Petter Johannessen is director general of the Marine Ingredients Organisation (IFFO), which represents producers of fishmeal, fish oil and other related industries
Negotiations among Northeast Atlantic Coastal States resumed last week. What is at stake is the sustainability of the fish biomass and the future of the aquaculture sector. The Coastal States should not miss this opportunity.
If we don’t make it possible for feed producers across the world to have access to responsibly sourced fishmeal, seafood could be at risk of no longer being the super, nutrient-dense and low-carbon food it is now.
There has been nothing new on the political front since 2020, when Atlanto-Scandian blue whiting and herring lost all their certificates because the Northeast Atlantic Coastal States kept failing to comply with a shared quota agreement set by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
Nothing has happened since then, except for the coordinated efforts by the industry to exert market pressure so this strategic fishery is managed according to scientific advice. This has led to the creation of a fishery improvement project (FIP) for blue whiting, which provides key raw materials to manufacture fishmeal and fish oil.
Setting up this FIP was a way to ensure that all relevant stakeholders would gather and share information for the long-term sake of the fishery. This is a very short-term answer to a political deadlock.
Indeed, when needed, a FIP aims to improve the management of the fishery as a prerequisite before a more ambitious journey, depending on the use of the fish.
When fish caught in the fishery is reduced to fishmeal and fish oil, the journey can ultimately result in the obtention of a MarinTrust certification, assuring responsible sourcing and production at the factory level.
As such, the scope of the “FIP material” claim is much narrower. If the industry’s efforts to put all stakeholders around the table and reach an agreement fail, volumes of certified fishmeal and fish oil will keep shrinking.
The Northeast Atlantic Coastal States – the UK, Norway, the European Union, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland – have been unable to reach consensus on sharing catch quotas for mackerel, blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring since their last deal expired at the end of 2020.
Individual states have set their own quotas that, when combined, significantly exceed the sustainable limits advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
In October, the Coastal States agreed to a total allowable mackerel catch of 739,386 metric tons, down 5 percent on the previous year, but did not reach agreement on how the total quota would be shared among members.
What might happen next?
Fishmeal and fish oil may be replaced with other ingredients, if available. Soy, wheat and other terrestrial sources already provide large bulks of feed ingredients. However, they are neither the nutrient-dense resources that fish need at key stages of their development, nor the answer to feed producers’ carbon neutral strategies.
For example, soybean meal and soy protein concentrate have a carbon footprint (including land use change) that is more than two to three times that of fishmeal respectively, according to the Global Feed Lifecycle Assessment Institute (GFLI) database (2023).
In 2020, global aquaculture production was around 63 million tons, using about 52 million tons of feed.
Based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) estimates for aquaculture production out to 2050, aquaculture production could more than double and reach yields of 140 million tons. This will also mean that feed production needs to at least double to over 100 million tons during this time.
Where will we get the feed ingredients to sustain that? According to Norwegian research institute Nofima, novel ingredients used in Norwegian salmon in 2020 represented only 0.4 percent of all feed ingredients.
Every single metric ton of fishmeal produced in the world is consumed because it assures that the right level of nutrients is passed on to humans through fish that are fed in a way that ensures their health and welfare.
If we don’t make it possible for feed producers across the world, big and small, to have access to responsibly sourced fishmeal, seafood could be at risk of no longer being the super, nutrient-dense and low-carbon food it is now.
