Global Salmon Initiative Publish Sustainability Data
THE PATH TO THE FUTURE WE ALL WANT –
STARTS WITH
TRANSPARENCY
Global
Salmon Initiative Members Publish
5th Year of
Sustainability
Data
Brussels,
Belgium – April 26, 2018, 10:00 CET: The Global
Salmon Initiative (GSI) continues on its pathway to a more
sustainable future for aquaculture, today releasing its 5th
set of transparent sustainability data via its online
reporting platform.
“As GSI members we are acting on our commitment to improve our social and environmental performance, and we know that transparency is an essential element of responsibility and in getting us to where we want to be in the future,” said Gerardo Balbontin, GSI Co-Chair and CEO of Blumar. “Our sustainability reporting is fundamental in building and retaining trust among the people and communities involved in our work, and in holding ourselves accountable to each other.”
The GSI Sustainability Report includes 5 years’ worth of data presented per company and per region, and covers 14 key sustainability indicators – 9 environmental and 5 social.
Highlights from this report
include:
• Farmed salmon continues to be one
of the most eco-efficient forms of protein
production – with the lowest carbon footprint, and highest
protein retention ratio
• Over 40% of GSI
production is now certified to the Aquaculture Stewardship
Council (ASC) certification; five years ago there
were no farms certified to this high standard – progress
has been impressive in all regions
• Due to an increase
in the use of non-medicinal approaches and sharing of
best-practices in sea lice management, over the 5-year
period GSI members have reduced the use of medicinal
sea lice treatments by 40%
• By continued
innovations in the sourcing and efficiency of feed
ingredients, GSI members have reduced their use of
fish oil and fishmeal by, respectively, 16% and 15%
(calculated per forage fish dependency ratio)
• Reports from GSI members on a wide variety of
community projects which highlight their significant
contribution to local and often remote
communities
"All aspects of food
production come with their challenges,” added Aaron
McNevin, WWF´s Global Aquaculture Lead. “It is
imperative that we all take the responsibility to bend the
curve on biodiversity loss. When it comes to aquaculture,
one of the fastest growing methods of producing food in the
world, this means further reducing its environmental
impacts, in this case, of global salmon farming. The GSI's
commitment to transparency is evidence that they are
committed to building a sustainable future. With five years
of environmental data, it is promising to see positive
trends emerging. We look forward to the industry continuing
to move forward as well as increasing ASC certification to
100 per cent."
Transparency has
been identified by the GSI as one of its four pathways to a
more sustainable future, alongside cooperation,
responsibility and innovation; and speaking about today’s
publication, Mr Balbontin commented on why the group has
chosen transparency as one of its priority
channels:
“Our ability to continue operations and
pursue growth opportunities depends on long-lasting and
mutually respectful relationships with our stakeholders.
Transparent reporting across social, economic and
environmental performance indicators not only shows our
progress, but also provides the opportunity for us to engage
with our stakeholders, respond to questions, and further
focus our future performance responsibilities. Within GSI we
are also committed to using our model of
pre-competitive
collaboration to accelerate environmental improvements, and
to do that we must also be transparent on our performance
with each other”.
To view the
GSI Sustainability Report please click here.
To
learn more about the GSI’s Pathways to the Future
please click here.
ABOUT
GSI
The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) is a
leadership initiative established in 2013 by global farmed
salmon producers focused on making significant progress on
industry sustainability. Today, the GSI comprises 17
companies – representing more than half (~55%) of the
global salmon production industry – that are fully
committed to realizing a shared goal of providing a highly
sustainable source of healthy food to feed a growing global
population, whilst minimizing our environmental footprint,
and continuing to improve our social
contribution.
GSI member companies
are Australis Seafoods S.A.; Bakkafrost; Blumar; Bjørøya,
Cermaq; Compañía Pesquera Camanchaca; Empresas AquaChile;
Grieg Seafood ASA; Huon Aquaculture; Los Fiordos;
Mariarvest; Midt-Norsk Havbruk AS; Multiexport Foods S.A.;
New Zealand King Salmon; Nova Sea AS; Tassal; and
Ventisqueros. GSI companies have a presence in Australia,
Canada, Chile, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, New Zealand,
Norway and the UK, and make significant contributions to the
economies of these respective countries.
The GSI also has a number of Associate Members in both the pharmaceutical and feed industries, including Benchmark Holdings plc; BioMar; Cargill; Elanco; Merck, Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) Animal Health; PHARMAQ; Salmofood; and Skretting.