Aquaculture and the Environment

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Aquaculture and the Environment
A presentation from www.laksefakta.no
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List of contents
1. Environmental standpoint 2. Sustainable food
production 3. Environment and choice of
location 4. Salmon lice and wrasse 5. Use of
copper 6. Disease and antibiotics 7. Escaped
fish
Photo Norwegian Seafood Export Council
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1. Environmental standpoint

• The aquaculture industry aims to be
• environmentally friendly
• Sound ethical husbandry and sustainable
• resource management are fundamental
• principles for the industry
• Like all other food production, aquaculture
• also involves environmental challenges
• Consequently, the industry focuses on the
• environment at all stages from feed production
• up to the fish reaches the market

Photo Norwegian Seafood Export Council/ Per Eide
Studio
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2. Sustainable food production

• Of all farm animals, salmon utilises the protein
  and
• energy in the feed the most efficiently
• 1.15 kg of feed are required to produce 1 kg of
• salmon. For the same growth, poultry requires
  1.94
• kg and pigs require 3 kg of feed
• Fishmeal and fish oil are important raw
  ingredients
• in fish feed. But these marine resources are
  limited
• in supply
• However, new raw ingredients from plants allow
  the
• the industry to continue to grow, without
  overusing
• the global fish stocks

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Growth using new ingredients

• Research on raw ingredients, such as vegetable
• oils, algae and protein from gas has been
• conducted since the 1980s
• Salmon and trout feed produced in Norway today
• contains a mixture of marine and vegetable oils
• Like marine oils, vegetable oils are adequate
  raw
• ingredients in the feed, to meet the
  nutritional
• requirements of the fish for healthy growth

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3. Choice of location

• It is very important to choose the right
  location
• for a farm
• A good environment is important for the health
• and quality of the fish
• Current, depth and bottom conditions are
• decisive factors
• Fish farmers continuously monitor the
• environment around the localities

Photo Norwegian Seafood Export Council/ Per Eide
Studio
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Nutrient salts

• The main sources of discharges of nutrient
• salts are agriculture, households and fish
• farming
• Nutrient salts help to maintain rich plant and
• animal life
• High concentrations of these salts may lead
• to undesirable algae growth
• Great emphasis is therefore placed on finding
• localities with favourable current and bottom
• conditions to dilute them

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4. Salmon lice

• Salmon lice - Lepeophtheirus salmonis
• is a parasite that exists naturally on
• salmon in saltwater
• Salmon lice may damage the skin of the
• fish
• This may cause problems with salt balance
• and increase the risk of infection
• The industry invests significant resources
• in preventing and combating lice

Photo Anne-Mette Kirkemo, Norsk friluftspresse
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Environmentally friendly treatment against lice

• All farms are obliged to prepare a monthly
• report on lice, any treatment required and
• use of the fish wrasse
• A growing number of farmers have opted
• to use wrasse to combat lice
• Wrasse feed on the salmon lice and the
• plankton on the nets
• Work is also in progress to develop a
• vaccine against salmon lice

Photo Kamilla Utgård
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5. Copper

• The nets are impregnated with copper to
• prevent fouling. This is identical to many
• other water users, such as boats.
• A growing number have changed to frequent
• cleaning as a more environmentally friendly
• alternative
• Research is being carried out to find
• alternatives to copper, among other things,
• based on algae

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Discharge ban

• In 2004 the authorities banned discharge of
• copper from businesses that clean and
• impregnate nets
• The ban applies to new facilities already and
  will
• come into effect for existing facilities from
  2006
• The cleaning methods introduced mean that
• the copper may perhaps be recycled

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6. Healthy fish

• Salmon is the healthiest farm
• animal in Norway
• There has been a 98 per cent
• reduction in used of antibiotics
• between 1987 and 2004. At the
• same time, salmon and trout
• production has risen tenfold
• The industry has achieved this through
• effective vaccination, improved production
• methods and preventive work

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7. Escaped fish

• The industry aims to reduce the number of
• escaped fish to an absolute minimum
• According to preliminary figures from the
• Directorate of Fishers, 470,000 salmon and
• trout escaped in 2004
• Two vessels, not connected with the industry,
• collided with cages and caused 336,000 fish to
• escape
• This constituted 71 per cent of the escapes in
• 2004

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Measures to prevent escapes

• The industry and the authorities are very
• concerned about reducing the number of escapes
• Both parties have strengthened there focus on
• research and development
• The industry has implemented a series of
• measures such as training, improved technology
• and quality assurance of production
• A technical standard for farms was introduced in
  
• the spring of 2004 in order to reduce the risk
  of
• escapes

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Control and documentation

• The fish farmers have daily control of the fish
  and
• the facilities. Veterinarians follow up the
  health of
• the fish on a regular basis
• The Directorate of Fisheries inspects all farms
  on
• a regular basis
• The Norwegian Food Safety Authority approves
• and has strict control over the fish from
• harvesting to processing
• No other country in the world has such extensive
  
• control and research related to aquaculture as
  
• Norway

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Did you know that..
.. Salmon is the favourite fish of young
Norwegians? .. Norway produces twice as much
salmon it does beef, poultry, mutton and pork
together? .. Norway produced around 540,000
tonnes of salmon in 2004? .. Norwegian
salmon is exported to more than one hundred
countries?
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Would you like to find out more?

• Visit www.laksefakta.no
• Articles on salmon and aquaculture
• Presentations (ppt) and fact sheets
• Free key rings
• Delicious salmon recipes

Use of photographs from this presentation for
other purposes is prohibited.