The marine ingredients industry is delighted with the European Commission’s announcement of a European Green Deal to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. In March 2020, the EU will adopt an industrial strategy that will support the green transformation: “A key aim will be to stimulate the development of new markets for climate neutral and circular products. The decarbonization and modernization of energy-intensive industries are essential.”
Petter M. Johannessen, Director General of IFFO, provided a guest editorial to GOED, a partner organization to IFFO, about the European Green Deal. The Marine Ingredients Organization is fully convinced that growth does not always mean more, but also better and that this deal will trigger even more innovation in the sector and contribute to increased efficiency and competitiveness.
The marine ingredients industry is conscious that the priority is to utilize the oceans’ resources in a sustainable way. The development of the IFFO Responsible Supply standard, and its implementation since 2009, has done a very great deal to improve product traceability, integrity and responsible sourcing in the supply chain, Johannessen said.
88% of the small pelagic fish species that are predominantly used for fishmeal and fish oil production are now “reasonably well managed or better” according to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) report on Reduction Fisheries published in 2019. The stock with the largest contribution to this category continues to be the Anchoveta - Peruvian northern-central stock, which represents approximately 32% of the total catch, compared to 33% in the previous overview.
The marine ingredients industry has been involved for years - since at least the 1970s - in a circular process that finds a usage for every part of the raw material resource. Today, the use of trimmings and byproduct from fish processed for food represents one third of total world fishmeal production. However, there is room for more trimmings and byproducts to be included in marine ingredients. The rise of vessels becoming equipped with fishmeal plants on board shows that the Industry recognizes the importance of the material that at this stage remains unused, and is taking practical steps to use it. A research project funded by IFFO and delivered by the University of Stirling showed that there is much more material available than is currently being used, considering that more than half of a fish often becomes byproduct. As aquaculture grows, there are also more opportunities for byproduct utilization with even more volume of supply possible ultimately from processed farmed fish.
Read the full editorial here.
