Todays news in Norway has a Parliament member speaking out against proposed increases in farmed salmon production due to unsustainable feed sources: Irresponsibility: The Governments goal of a five-fold increase salmon production in 2050 is described by Norwegian Parliament member Rasmus Hansson as deeply irresponsible. He believes the industry including a full overview of the resources that they use to produce fish feed. - This is a deeply irresponsible objective When the government now allows the farms to increase production of salmon, may have consequences for food production in agriculture. - The industry already has major challenges to drive sustainable, says Rasmus. - Todays modern feed composition has a very high proportion of vegetable products, and there is a lot of corn and soy. And the special thing about it is that wild salmon is a pure carnivore that only eats other animals. So declares biologist and member of Norwegian Parliament for the Green Party, Rasmus Hansson. In their natural habitat live salmon by including small animals and insects that provide the perfect blend of nutrients - including those omega-3 fatty acids recommended by heart doctors. In farmed salmon are fed, however, with pills that contain large parts plant oils are a natural part of the salmons diet. - In fact, up to 70 percent of the feed is now plant foods, continues Hansson. Large increase of plant raw materials According to the latest edition of the magazine cage-side consisted feed for Norwegian farmed salmon in 1990 of 90 percent marine ingredients. In 2012 the proportion was reduced to about 32 percent. Furthermore, the amount of plant materials from 1990 to 2000 tripled, while the marine protein in the feed was cut in half. Hansson points out that the fish in their natural habitat eating a diet consisting of animal fat, and feed traditionally consisted of fishmeal and fish oil were produced from small fish and that was not suitable for direct human consumption. - Use of plants is of course good to the extent that it reduces the burden salmon farming on wild marine resources. For it is a potentially huge problem with this great industry if it is to provide the coarse of wild fish to feed the tame fish. - But whats interesting is to look at the production of these plant oils, and where they come from, says Hansson. - The industry is lagging Hansson believes there exists the possibility that plant raw materials imported and used for salmon comes from a landscape that is not sustainable in the long term. - There may be production based on the cutting down of forests to grow in primeval forests, or it could be a production that makes use of insecticides and the like. This industry must have some priorities means Hansson. - Have they been on track on this in your view? - Currently, most probably there is not a complete overview of the resources they use, says Hansson, referring to a special certification for producers of feed. - This is a new, global environmental certification scheme that imposes harsh demands of the industry. Unfortunately, the industry is currently lagging and there are few who have managed the environmental requirements that this certification sets. See also: - Lice out of control - Deep irresponsible objective The problem may be more relevant in the years to come. Earlier this year, announced Minister of Fisheries Elisabeth Aspaker that the government aims to ensure that aquaculture will continue to grow and that she envisages a -fold increase in production by 2050. Perhaps the first step to reach this goal was when Aspaker earlier this week announced that the government will allow that all farms can increase production by five percent. This corresponds to an increase in production of about 60,000 tons. Hansson question how such growth should be handled in terms of feed used by farmers. If one should increase the production of vegetable feed, it will potentially affect food production in agriculture because the raw materials requires large growing area. And the industry already has its challenges to drive sustainable, says Hansson. - The goal of the five-fold increase is a fundamental objective irresponsible to put fisheries minister and the industry. Already today we know that farmers do not have control of its environmental problems, particularly in terms of sea lice, escapes and waste from fish farms, he says. Will propose in Parliament The issue of sustainable development is also a topic in the latest issue of National Geographic. In a report about the so-called blue revolution, which is about the fact that man now breeding more fish than beef, it emerges that the aquaculture industry as a whole has doubled its consumption of industrial fish since 2000, and that it now takes around 70 percent of global production of fishmeal and almost 90 percent of the worlds fish oil. Fish meal is a flour produced by fish heads, fish ridges and waste from the fishing industry, or fish that do not go to another consumer. The flour is used as feed for, besides the cultivated fish, swine, poultry, fur animals, and are especially valuable because of their high content of protein. Fish oil is however a popular dietary supplement due to the content of omega-3 fatty acid. The aquaculture industry has a fundamental responsibility for the environmental impacts of their operations, says Rasmus. Internationally, this market is so exhausted that many countries are sending ships to the Antarctic, where the annual harvest of 200,000 tonnes of krill, which is an important food source for penguins, whales and seals. Hansson believes the aquaculture industry in Norway must be aware of the challenges that already exist in aquaculture globally. - The aquaculture industry has a fundamental responsibility for the environmental consequences of their operations, and were going to make demands in Parliament in the form of a proposal that includes lice levels on farmed to be lowered dramatically before further growth is allowed, he concludes. See also: Allowing for more salmon in cages translation by google/claudette nrk.no/nordland/_-dette-er-en-uansvarlig-malsetting-1.11803917
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 16:09:08 +0000
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