SalMar

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy measurement area.

Disease management and mortality rates
SalMar uses survival as one of its KPIs. The company has targeted a survival rate of more than 97% for its salmon operations, and it reports against this target for its farming activities in Norway and Iceland. Survival rates are used as performance-based indicators of how diseases are being managed. By disclosing survival rates across all its operations, the company demonstrates transparency about its progress with managing diseases.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the traceability measurement area.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion measurement area.

Sustainable development strategy
SalMar discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability topics, as well the outcome of this process in relation to its sustainability strategy. The company has a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) with targets for key salmon farming topics, and it reports against these targets. It can, however, improve its strategy by making its targets time-bound so that the company can be held accountable for achieving its targets.

Governance and accountability for sustainable development
By stating that its CEO holds ultimate responsibility for the company’s environmental footprint and sustainability efforts, SalMar indicates that accountability and oversight for its sustainability strategy lies with its highest governance body. However, the company has an opportunity to strengthen accountability by linking sustainability objectives and targets to roles and remuneration.

Stakeholder engagement
SalMar undertakes stakeholder engagement activities and provides an overview of the issues raised through these activities. It also describes how it identifies and engages with stakeholders. However, the company can improve by sharing the outcomes of its stakeholder engagement and explaining how these are integrated into its sustainability strategy.

Engagement in policy advocacy
No information was found on how SalMar engages with stakeholders with the aim of advocating for improvements in public policies and legislation. As one of the leading companies in the seafood industry, the company has an opportunity to advocate and support the improvement of public policies and the strengthening of legislation. Also, SalMar could disclose information about the results and impacts of its policy advocacy activities.

Commitment to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
SalMar has several KPIs with set targets related to its salmon farming. It also has a time-bound target that by 2025 all its sea farms must be certified by either the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) or Debio, and it reports against this target. Although SalMar reports that 99% of the marine ingredients in its aquaculture feed come from certified sources, it can improve its reporting by setting a time-bound target for its marine ingredients, as well as disclosing the proportion of marine ingredients that are certified by the different standards the company refers to.

Antibiotic use and growth promoting substances
SalMar has set a target of not using antibiotics anymore. In 2019 the company reported using antibiotics, but none were used at its farming operations in Norway and Iceland in 2020. The company has demonstrated good progress in this regard, but it can further improve by making its target time-bound so that it can be held accountable. It could also specify that this target refers to antibiotic use for prophylactic measures and growth promoting substances, as well as to medically important antimicrobials.

Medicine use
SalMar has a target to work towards zero sea lice, and it reports against this target. The company also discloses its anti-lice strategy, which includes non-medicinal treatments and preventive measures. However, compared with its peers, the company can improve on this topic by sharing metrics about the use of medicines across 100% of its operations and report about the use of non-medicinal treatments and preventive measures.

Ecosystem impact of fisheries
While SalMar does not have fishing activities, it does have marine ingredients in its supply chain through the feed it uses for salmon farming. The company addresses ecosystem impacts of the fisheries for its feed use by sourcing feed with marine ingredients from certified sources, and it reports that 99% of these ingredients originate from fisheries that are certified in accordance with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), MarinTrust or an equivalent standard. With this reporting, the company demonstrates good performance in the use of sustainable marine ingredients. However, it has an opportunity to further improve its reporting by disclosing the proportion of marine ingredients that are certified by the different standards the company refers to.

Prevention and mitigation of escapes
While SalMar works towards zero escapes, the company reports that 11 incidents occurred in 2020 in which more than 9,000 salmon escaped. To reduce the risk of escapes, the company is working on improving the net pens of its facilities. Although it mentions that authorities were informed of the incidents and remedial measures have been implemented, the company can, as some its peers are doing, improve clarity on which specific measures were taken for each outbreak.

Commitment to traceability
SalMar does not publicly commit to full traceability of its feed ingredients. It reports that 99% of the marine ingredients in its feed are from sustainable sources and that it has traceability systems is in place to prevent mixing of certified and non-certified ingredients. However, the company can demonstrate accountability by setting a time-bound public commitment towards fully traceable feed ingredients.

Traceability system for seafood products and aquaculture feed ingredients
SalMar does not provide information about its traceability system and how it traces and verifies the origins of its aquaculture feed ingredients. It can improve by presenting its traceability system, including key data elements that are collected and mechanisms to verify the information along the supply chain.

Risk-based approach to IUU fishing
SalMar addresses IUU fishing risks by sourcing feed with certified marine ingredients, but it does not explain how it assess these risks in its supply chain. The company could demonstrate that it has a risk assessment tool in place to conduct assessments on IUU fishing across 100% of its operations and supply chains, as well as disclose the data sources and information used for the assessments.

Disclosure of the origin of its seafood and marine ingredients
SalMar discloses an overview it salmon farming sites in Norway that have been certified by the ASC. The company could provide further transparency by reporting information about the origin of the marine ingredients in its supply chain.

Forced labour
In its Ethical Guidelines, SalMar states that it rejects forced labour, but it does not make a similar statement for its supply chain. Furthermore, it has an opportunity to disclose a requirement that prohibits its suppliers from retaining workers’ personal documents and/or restricting their freedom of movement. It can also demonstrate how it monitors for forced labour risks in its own operations and supply chain.

Living wage
SalMar does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its suppliers to do the same. Nor has it set targets to do so in the future.

Respecting customary and indigenous rights and support for local communities
No commitment could be found in relation to respecting customary rights, though the company does provide examples of engagement activities with local communities through its SalMar Fund. SalMar could improve its reporting by disclosing a systematic process for engaging with local communities in its own operations and supply chains, and tracking progress of the results and impacts of its engagement with them.

SalMar commits to respect human rights and provides a grievance mechanism that is accessible to employees. However, it is not clear whether this mechanism is also accessible to external individuals and communities. While SalMar addresses most core labour rights of the International Labour Organization, it does not disclose a policy commitment to respect freedom of association and workers’ right to collective bargaining. Moreover, the company does not disclose evidence of a human rights due diligence process, which includes identifying, assessing and eliminating salient human rights risks in its operations. Nor does it disclose how it engages with affected and potentially affected stakeholders.

SalMar commits to respect the health and safety of its workers. However, it does not disclose that it expects its suppliers to adhere to the same standard, nor does it report on quantitative health and safety information. The company discloses the percentage of its workforce that is covered by collective bargaining agreements, but not how it supports collective bargaining in its supply chain. Regarding workforce diversity, SalMar discloses gender data and has an opportunity to disclose data on other markers of diversity, such as age. In addition, the company discloses that 57% of board members are female but does not commit to supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment nor has it set related targets. No commitments to providing a living wage and ensure fair working hours were found.

SalMar commits to prohibiting bribery and corruption in its operations and provides a related grievance channel, but it does not demonstrate that it includes anti-bribery and corruption clauses in its contracts with suppliers. Although it addresses personal data on its website, the company does not commit to protecting personal data and does not disclose a statement on access to personal data. SalMar does not publicly disclose its global tax strategy nor its approach to lobbying and political engagement and does not report on related expenditures.