SalMar

Marine ingredients in aquaculture feed

SalMar aims to have marine ingredients in its aquaculture feed certified through The Marine Ingredients Organisation Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS). The company reports that it has achieved one of the highest marks of sustainable marine sourcing certification for aquaculture feed in the seafood industry, with 99 percent of its marine ingredients already IFFO RS certified.

Sustainability strategy

SalMar publishes a robust annual sustainability report, disclosing quantitative data that indicates its performance on several important environmental and social factors. While it has established targets to address social issues, such as lost-time injuries and sickness absences, the company could improve its reporting and accountability by setting similar forward-looking targets for key environmental metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater use.

Environmental footprint

SalMar has adopted a number of leading practices at its InnovaMar harvesting and processing plant that help reduce its environmental footprint. For example, the company sells 100 percent of its raw material offcuts to be used as ingredients in animal feed, limiting food waste. It reports having reduced plastic consumption by 31 tonnes annually thanks to a newly developed, thinner packaging film. SalMar could further reduce its environmental footprint by adopting time-bound and forward-looking targets that address food waste and plastic use across its operations, as well as other key environmental metrics such as freshwater use.

Transparency on aquaculture operations

Although SalMar’s aquaculture feed is sourced from responsibly managed fisheries, the company does not publicly disclose a detailed breakdown of its feed ingredients, particularly of terrestrial origins. Industry leaders provide this information, together with the quantity of chemicals to tackle sea lice used in production. SalMar could improve transparency around its feed ingredients by disclosing similar information.

Implementation of human and labour rights policies

SalMar commits to respecting human and labour rights. To reinforce workplace safety, it reports to offer a 40-hour training course for its industrial safety representatives and to have carried out more than 120 safety inspections throughout the company in 2018. SalMar could improve its disclosure around processes in place to report potential adverse human rights impacts and to provide remediation.

Support for local communities

Through the SalMar Fund, the company offers limited capacity building activities for local communities. SalMar could provide more information about how it involves local communities and whether it has policies in place to increase local hiring or to include small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its business activities. The company could also share how its operations benefit the livelihoods of people living in surrounding areas.