New tool is significant as it standardizes the process of assessing and managing risks in feed ingredient procurement, promoting responsible and sustainable practices within the industry.
The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have launched an environmental, social, governance (ESG) risk assessment tool for feed ingredients.
The GSI, a group comprising 40 percent of the world’s farmed salmon production – was established in 2013 by global salmon farmers and is focused on making significant progress on industry sustainability.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is a framework used to assess a company’s impact and conduct in three critical areas: environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and governance practices.
This approach allows investors and consumers to evaluate organizations not only on financial performance but also on their sustainability and ethical practices. Environmental factors consider how a company affects nature, social factors look at its relationships with employees, customers, and communities, and governance involves leadership and shareholder rights.
ESG is increasingly important in today’s business landscape, as it helps stakeholders understand a company’s long-term viability and ethical impact, aligning with growing global emphasis on responsible and sustainable business practices. Strong ESG credentials can lead to reduced legal risks, improved customer loyalty, and better overall competitiveness for a company.
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The ESG risk assessment tool launched by the Global Salmon Initiative and World Wildlife Fund is designed to enhance transparency in the salmon farming industry’s feed supply chains.
By providing a framework to identify and address potential environmental, social, and governance risks, it helps companies make informed sourcing decisions that align with sustainability goals.
This tool is significant as it standardizes the process of assessing and managing risks in feed ingredient procurement, promoting responsible and sustainable practices within the industry.
Framework
The tool offers a framework for farming companies to collaborate with feed suppliers, allowing a comprehensive overview of potential risks in the feed supply chain. It also assists companies in assessing the scalability of future novel ingredients, enabling more informed sourcing decisions that align with strategic priorities and values, according to a statement from the initiative on Wednesday.
Developed over three years with inputs from GSI members, WWF, and industry feed companies, this tool represents the first instance of a common methodology for enhanced alignment in feed data collection.
Daniel Miller of WWF highlighted the significant unknowns in feed-ingredient supply chains, which can lead to risks and vulnerabilities even for companies focused on sustainable production.
“Feed ingredient sourcing remains one of the main sustainability challenges in salmon farming, and food production more broadly,” said Miller. The surprising amount of unknown information in feed-ingredient supply chains leaves the sector open to unintentional risks and vulnerabilities—even for companies prioritizing sustainable, ethical production. With this tool, GSI members are taking a proactive approach to address these risks and identify opportunities to improve the supply chain.”
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) plans to incorporate the tool into its ASC Feed Standard certification process, according to the release.
Feedback
This first iteration of the tool will be updated based on user feedback and annual amendments to ensure it remains effective. The data collected through the tool is confidential and shared only between the feed supplier and the farming company.
Sourcing feed ingredients from diverse supply chains makes it challenging to identify and mitigate all the current and potential ESG risks of our global operations, according to Skretting Sustainability Manager, Jorge Diaz Salinas.
“We’ve made significant progress over the past few years in addressing many of these risks, but we have more work to do and our pace needs to accelerate,” he said. “We support the implementation of the ESG tool because it will help us better identify what we know and what we don’t know about the impacts of certain ingredients, and in addressing these concerns, we will increase the transparency in our sourcing and ultimately improve our performance.”
The GSI comprises 22 companies including Bakkafrost, Blumar, Cermaq, Salmones Camanchaca, Grieg Seafood, New Zealand King Salmon, Nova Sea, Salmones Austral, Tassal, and Ventisqueros.
