December 13, 2023

 

Salmon welfare scorecard by NGO seeks to encourage transparency in salmon industry

 

 

 

UK-based Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has released the first edition of its new salmon welfare scorecard.

 

The non-governmental organisation, which advocates for animal welfare across a number of agricultural sectors including in the aquaculture sector, announced the launch of the scorecard in May 2023 at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain.

 

The Salmon Welfare Scorecard assessed some of aquaculture's biggest companies, including AquaChile, Bakkafrost, Cooke, Grieg Seafood, Cermaq, Mowi, SalMar, and Leroy, which together representing more than 50% of production of the 400 million salmon produced via aquaculture globally in 2022.

 

"This new Salmon Welfare Scorecard aims to provide meaningful engagement with the salmon industry, fostering transparency across the supply chain," said CIWF Global CEO Phil Lymbery. "It will enable producers to report authoritatively on salmon welfare and provide a basis for rewarding better policy and practice; all with the aim of improving the welfare of farmed salmon."

 

The scorecard is based on CIWF assessments gleaned from publicly available company information, which is then scored across 13 welfare parameters, including stocking density, humane slaughter, sea lice infestations and mortality.

 

Numeric scores are not calculated; rather, results are provided in a table comparing the companies using a five-color scale from red (limited reporting) to green (detailed, best-practice reporting). The format allows users to see company scores across the criteria and how well the group is performing across the welfare parameters.

 

The scorecard does not assess the veracity of the welfare practices carried out by the companies. Instead, the scorecard measures how well companies report on animal welfare practices.

 

"We measure the value of their public policies (i.e. they score more points for having a policy on stocking density specifically, for example). We also weigh topics which are more important for animal welfare. We don't evaluate the actual performance indicators," CIWF told SeafoodSource.

 

Producers were provided an opportunity to weigh in on the report's original findings and update any publicly available information prior to publication.

 

CIWF has made the Salmon Welfare Scorecard methodology publicly available. It covers the assessment process, a description of the parameters used and the calculation of scores used in the process.

 

"The fish industry has yet to fully embrace transparent reporting of their welfare policies and practices, even their positive ones, which would enhance their relationships with crucial stakeholders," the report said. "Investors and companies are keen for producers to improve transparency in their production standards, as evident from the industry's engagement and positive response to the scorecard."

 

- SeafoodSource