Setting the scene, Keynote Speaker Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, insisted that some of the main sources of the global food supply have not lived up to the fundamental requirement of providing sufficient products for the world population to consume in a stable and resilient way. In this regard, AquaVision attendees heard first-hand how aquaculture faces the triple-headline challenge of huge population growth, climate change and social impacts. They also learned why it is imperative that all production systems are enabled to collectively produce vast quantities of additional food that is both climate-friendly and that makes more positive contributions to human well-being.

Nutreco CEO Fulco van Lede told AquaVision 2022 that sustainably feeding the ever-growing world population is a challenge that no single organisation could, or should, face alone. Instead, he said the required “blue food” supply growth rates can only come from committed collaborations that span the entire value chain. 

Van Lede advocated that transparency, trust and accountability are essential requirements from all stakeholders and also that the value chain is far stronger when it is united in its actions.

“Our story has to be about collaboration, and about showing that, if we want to drive transformational changes for our industry, we must work closer together as suppliers, feed producers, farming companies, NGOs, certification bodies and other relevant stakeholders across the value chain. We know that we have not done enough and that we must do more – better and faster,” he said.

The AquaVision 2022 programme also included guest speakers from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, IKEA, Mintel Group, AKVA Group, SalMar Aker Ocean, Glunashrimp, Mayank Aquaculture and Lattice Consulting.

It’s this point of being managed responsibly which is crucial. Like all food systems, growing demand poses both opportunities and challenges for production. For aquaculture to deliver on its potential of providing nutritious and sustainable food, it will require greater transparency, greater ongoing innovation along with thoughtful investments and effective policies. To be successful this requires collaboration on all levels.

The aquaculture sector has proven experience in mobilising responsible production, and many producers thrive in an ecosystem of continuous improvement. So how can we maximise this potential? By working together to improve environmental performance we can make progress faster, and improve how we share our story and build trust in our operations with our stakeholders.

This is how we work in GSI. We use the critical mass of industry to set ambitious goals to motivate accelerated progress, create dedicated expert task forces to share best practices and problem solve on environmental challenges, and provide a framework for members to report transparently against consistent and aligned metrics to show progress being made.

Working collectively across focus areas like improving feed efficiencies, improving fish health and welfare, and lowering carbon emissions, GSI members are adopting best-practices, investing in R&D and technology advancements, and above all enacting sustainability commitments that can make real differences in how we produce healthy, sustainable food.

This year, GSI is reaching our 10-year milestone, and while we have made measurable progress there is still a lot more to be done. The challenges are complex and continually evolving, but if we focus on the data – being transparent, and combining expertise – we have the knowledge to overcome them. Yes, there is the option to work individually, but to see change at the speed and scale the food system requires, working collaboratively is going to give us a better chance of succeeding.

The targeting of small pelagic low trophic species, which often play key ecological roles in their ecosystems, and which are heavily impacted by climate change, makes the feed industry highly dependent on best available science. Thus, collaboration and investment on research and highly efficient fisheries management is fundamental for the successful performance of companies in this sector.

This cannot be achieved without strong partnerships within supply chains and in the pre-competitive space with other companies and organisations. Our challenges are global and solutions need a global approach too. For that purpose, MSC seeks to contribute to all possible solutions that enhance ocean health for this and future generations.

Based on the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and recognised as an indicator in the United Nations’ Global Biodiversity Framework, with scientific evidence and independent third-party assessments at our core, the MSC certification program provides the highest level of assurance to support progress towards environmental sustainability in an operational, efficient, and transparent manner.

MSC is a tool and works with engaged partners to achieve ends we all share. Leading companies like Skretting are crucial to generate real impacts and to achieve common sustainability goals. To that end, MSC encourages Skretting, and all other actors of the feed industry, to enhance the application of measurable targets, to proactively pursue their compliance, to engage in improvement projects to facilitate the transition to sustainable fisheries and management everywhere, and to strengthen the partnerships with credible science-based assurance systems, such as MSC, to help deliver impacts on the water, transparent accountability and resilient businesses.

