BioMar

Sustainable development strategy
BioMar has a long-term and time-bound business strategy with integrated sustainable development objectives. These cover the company’s approach to environmental and social topics and include its sourcing of sustainable raw materials to produce aquaculture feed. While the company has time-bound targets for all topics, the targets the company has set for better living conditions and employees had to be achieved by 2017 and do not cover key social topics in the seafood industry.

Marine ingredients in aquaculture feed and use of alternative ingredients
BioMar has reduced marine ingredients in its aquaculture feed by developing several examples of alternative ingredients. The company discloses the relative use of fishmeal and fish oil in its feed used per quantity of produced fish. It is also involved in developing new protein sources by using microbes converted from CO2 and investigating insect meal as an alternative protein source. The company also reported on the commercial adoption of algae-based proteins to improve the amount of omega-3 in salmon feed.

Commitment to traceability
BioMar has shown a commitment to traceability by aiming to make 100% of its marine and terrestrial feed ingredients traceable. It reports that it is in full compliance with this target, though it could provide additional information about how compliance is determined.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the area of social responsibility.

Governance and accountability
While responsibility for BioMar’s sustainable development strategy lies with its head of Global Function for Sustainability, the company has an opportunity to strengthen accountability by assigning this responsibility to its highest governance body and disclosing further information on its decision-making processes and oversight responsibilities, as well as linking sustainability objectives and targets to roles and remuneration.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does provide an overview of its stakeholders but not an overview of the issues raised and the outcomes of its engagement. The company can strengthen its stakeholder engagement strategy by disclosing its process for identifying and engaging with stakeholders and showing how the outcomes of its engagement are integrated into the company’s sustainability strategy.

Engagement in policy advocacy
BioMar provides examples of collective advocacy activities such as joint statements in support for human rights due diligence legislation in the European Union and its advocacy activities as part of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. However, the company could clarify how these activities support implementing public policies or strengthening legislation related to seafood production. Also, BioMar could disclose information about outcomes and impacts of policy advocacy activities.

Commitment to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
BioMar discloses metrics for the fishmeal, fish oil and krill it gets from certified sources, but it can improve on the targets it sets for sourcing its marine ingredients. The company has set a time-bound target for 80% of its fishmeal and fish oil ingredients but can improve its commitment by developing targets that cover 100% of its marine ingredients. It could also disclose updated information about the sustainability status of its marine ingredients that are not from certified sources.

Ecosystem impacts of fisheries
BioMar addresses the ecosystem impacts its aquaculture feed production has on fisheries by using certified sources for its marine ingredients. The company that 100% of the krill it sources is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. It also discloses that at least 80% of the fishmeal and fish oil in its operations has been certified by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), IFFO RS or equivalent, but has an opportunity to further disclose the proportion of its marine ingredients that are certified by each standard and specifying the part of its marine ingredients that are not certified by MSC or IFFO RS.

Protection of terrestrial natural ecosystems
BioMar is committed to deforestation- and conversion-free supply chains by setting time-bound targets that aim for 100% certified soy and palm oil by 2020. However, the company could improve its reporting by disclosing which proportion of the palm oil it uses is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and which has been GreenPalm certified.

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear
Although BioMar does not own fishing vessels, the company sources large volumes of wild-caught fish for its aquaculture feed production. Therefore, it also has a responsibility to ensure healthy ocean ecosystems, including addressing the issue of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). The company could disclose a public commitment and action plan to help prevent and reduce ALDFG in its supply chains.

Traceability system for seafood products and aquaculture feed ingredients
While BioMar is committed to full traceability and reports that its aquaculture feed ingredients are traceable, the company could better explain what traceability system it has in place. The company’s Supplier Approval Audit and Traceability team ensures traceability of feed ingredients, but it does not disclose which key data elements are collected and what the mechanisms are to verify the information along the supply chain.

Risk-based approach to IUU fishing
In its Sourcing Policy, BioMar states that suppliers must show that marine ingredients do not originate from IUU fisheries. The company has reduced IUU risks by sourcing certified marine ingredients, and it supports the development of DNA-testing of its marine ingredients to reduce these risks further. Despite these activities, however, BioMar could further share information about how it assesses IUU risks across its operations and supply chain and publicly disclose the results of these risk assessments.

Disclosure of the origin of its seafood and marine ingredients
BioMar provides an overview of fishmeal and fish oil sources for the majority of its operations by disclosing information about species and geographic location (Food and Agriculture Organization fishing area). The company reports on the proportion of its fishmeal, fish oil and krill that is from certified sources but can further improve its disclosures by sharing the sustainability status of each fishery it sources from.

Forced labour
While BioMar is committed to prohibiting forced labour in its own operations and supply chains, it could disclose a requirement that prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents and/or restricting their freedom of movement.

Farmer and fisher productivity and resilience
Small-scale farmers and fishers often lack opportunities to access markets and could benefit significantly from increased knowledge, technology and resources that multinational companies can provide. Through its BioFarm initiative, the company provides education programmes that contribute to the resilience and productivity of fish farmers. BioMar can improve its performance in this area by proving that it is systematically measuring the outcomes and impact of all its support activities.

Engagement with and support for local communities
BioMar provides examples of how it engages and supports local communities in Chile, Ivory Coast and Ecuador. The company could increase the impact of its activities by disclosing a systematic process for engaging with local communities and reporting how it tracks progress of the results and impacts of its engagement with them.

Schouw & Co commits to respecting human rights. The company also commits to respecting ILO-defined rights at work but does not disclose a statement in which it expects its suppliers to the same. The company has a grievance mechanism that is accessible to employees and external individuals and communities. However, while Schouw & Co has performed a general risk assessment in relation to human rights, the company does not disclose its process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific activities and locations covered by its own operations.

Schouw & Co publicly commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers and discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. The company also set a time-bound target to increase women’s representation at board level but lacks a public commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. No commitments regarding providing a living wage, fair working hours and collective bargaining were found in the public domain.

Schouw & Co publicly commits to prohibiting bribery and corruption. The company has a responsible taxation strategy and discloses corporate income tax for each tax jurisdiction the company has residency. Schouw & Co does not disclose commitments to personal data protection and lobbying and political engagement.