Salmon feed supplier to focus on purchasing from regional markets.
In a press release, Danish feed supplier Aller Aqua writes that it will only purchase soy for its aquafeeds closer to its factories, and as a result, the company’s four European factories will exclusively purchase regionally produced soy.
”In recent years there has been focus on soy produced in South America, and the derived effects thereof, such as deforestation and cultivation methods. In our work to continuously increase sustainability and purchasing raw materials in proximity to our European factories, we will now phase out the use of soy from South America,” it wrote.
It added that its four European factories have already begun this process.
“In 2019, 50% of the soy we used in our European factories was regionally produced, and during 2020 this number will reach 100%. This is completely in line with EU initiatives supporting increased production of protein-crops to increase our self-sufficiency – and thereby reduce imports.
“We work actively with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in all of our factories. Raw materials are a significant part of the production process in aquafeeds, and it is, therefore, natural to focus on reducing environmental impact here,” wrote Aller Aqua.
“Additionally, it is positive that aquaculture has one of the lowest CO2 emissions compared to other animal products,” added Aller Aqua Group Group Vice President Henrik Halken.
Skretting and Mowi have expressed a want to move away from Brazillian soy from its salmon feed. However, SalmonBusiness editor Aslak Berge argued in an op-ed entitled “Brazillian soy: Taking ownership of a problem” that as salmon eat just 0.1 per cent of Brazil’s soya, this is not where the battle lies.