No single mechanism in isolation can solve problems as complex as those posed within the raw material supply chains. Instead, a combination of direct supply chain approaches and whole system initiatives are needed. Certification forms a key part of this suite of mechanisms, addressing different challenges, and being an enabler to some of the other mechanisms. For example, certification goes beyond the minimum requirements for the actors within the system, as defined by national legislation.

Also, the transparency it can grant within the supply chain enables companies to identify the origins of their raw materials, and therefore where they may wish to invest in landscape-based initiatives.

The need for greater transparency

Transparency within the supply chains remains a significant blocker to organisations being able to gain a full understanding of their own potential impact.

For many companies, not even continent level traceability is currently available. The flow of this information often stops at the points in the supply chain where mixing of different batches tends to take place. Without this view of risk exposure within their supply chains, companies lack certainty as to how responsible their supply chain is, and are unable to make informed decisions on how they can best apply pressure or funnel incentives to influence the system.

The role that certification plays

Every business has a role to play in ensuring environmentally and socially responsible supply chains develop sustainably. Whilst other pathways towards a more sustainable system focus on wider industry transformation, certification is the main direct approach for a company to address the responsibility of the raw materials currently within their supply chain.

Sustainability certification standards/management programmes contribute to minimising nature loss and maintaining/improving the quality of the land used. As such, chain of custody sustainability standards also enable companies to make externally auditable claims on the origin of their raw materials, and how responsible their supply chain is.

By providing a mechanism for information and evidence to flow down the value chain, chain of custody certification fills an essential gap in current due diligence processes within the sector. By defining terms that can vary hugely across the industry and creating a reference point for what good looks like, certification schemes also give the industry something to align behind, even if the certification itself is not adopted. This is particularly true for the definition of deforestation and land conversion, which varies considerably across the industry, and can have a profound effect on reporting and baselining.

For an end user company, sustainably certified raw materials within the supply chain brings:

• A standard of environmentally and ethically responsible raw materials within the supply chain which goes above the minimum requirements laid out by national legislation
• Greater certainty for the business when making public claims, with traceability of materials back through the value chain which has been verified by external auditors
• Contributory evidence to demonstrate due diligence has been undertaken within their own supply chain to meet emerging due diligence requirements
• Increased knowledge of the origins of the material within their direct supply chain
• A clear reference for what is expected from suppliers, defining what they see as sustainable

The ProTerra standard only certifies producers who meet requirements to address a spectrum of environmental and social issues, including deforestation and land conversion, biodiversity, farming practices (including bans on use of harmful pesticides and GMO crops), labour practices, and FPIC. In addition, ProTerra only operates physical chain of custody schemes.

Transparent certification offers a credible and accountable way of recognising and rewarding responsible practices. The ASC Feed Standard takes the ASC’s approach to responsible aquaculture at farm level and extends it to the feed mills that manufacture aquafeed. It covers legal, social, and environmental requirements for both the feed mill’s own operations and for the suppliers of ingredients used in their feed production.

Feed companies must work with their suppliers to conduct due diligence into the production of their raw materials.

When considering deforestation risks for soy and palm, 30% of tropical deforestation due to agricultural conversion is considered legal, according to the laws of the country of production. For crops grown in non-tropical areas such as wheat and corn, the main problem is usually ecosystem/land conversion rather than deforestation – for instance, grasslands rather than forests being converted into agriculture fields.

ASC requires feed mills to ensure their nodeforestation commitments are applied across all major plant ingredients and that their implementation is part of a more comprehensive no-land conversion approach.

Forced and child labour are critical issues to address in supply chains, but are particularly difficult to mitigate, address and monitor within fisheries.

Among the many and comprehensive social requirements of the ASC Feed Standard, feed mills must ask probing questions of their marine ingredient suppliers to convey the need for better policies and checks regarding human rights abuses on board fishing vessels.

The ASC Feed Standard offers a standardised approach to supply chain risk assessment, as well as requiring greater transparency and accountability through public reporting. By working towards ASC certification, Skretting is demonstrating its commitment to holistically addressing its more challenging environmental and social impacts.