Marine Harvest commits to reducing its environmental impacts

In a major development, which could radically improve the way fish farming is carried out globally, Scotland's largest salmon farm company has announced it has committed itself to a new international scheme aiming to reducing the environmental and social impacts associated with the industry.

Marine Harvest Scotland, which produces nearly a quarter of Scotland’s salmon at its 36 sea water farms and 8 freshwater sites across the Western Highlands and Islands, said it will begin seeking certification for all its sites by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) - the world's leading certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood. The ASC standards aim to minimise environmental impacts associated with salmon aquaculture, such as sea lice, fish escapes, use of chemicals, and avoiding conflicts within communities regarding shared coastal resources. In many cases the ASC standards set criteria that go beyond the legal requirements currently in place in many countries, including Scotland. Alan Sutherland, Managing Director at Marine Harvest Scotland said: “We very much welcome the introduction of ASC certification as we are committed to the sustainable development of salmon farming globally. This is a relatively new industry and we have been working hard in recent years to improve our environmental performance and our sustainability. This is a process which is ongoing and the ASC accreditation will provide us with a framework to work within. Our plans for investment over the next five to 10 years will help us fulfill the strict criteria in the ASC standards and we aim to have all of our farms certified under the scheme by 2020. In the meantime we will report on our progress towards that target.” Lang Banks, Director of WWF Scotland said this announcement is really good news for Scotland’s environment, but added: "However, to deliver the greatest possible impact, we need to see the standards adopted at an industry-wide level. We therefore call upon all fish farm operators to follow Marine Harvest’s lead and seek accreditation by the ASC. “As many of the ASC standards go beyond existing legal requirements in Scotland, meeting them will certainly be a challenge. However, it is only when all salmon farm operators embrace the standards that we will know if, as an industry, they are really serious about operating sustainably and reducing their impacts on the environment. “Along with existing schemes highlighting responsibly caught wild fish we hope the ASC will give consumers the confidence to make the best choices when buying farmed seafood. In time, we expect to see major retailers only choose to buy farmed seafood that comes from certified sources such as ASC. As a result, Scottish fish farms that refuse to change their ways may eventually find they cannot find a route to market.” Ally Dingwall, Aquaculture & Fisheries Manager at Sainsbury’s also commented, saying the announcement is a great move forward, the ASC standard will encourage good practise and continued improvement. Tony Andrews, Chief Executive of the Atlantic Salmon Trust said: “We welcome any standards which will encourage the salmon farming industry to adopt more sustainable practices, and we greatly appreciate the long years of work which WWF and others have put into this process. We particularly welcome the fact that the standards does not offer accreditation for smolts raised in open net pens in freshwater systems which contain migratory salmon and sea trout."