September 8, 2017

BioMar rated No. 1 salmon sustainability fish feed company

BioMar has topped the chart for the most transparent reporting of sustainability for independent salmon feed companies, adding strength to its core strategic focus of driving and leading sustainable practices within the industry.

Bertrand Charron, editor and author of SeafoodIntelligence.com and author of the recently released 2017 benchmark report on salmon industry transparency said, "Although our range of benchmarking reports covers a broad sector of the seafood and aquaculture industries, we still issue an individual salmon farming and feed benchmark report because this particular industry has historically been under particular media and stakeholders' scrutiny. I believe this benchmark can benefit not only other salmon and feed companies, but also the global seafood industry which, in general, displays a lesser degree of transparency."

BioMar was the first feed producer to offer fish feeds containing alternative marine fatty acids sourced from highly sustainable microalgae. 

"We take pride in driving the sustainability agenda of the industry and are pleased to be the first feed producer to bring this new feed ingredient to our customers while ensuring economies of scale. We believe AlgaPrime™ DHA will be a significant contributor to the further development of salmon products with a desirable nutritional profile", said Jan Sverre Røsstad, vice president and head of salmon division at BioMar Group.

BioMar, in partnership with Aker BioMarine, said the krill they source is of the highest quality and harvested sustainably. Aker BioMarines has earned the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification and an "A" rating from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).     

"Sustainability has always been at the core of BioMar operations; however, only in recent years have we seen the importance of qualitatively reporting what we have done and what we are planning to do. Being open and transparent is important not only to our customers but is one of our corporate guiding principles", said CEO Carlos Diaz, BioMar Group.

Charron wrote in the report that "many C-executives in the seafood industry would do well to read their [BioMar] report (together with those of a few other sustainability-focused firms) to get inspired and embark upon sustainability reporting".

BioMar believes that a solid sustainability performance is a prerequisite to winning contracts. BioMar also sees that operating sustainably has a positive impact on their employees. "More than one third of BioMar employees have been at the company for over 15 years. This considering we increased our workforce by more than 25% in the last year", said Diaz. 

The benchmark report states that BioMar has a "can and must do" attitude toward sustainability. Vidar Gundersen, the company's global sustainability director, explained: "It's actually very simple. If we don't take care of the oceans, lakes and forests, we won't have a job tomorrow. In the worst-case scenario, we won't even have a world to live in. It's our heritage, it's our future, and it's our responsibility".