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After recently adopting an innovative new feed formula, Salmon Group, a Norwegian cooperative of small and medium sized salmon producers, announced that it would stop using Brazilian soy products in its fish feed last month. The Cooperative’s Purchasing and Feed Manager stated that the “change we are making to the feed recipe has significant impact. In fact, the result of this change is twice as large as the impact of all the other measures put together.”
“If you have the knowledge that something can be improved, you should go ahead and do it” said Salmon Group’s CEO Anne-Kristin Øen. “Removing Brazilian soy is a direct consequence of the difference in climate footprint. It costs us a few millions, but the climate effect is just enormous.”
Salmon Group had already recently begun using an alternative feed produced by Biomar Group. Key factors in the feed’s production process, such as the use of microalgae oils and more by-catch based fishmeal, are said to result in a 20% reduction in carbon footprint. The replacement of Brazilian soy ingredients is expected to provide an additional 17% reduction, and Salmon Group believes that additional adjustments to management and production practices should result in an overall reduction of 50%.
Øen was quoted at that time in a press release. “Salmon Group works systematically with issues related to sustainability and fish welfare. Last year we launched our feasibility study: ‘Sustainable Farming of Salmon and Trout – What is that?’ In that report we point to fish feed as an important aspect. Now we take it one step further and get on with doing something about it.”
According to the Cooperative’s statistics, Salmon Group’s combined annual harvest of roughly 135,000 tons of salmon and 20,000 tons of trout generates a total turnover of $980 million USD.
Written by: Aquaculture Magazine Staff
