August 22, 2022

Scotland, UK salmon farming industry to face rising pressure over greenhouse gas emissions

The salmon farming industry in Scotland, the United Kingdom, will come under increasing scrutiny and strain due to greenhouse gas emissions, experts warn.

Fish reared in coastal pens are given food that creates millions of tonnes of carbon pollution every year and a report claims Scotland's aquaculture sector must adapt or face increasing legal curbs and reputational risk.

The research concluded that "the Scottish salmon (industry) might find it increasingly hard to operate in a warming world and face reputation and legislative challenges."

The work by Edinburgh University and the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust – published in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review – scrutinises salmon farming's carbon footprints.

Those of Scottish operations tend to be disproportionately larger than in other countries, such as Norway and Canada, as they tend to be on a smaller scale but emissions from energy and fuel use at the sites themselves were minor compared with the greenhouse gases produced by the feedstuffs. They are comprised of fishmeal and fish oil – made from wild marine stocks and leftovers from other farms – as well as vegetable and rapeseed oils, wheat and soy.

The ingredients are often imported from around the globe and, in some cases, grown on deforested and heavily-fertilised land.

Other indirect emissions are generated by getting the fish to market, often done by air rather than sea. In 2018, these factors were responsible for 2.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions at 70 farms run by two major producers, Mowi and GSF – 1.8 million tonnes of which were attributable to feed.

The authors – led by Dr Sebastian Hennige, a senior lecturer in Marine Sciences at Edinburgh – conclude that unless these emissions "are properly targeted and resolved, the Scottish salmon aquaculture industry will find itself penalised by upcoming climate legislation, locally and internationally.

"Most international aquaculture operators have sustainability plans. However, these clearly need to be much more ambitious, especially given Scotland's net zero emissions target for 2045."

- The Sunday Post