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The Path to the Future We All Want - Starts With Transparency

Global Salmon Initiative Members Publish 5th Year of Sustainability Data

Brussels, Belgium – April 26, 2018, 10:00 CET: The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) continues on its pathway to a more sustainable future for aquaculture, today releasing its 5th set of transparent sustainability data via its online reporting platform.

“As GSI members we are acting on our commitment to improve our social and environmental performance, and we know that transparency is an essential element of responsibility and in getting us to where we want to be in the future,” said Gerardo Balbontin, GSI Co-Chair and CEO of Blumar. “Our sustainability reporting is fundamental in building and retaining trust among the people and communities involved in our work, and in holding ourselves accountable to each other.”

The GSI Sustainability Report includes 5 years’ worth of data presented per company and per region, and covers 14 key sustainability indicators – 9 environmental and 5 social.

Highlights from this report include:

  • Farmed salmon continues to be one of the most eco-efficient forms of protein production – with the lowest carbon footprint, and lowest feed conversion ratio
  • Over 40% of GSI production is now certified to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification; five years ago there were no farms certified to this high standard – progress has been impressive in all regions
  • Due to an increase in the use of non-medicinal approaches and sharing of best-practices in sea lice management, over the 5-year period GSI members have reduced the use of medicinal sea lice treatments by 40%
  • By continued innovations in the sourcing and efficiency of feed ingredients, GSI members have reduced their use of fish oil and fishmeal by, respectively, 16% and 15% (calculated per forage fish dependency ratio)
  • Reports from GSI members on a wide variety of community projects which highlight their significant contribution to local and often remote communities

"All aspects of food production come with their challenges,” added Aaron McNevin, WWF´s Global Aquaculture Lead. “It is imperative that we all take the responsibility to bend the curve on biodiversity loss. When it comes to aquaculture, one of the fastest growing methods of producing food in the world, this means further reducing its environmental impacts, in this case, of global salmon farming. The GSI's commitment to transparency is evidence that they are committed to building a sustainable future. With five years of environmental data, it is promising to see positive trends emerging. We look forward to the industry continuing to move forward as well as increasing ASC certification to 100 per cent."

Transparency has been identified by the GSI as one of its four pathways to a more sustainable future, alongside cooperation, responsibility and innovation; and speaking about today’s publication, Mr Balbontin commented on why the group has chosen transparency as one of its priority channels:

“Our ability to continue operations and pursue growth opportunities depends on long-lasting and mutually respectful relationships with our stakeholders. Transparent reporting across social, economic and environmental performance indicators not only shows our progress, but also provides the opportunity for us to engage with our stakeholders, respond to questions, and further focus our future performance responsibilities. Within GSI we are also committed to using our model of pre-competitive collaboration to accelerate environmental improvements, and to do that we must also be transparent on our performance with each other.”

To view the GSI Sustainability Report please click here.

To learn more about the GSI’s Pathways to the Future please click here.

ABOUT GSI

The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) is a leadership initiative established in 2013 by global farmed salmon producers focused on making significant progress on industry sustainability. Today, the GSI comprises 17 companies – representing more than half (~55%) of the global salmon production industry – that are fully committed to realizing a shared goal of providing a highly sustainable source of healthy food to feed a growing global population, whilst minimizing our environmental footprint, and continuing to improve our social contribution.

GSI member companies are Australis Seafoods S.A.; Bakkafrost; Blumar; Bjørøya; Cermaq; Compañía Pesquera Camanchaca; Empresas AquaChile; Grieg Seafood ASA; Huon Aquaculture; Los Fiordos; Marine Harvest; Midt-Norsk Havbruk AS; Multiexport Foods S.A.; New Zealand King Salmon; Nova Sea AS; Tassal; and Ventisqueros. GSI companies have a presence in Australia, Canada, Chile, the Faroe Islands, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the UK, and make significant contributions to the economies of these respective countries.

The GSI also has a number of Associate Members in both the pharmaceutical and feed industries, including Benchmark Holdings plc; BioMar; Cargill; Elanco; Merck, Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) Animal Health; PHARMAQ; Salmofood; and Skretting.

For further information on the GSI, please visit or contact us at:

ABOUT PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE

To reach GSI’s vision of providing healthy protein at less environmental cost – change is needed. Aquaculture is one possible solution to our future food challenges, being one of the most eco-efficient ways of producing protein, and salmon farming is leading the way in aquaculture innovation. Members of the GSI have outlined their pathways to a sustainable future for aquaculture. For more information please visit our blog at globalsalmoninitiative.org/en/blog

Media contacts:

Sophie Ryan
AXON
+1 604 506 8414
sryan@axon-com.com

Cameron Donald
AXON
+ 44 (0)7710 388 627
cdonald@axon-com.com