BERGEN (E24): For the first time, Norway’s second largest salmon farmer admits that animal welfare is going the wrong way.
HAVE TO DO IT BETTER: The aquaculture entrepreneur dreams back to the time when they almost knew the name of every fish. Now he thinks the development has gone in the wrong direction and believes it is time for improvements. Photo: Paul S. Amundsen / E24Published: Published:
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The short version
- Norway’s second largest salmon farmer, Salmar, acknowledges for the first time that animal welfare in the industry is on the wrong track.
- The company’s founder, Gustav Witzøe, invites to the industry collaboration ‘Salmon living lab’ to find solutions through more knowledge.
- Mortality in Norwegian salmon farms rose to a new record of 65 million fish last year.
- Witzøe is also open to critical voices in this collaboration and believes that it will help the industry to develop.
- Witzøe emphasizes that 500 million is just the start and that money is not a limitation, but the details of the ‘Salmon living lab’, timetable, place, content and funding are however unclear.
- The feed giant Cargill is involved in the collaboration.
The summary is made by the AI tool ChatGPT and quality assured by E24’s journalists
Sea view
Last year’s cases with gruesome images of dead farmed salmon have also hit Salmar founder Gustav Witzøe hard.
– It does something to you as a whole and not least to those who work outside on the facilities. You can lose a little confidence when you don’t know how to solve it, says Gustav Witzøe in an interview with E24 at the seafood forum NASF in Bergen.
– We have seen that the development is different than in the good old days, when we almost knew the name of every single fish, and the mortality rate was lower, he continues.
Witzøe believes the solution is more knowledge, and has therefore invited the industry collaboration “Salmon living lab”. But the content is currently floating, except that it is Salmar who will lead the work.
– It is so easy to criticize the industry in retrospect, but if we had had more knowledge, we would certainly have found other solutions than the ones we think are the best today, says Witzøe.
Last year, mortality in Norwegian salmon farms rose to a new record of around 65 million fish.
CONCERNED: Cargill’s head of fish feed, Helene Ziv-Douki, is also concerned about animal welfare in salmon farming. Salmar founder Gustav Witzøe (th) eagerly explains that the collaboration with Cargill is just the beginning, with Salmar CEO Frode Arntsen in the background. Photo: Paul S. Amundsen / E24
Necessary criticism
Witzøe emphasizes that Salmar’s basic attitude has always been to have the least possible impact on the areas they borrow from future generations. At the same time, the aim is to create the greatest possible value from the fish they bring ashore.
– Then we have gradually seen that there are some knowledge gaps. They are the ones we want to close, so that we can live up to our social responsibility, he says.
– Should this knowledge only be industry-led, or should independent research environments be involved?
– Both the Institute of Marine Research, NTNU and others have knowledge about salmon, but what is specific here is the salmon as such, not marine research in general, which is so much more. We want to combine the broad expertise with the specialist expertise in salmon.
Witzøe says that he also welcomes those who are critical, in order to gain a greater understanding.
– We cannot develop if we are not receptive to criticism. The best thing would be to sit around a table with the salmon around us and show what we do, what knowledge we have, where we lack things, and be open about it.
– Is there a fear of reputation behind the new initiative?
– I’m not sure if it’s fear of reputation. Of course it is there, but there is more fear for our employees who only want the best for the fish, and then encounter problems they do not know the solution to.
– And then of course they are colored by the media that covers it, sometimes fairly and sometimes unfairly. It also has to do with knowledge.
THE BILLIONAIRE says it should not be about the money to increase knowledge about salmon farming. Photo: Paul S. Amundsen / E24
Not worth the money
Apart from the fact that the initiative will be led by Salmar, and that the feed giant Cargill will join in a collaboration, details about time, place, content and funding are unclear. But it should not be about the money, according to Witzøe.
Currently, 500 million is on the table. In comparison, Salmar has proposed paying out NOK 4.6 billion to its owners based on the profit in 2023.
– Half a billion is just the start, says Witzøe.
– I don’t think money will be a limitation. An amount has now been set aside for the start-up, and there are so many kroner to be gained in changing the direction of the development we have now, he adds.
The hope is that more industry players will join and share the sum. Salmar is already getting help from Cargill, but how much is uncertain.
Cargill, which is among the world’s largest feed producers for everything from cattle to fish, has previously received criticism for its soy operations in Brazil. Last year, the company was called “deforestation worst” by the Norwegian Rainforest Fund.
Cargill’s head of fish feed, Helene Ziv-Douki, hopes to be able to contribute to solving some of the bigger questions in the industry related to animal welfare and sustainability.
– Are you concerned about the global reputation of the salmon industry?
– We are concerned about animal welfare and we want to improve it. But we believe animal welfare and sustainability can only improve if we work together as one industry, she says.
Salmar has not spoken about the initiative with Mowi, which is Norway’s and the world’s largest salmon farmer.
– But I see no reason why they will not think this is positive, says Witzøe.
He points out that breeders in many places operate close to each other, and are thus influenced by each other’s operations, for better or for worse.
Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim, who is also attending the conference, is otherwise not interested in talking about Salmar’s initiative.
WITZØE eagerly EXPLAINS that cooperation is important in the industry, because in many places they are at the mercy of other breeders in the vicinity doing well. Photo: Paul S. Amundsen / E24
– Easy to criticize afterwards
Witzøe does not hide the fact that he is proud of the industry and its importance for the coastal districts. But he is concerned that production must become more sustainable.
– We must do even better than we have done. Given that we manage the environment and the salmon correctly, it will be a perpetual industry, and a fantastic opportunity for Norway.
The lice problems in the industry have also slowed the growth of the profitable industry.
– We see that the whole world wants more fish and we cannot deliver. It is a big problem.
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2024-03-12 11:08:57
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