population can only be fully addressed when all
stakeholders – commercial operations, governments and non-government organisations (NGOs)
find fair and practical ways of working together.
100
50
0
Meat
72%
1980
2009
Source: FAOSTAT, FishStat
ADVANTAGES OF AQUACULTURE
With another stark reminder of the enormous task
at hand, José Villalón, corporate sustainability director for Nutreco, told delegates that in the next
40 years the planet will need to provide more food
than it has in the preceding 8,000 years.
“The challenge will be how to do this while managing the environmental footprint,” he said. “Our
situation is that land is highly constrained but vast
amounts of open water areas are underutilised. If
done responsibly, aquaculture can become more
efficient and utilise open waters to become a viable tool to feeding the surging demand for food.”
With edible yields that are much greater than pigs,
chickens, lambs and cows, based on considerably lower feed conversion ratios, farmed fish
should be recognised for being far more efficient
than other centre-plate proteins, he said. Furthermore, farmed fish also has a low carbon footprint.
Farmed Atlantic salmon, for example, produces
seven times less CO2 emissions than beef and
50% less than pork.
“We need to produce more with less – this is the
mantra of tomorrow,” he said. “Aquaculture is ideally poised to assume a leadership role in the efficient use of resources to produce high-quality and
nutritious protein.”
Aquaculture is
ideally poised to
assume a leadership
role in the efficient
use of resources to
produce high-quality
and nutritious
protein
José Villalón
corporate sustainability director for
Nutreco
Sir Bob maintained that aquaculture could play a
very important part in this mission by bridging the
gap between sustainable wild fisheries and the
global demand for seafood. But he stressed that
the aquaculture industry can only achieve this goal
by ensuring all production systems are responsibly
implemented and managed. In addition, he said the
sector must work harder to allay consumer fears
and suspicions about its practices and products
and stressed the importance of involving NGOs in
this task, who he feels can be much more pursuasive than government leaders.
“Aquaculture is vital, but it needs to be articulated and
explained to NGOs and then to consumers. Unless it
is told to people in a logical way that they can understand, the aquaculture industry will continue to face
criticism and struggle to be accepted,” he said.
“We need to get to the point whereby aquaculture
is not only a viable business but also a viable methodology for keeping so many of us alive,” he said.
Stating that 20% of the world’s population uses 80%
of Earth’s resources, he urged the aquaculture industry to strike the right balance between consumer
and business demands, together with the broader
social and environmental needs of the planet.
“When you do, and you will, you will have helped
resolve the signature problem of our time – that
of inequality and disequilibrium.” The next AquaVision, which will be held in 2016, will mark the 20th
year of the conference.
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SKRETTING
INFORMA
We need to get to
the point whereby
aquaculture is
not only a viable
business but
also a viable
methodology for
keeping so many
of us alive
Sir Bob Geldof
KEY
DATES
2050
CURRENT GLOBAL
FOOD PRODUCTION
WILL NEED TO
INCREASE 70% BY
THIS YEAR TO FEED
A POPULATION OF 9
BILLION PEOPLE
2016
YEAR OF THE NEXT
AQUAVISION AND THE
20TH YEAR OF THE
CONFERENCE
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INFORMA
2050: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW
The population of the world will not reach 9 billion people by 2050, instead it will peak at 8 billion and then decline, according to climate expert Professor Jorgen Randers of the Norwegian
Business School.
In his projection ‘2052 – A global forecast for the
next 40 years’, Randers said the world population
and economy will grow much slower than most
people expect and that the global consumption
of food will rise by 60% by 2052, which was a
feasible amount for current production systems.
The demand for high-quality protein will soar in
the years ahead, said Randers. But he believes
in this race it will be chicken rather than fish that
will be the winner, with seafood coming a close
second thanks to impressive growth in the aquaculture industry.
“All additional fish will come from aquaculture
because the wild catch is at its limit and only
protected fisheries will survive. Also, grass-fed
GM (genetically modified) fish will become the
norm and most of the industry’s growth will come
in emerging markets,” he said.
KEY
NUMBERS
50%
AQUACULTURE NOW
SUPPLIES HALF
OF THE SEAFOOD
FOR HUMAN
CONSUMPTION
90%100%
FORECASTED
GROWTH OF SHRIMP
AND TILAPIA
PRODUCTION IN THE
NEXT 20 YEARS