Speaker Dr Andrew Jackson presented the new IFFO standard for the responsible supply of fishmeal. (Photo: AquaVision)

AquaVision 2010 discusses aquaculture sustainability

Biennial international aquaculture and food business conference AquaVision is taking place from 7-9 June in Stavanger, Norway. It is meant to offer opportunities for discussion at a strategic level on concerns from consumption and marketing back to farming, fish processing and feeding.

Speakers Dr Andrew Jackson, Dr Philip Smith and Albert Tacon, important leaders in the fish feed and fish farming industry where they focus on sustainability, spoke at Aquavision 2010 on Monday.

Jackson, technical director of the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO), presented the new IFFO standard for the responsible supply of fishmeal. The first plant is already certified and another 70 are coming this month, making up about 25 per cent of world production of fishmeal and fish oil.

Speaker Dr Philip Smith. (Photo: AquaVision)

“This standard is an important contribution that will secure the role of marine raw materials as a sustainable part of fish feed in a way that is accepted by consumers and NGOs,” he said.

Smith heads the newly established Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). He underscored the burgeoning consumer demand towards sustainability as an opportunity for aquaculture.

“The ASC is a very transparent and credible standard that is aimed at a consumer-facing ecolabel for certified farms. When the labelling system is ready for use in 2011, it will certainly add value to the labelled fish,” Smith said.

He noted that Marks & Spencer, Wal-Mart and Carrefour all will prefer products with documented sustainability.

Smith said the certification demands will lead to better farm practices, fish health and growth, which will give fish farmers increased profit.

The amount of alternative materials to help spread sustainably available fishmeal and fish oil is swelling, said Tacon. Marine raw materials will come mainly from agriculture, including by-products of animal processing.

Other potential resources include micro-algae, seaweed and waste products from other food sectors. Large feed companies should invest in R&D to move toward such alternatives.

Speaker Albert Tacon. (Photo: AquaVision)

A poll at the conference – attended by top leaders of the world’s main fish farming companies and aquaculture stakeholders -- concluded that aquaculture needs to invest more in its reputation.

"The perception you earn among the public does not necessarily give the objective truth about our business, but it is nonetheless our responsibility. It is vitally important to fill any such gaps, that includes not only perception gaps, but more importantly the quality gaps,” said Thomas Farstad, acting CEO of Marine Harvest.

He and his top executive colleagues are willing to invest more to boost the reputation of aquaculture, according to the poll. Farstad requested the same interest in operational improvements as in communication.

Aquaculture leaders at AquaVision, answering a further question in the poll, stated that the most important challenges for the industry from a perception point of view are fish feed raw materials, diseases and parasites and escapes.

"Transparency is crucial. You have to tell the truth, and then show that you are taking action to remedy whatever is not good enough," Farstad said.

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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