1. From our CEO
Welcome to Skretting’s Sustainability Report 2019. Its arrival comes at what is a very critical time. COVID-19 has taken us all down a pathway that few could have ever imagined, and the likelihood is that the post-pandemic world will be very different to the one that we knew before the crisis began, reinforcing the fact that we need to be aware of not only our environmental, but also our social responsibilities.
While people everywhere continue to face considerable uncertainty and adversity, there have been some important positives to come from this demanding situation.
In particular, our bonds to those people and things that are most important to us have been strengthened. We have also seen communities pull together and increase their collective resilience.
As a global leader in aquaculture feed and services, we are proud to see that we are recognised as an industry that is critical for the functioning of society. Skretting has long been focused on the global challenge of feeding a population that is expected to surpass 9 billion people within the next 30 years in a sustainable way. Built on the widely-held understanding that fish and shrimp farming should be an increasingly important contributor to healthy food and nutritional security, we provide essential solutions geared towards supporting producers optimise their production in the most cost-effective, environmentally responsible manner possible, while keeping a focus on animal health. We are also working with many farmers to overcome production challenges unique to their operations and location.
Our extensive R&D programme – largely driven by the Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre (ARC) – has led us to expand both our product portfolio and the ingredients we are applying to these diets. With the long-term ambition to reduce the value chain’s dependence on finite ingredients like fishmeal and fish oil, we also continue to invest considerable resources into the development and commercial introduction of novel ingredients. It is our belief that these will have a huge positive impact on the aquaculture space in the years and decades ahead.
It is our ambition to be the leading partner in driving the journey towards an even more sustainable industry
Aligned with our determination to innovate, we also take great pride in our collaborative endeavours. To drive the sustainability agenda, we are an active member of a number of dynamic multi-stakeholder groups. In partnership, we are doing great work, and collaboratively, we are engaging more and more across the value chain to take traceability and responsible best-practice to new levels.
Last but by no means least, it is important to highlight that thanks to our increased leadership throughout 2019, we are much more aware of the impacts we are having. This enhanced understanding will help us set much more specific and ambitious targets for the year ahead and beyond. With these targets in place, it is our ambition to be the leading partner in driving the journey towards an even more sustainable industry.
Many of our targets will be informed and guided by our forthcoming Sustainability Roadmap 2025. In turn, it is our belief that these and other actions will help accelerate aquaculture’s progress globally – ultimately giving end-consumers greater confidence and accessibility to its products.
Therese Log Bergjord
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2. Our ambitions
Aquaculture’s impact on food production in recent decades has been nothing short of remarkable. Aligned with the rising demand for healthy proteins from a fast-growing global population, it is one of the fastest-growing animal-food sectors, and is expected to provide 110 million tonnes of products by 2030, almost all of which will go directly to human consumption.