Food for thought: BioMar is demanding that more fishmeal and fish oil is from certifiable sources. Photo: BioMar

BioMar reaches sustainability targets early

Salmon feed producer BioMar has reached four out of five targets for sustainability of its raw materials three years ahead of schedule, it said today.

Published Last updated
Carlos Diaz: "Sustainability begins with the feed."

Launching its Integrated Sustainability Report, the Danish firm said it had decided to raise the bar further and set new targets for 2020, including increasing the amount of certified fishmeal and fish oil it uses from 70% to 80%.

The company said that traditionally, feed comprises about 80% of the impacts in raising fish. The feed ingredients and operations account for most of the mass energy flows in the value chain and hence it plays a crucial role in the overall sustainable, environmental and social development of aquaculture.

“Sustainability in the aquaculture industry begins with the feed and in BioMar we believe it is our responsibility to provide our customers with innovative, high performance feed solutions that also reduce the impact on our environment,” said chief executive Carlos Diaz.

In 2015 BioMar set key performance indicators (KPIs) for the use of certified products, including 100% certification of all soy protein, krill and palm oil and 70% of all fish meal and fish oil. The firm said that while soy protein remains on track to achieve its 2020 objective, all other ingredients have meet or exceeded expectations, and it is raising the KPI for fish meal and fish oil to 80% certified material by 2020.

“Sustainability and responsible sourcing is an ongoing challenge. To continue to be leaders in sustainability we will look to set even more demanding targets beyond 2020 that will help drive us to new heights,” said Diaz.

BioMar said it will continue to drive sustainability in 2018 and by year-end will have finalised a full source-to-market sustainability rating of its entire raw material portfolio.

It added that the comprehensive assessment tool will enable the company to steer its raw material purchasing toward more sustainable solutions, and enable aquaculture farmers and the wider value chain to have a more complete understanding of the sustainability of every raw material found in aquaculture feed.

UN Development Goals

BioMar’s Integrated Sustainability Report is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and references the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. The company said it gives complete transparency on BioMar operations not only with its sustainability KPIs but its finances and growth ambitions.

The report takes an in-depth look at the role and importance of traceability and data analytics in the future of sustainable aquaculture.

Atlantic salmon feed accounts for more than half of BioMar’s business, followed by trout, sea bass and bream, and shrimp.

The sustainability report can be downloaded here.