Cermaq is the only seafood company to have quarterly sustainability reporting.

Sanitary challenges dominate Q2 report

Sea lice and SRS in Chile, mouth rot and plankton in Canada and CMS and HSMI in Norway have all been highlighted as key challenges facing Cermaq’s salmon farmers.

Published Last updated

These issues were all mentioned in the company’s Q2 sustainability report, which was published yesterday. On a brighter note, however, only one fish was reported to have escaped from any of the company’s sites during the quarter and the health & safety record of their employees was also very impressive.

Cermaq is the only salmon producer to issue a quarterly sustainability report.

“Transparency is key to corporate responsibility. We know that our customers, NGOs and other stakeholders have interest in our current performance. Hence, we want to share the fresh information on our performance on key indicators in each of the regions,” explains Wenche Grønbrekk, Cermaq’s Head of Sustainability and Risk.

Canada

The rolling 12-month fish survival rate in Cermaq’s Canadian operations was lower in all year classes, largely due to environmental concerns (eg gill and liver damage from plankton) and mouth rot in some farms. This quarter the use of antibiotics increased compared with the same quarter last year and treatment was primarily for mouth rot and SRS in some farms.

Cermaq Canada delivered good results on social performance during Q2, with no non-compliances and an absence rate of 1.5 percent. The company reports a good environmental performance, despite the escape of one fish, and the overall lice situation was positive, with successful treatments and counts within regulated levels and less parasitic load than in same quarter last year.

Chile

In fish health terms, Cermaq notes some sustainability challenges in Chile, not least those associated with Piscirickettsia salmonis, the agent that causes Piscirickettsiosis (SRS).

In Q2 SRS remained a challenge, but affected the survival rate less than the same period last year. However, the company had a substantial increase in its antibiotic use due to persistent SRS outbreaks in the 11th region.

Cermaq has a strong commitment to finding a sustainable solution for SRS and for the last five years its R&D team has worked actively with industry and academic partners to develop new and effective vaccines to fight SRS, promote vaccine innovation and the proper use of them. This quarter, the firm joined project Pincoy, which aims to reduce the antibiotics use in the Chilean industry by 50 percent over the next two years through a holistic approach to combat SRS.

The 12-month rolling survival rate for Atlantic salmon decreased from 92.8 percent in Q2 2015 to 91.8 percent this quarter. The rolling survival rate for Coho salmon decreased this quarter compared to Q2 2015, mainly due to the effects of the harmful algae bloom. After the algae bloom events, the stocking process of Coho salmon has resumed, and the use of oral vaccination for SRS was scheduled with the aim to improve fish immunity. The trout survival rate decreased as well, from 93.4% in Q2 2015 to 88.8% this quarter. The main cause was SRS in one farming site in the 11th region. Cermaq Chile will continue to work on initiatives to reduce SRS during the farming stage, by encouraging the development of new vaccines prototypes, development of novel vaccination strategies and the use of these vaccines in Cermaq’s Chilean sites.

The Chilean autumn was in particular a very challenging season for lice; water temperatures were higher than previous years which facilitated growth of the parasites while drier than usual conditions caused ocean salinity levels to increase, contributing more to favourable conditions for lice development. For the past 3 years, Cermaq Chile has worked on preventive and non-pharmaceutical tools to control sea lice on their own farming sites. The sea lice challenge is also being addressed by an industry initiative where Cermaq Chile is a member, with the aim to research and develop the use of a Chilean cleaner fish.

Occupational health and safety performance was very good in Q2 in Cermaq’s Chilean operations, with a low and stable absence rate of 2.4 percent and low lost time injury rate and injury frequency rate. There were no fish escapes this quarter, however 8 non-compliances were recorded and closed.

Cermaq Norway

In terms of environmental performance, sea lice counts at Cermaq’s sites in Norway were well below the regulatory limit of 0.5 average adult female lice per fish and counts were lower than the same period last year. In Nordland, counts were low this quarter due to the implementation of preventive measures such as lice skirts and stocking several sites with lumpfish. Six bath treatments with hydrogen peroxide were conducted in Finnmark and one treatment was conducted in Nordland. Development of preventive measures will be escalated further.

Fish survival was somewhat inferior than in the same period last year, with a rolling survival rate of 92.2 percent this quarter. The decrease is mainly due to common heart related disorders like HSMI and CMS in several farms in Finnmark. Cermaq Norway performed voluntary culling this quarter in sites most affected by the disease. Besides this event, the sanitary condition was good.

Antibiotics use by closed cycles in Q2 2016 was low and amounted to 4.4g active ingredient per tonne of fish harvested. Treatments were delivered to control a disease caused by Tenacibaculum finnmarkense. Following the identification of this bacteria, Cermaq’s R&D team is working on novel solutions to control this disease.

The occupational health and safety performance was good in Q2. Absence was 4.9 percent, which is a decrease from 5.5 percent in the same period last year. The lost time injury rate was 13 compared with 15 in Q2 2015. There were no non-compliances this quarter and no fish escapes.