WWF wants salmon farming moratorium
WWF is keen to ensure the Norwegian salmon industry is not allowed to expand until problems relating to sea lice and escapes are dealt with satisfactorily.
So believes Karoline Andaur, Head of WWF in Norway, who also argues that the WWF-endorsed ASC standards need to be raised.
“WWF works at many levels to reduce the environmental impacts of aquaculture. We are fighting for better legislation, more frequent inspections and more sustainable feed for farmed salmon. But first and foremost, we require that the industry is not allowed to expand until the problems with sea lice and escapes are solved,” she tells kyst.no.
“The standards do not contain everything we want of environmental requirements and this is part of what WWF wants to improve,” she adds.
To date there are 94 ASC-certified salmon and trout sites along the Norwegian coast, compared to only 3 certified farms in Scotland, and she says that even more producers are seeking ASC certification next year in Norway.
However, she believes there is plenty of room for improvement.
“Although there are several farms and companies are now ASC-certified, WWF thinks the overall industry has a long way to go to become sustainable, as it has still not solved the problems with sea lice and escapes. However, it is good to see that more companies are looking at various closed solutions in salmon farming in the sea,” she observes.
She also emphasises the need to enforce the standards strictly.
“If one [site] cannot follow the requirements, they must lose their certification. This happened to Marine Harvest's site at Gulestø, which lost its certification because of escapes,” she points out.
