Fish oil, fishmeal, feeding: a problem?
Another criticism levelled at aquacultures is that they are not a solution to overfishing as the fish are often fed fishmeal and fish oil. After all, salmon need fish as food themselves. So how accurate is this?
It is true to say that salmon are predatory fish. They cannot survive without food from marine sources, in particular marine proteins. But wherever possible, salmon farming companies such as Bremnes Seashore endeavour to use alternative plant-based raw materials. Some of the fish oil otherwise used is substituted with algae oil. And strict self-imposed rules such as not using soya sourced from the rainforest reduce the carbon footprint overall. At Bremnes Seashore, fish that could otherwise be consumed by humans is under no circumstances fed to fish.
How sustainable is farmed salmon?
What conditions does land-based salmon farming have to meet in order to be considered sustainable production?
In addition to fishmeal and fish oil ideally not being used as feed, an important role when it comes to the sustainability of farmed salmon is played by energy and water consumption. For example, the wastewater must be sufficiently cleaned and is ideally reused within the system. This is the case at Bremnes Seashore – biological filters treat the water used in the hatchery tanks again and again, resulting in 98% of it remaining in the cycle. Other requirements are stipulated by government institutions, certification bodies and internal inspectors, and compliance with these is checked in close to 100 audits a year.
How many antibiotics are there in salmon?
Bremnes Seashore uses absolutely no antibiotics: ‘We have not used antibiotics since 1992,’ says Økland. He emphasises that the focus is on fish health. He cannot categorically rule out the use of antibiotics in the future, but the decisions are always made on the basis of the current circumstances. For the time being, though, antibiotics are not an issue as the fish are protected against diseases by means of vaccination – each fish is given a jab for seven different diseases before transitioning from the hatchery to the sea.