Environmental sustainability – a prerequisite for further growth

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would first of all like to say thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. As State Secretary in The Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, an environmentally friendly aquaculture industry is one of the major areas of my attention.

Sustainability is said to be the capacity to endure. Given this perspective, it is important to remember that the concept of sustainability encompasses more than concern for the environment. Social and economical aspects must also be taken into consideration, and there must be balance between the three.
We are privileged in Norway. Both socially and economically, we are well off. Thus there are no excuses for not taking care of the environment. With this in mind, I want to remind us all of the definition of sustainable development that the Brundtland Commission launched in 1987: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The world population is today about 6 billion people. By 2050 the population is expected to increase by 50% to 9 billion people. This growing population needs food! In addition, the FAO tells us that we now eat more seafood than ever before, and health experts still recommend increased consumption. Both these factors, our rapidly growing world population and our increasing seafood consumption, results in a higher demand for seafood. There is a broad recognition that the increased demand cannot be met by increased fisheries, and that aquaculture represents the most relevant opportunity to increase seafood production worldwide.

In addition to contributing to food security, aquaculture also represents an important contribution to livelihood for many people and communities around the world. Also in Norway aquaculture is contributing strongly to employment and maintaining settlements along our long coastline.

The Norwegian aquaculture industry is a relatively young industry which has evolved during the past 40 years. There has been a continuous growth in production since 1980, and last year the Norwegian production of farmed Atlantic salmon reached almost 1 million tons. The value of the Norwegian aquaculture production now exceeds the value from the fisheries sector and I think it is true that the development of the salmon farming industry is one of Norway’s greatest success stories. The export revenues from farmed salmon and trout amount to 60% of total exports of seafood from Norway.

Aquaculture - like any other food production - has environmental impacts. These impacts must, however, be kept within acceptable limits. Using the nature as production premises, environmental sustainability is a prerequisite for long-term development and growth. The industry has to have the perspective of eternity, and thus a regard for the future generations. This responsibility mainly rests on the shoulders of the industry, but it is crucial that we - the authorities and politicians - also engage in these important questions.
It is the Government’s objective that the Norwegian aquaculture industry should continue to grow. However, further growth can only take place within the limits of environmental sustainability. The driving force for achieving this should be the industry itself, but for me it means strong commitments to governance and to research and development.

In April 2009 the Norwegian government presented a “Strategy for an environmentally sustainable Norwegian aquaculture industry” identifying challenges linked to escapees and genetic interactions, pollution and discharges, disease and parasites, use of coastal areas, and feed and feed resources. 
We have set high standards in all these areas and are currently working to define more precisely the requirements for sustainable growth in Norwegian aquaculture production. It is important to keep in mind that environmental sustainability is a dynamic concept that is constantly evolving and not something that can be settled once and for all. It is also important to recall that all food production have ecological footprints. The question is how big the footprint can be, and what is acceptable. Acceptable footprint is at the end of the day a political decision.

The implementation of measures in order to reach the goals set in the strategy and development of environmental effect indicators has high political priority in Norway.

We are currently putting great emphasis on reducing the problems of sea lice in Atlantic salmon and escapes of farmed fish in general. None of these problems can be solved by a single measure and I do believe that development of new technology will play an important role. 

Research on fish feed is another area which is given high priority. New sources of fish feed needs to be developed. Though modern aquaculture utilizes feed resources more efficiently than terrestrial production, continued growth in aquaculture based on fish will eventually lead to shortage of marine raw materials for feed, unless new sources are developed.

Algae, plankton and plants are potentially alternative raw materials. It is important to maintain seafood's nutritional benefits for the consumer, as well as the as health and welfare of the farmed fish.

However, an important contribution to secure sufficient raw material in the short term, is to combat IUU-fishing and discards, and to improve the utilisation of the entire fish. We need to become better at using our resources carefully and not being wasteful. 

In order to succeed, broad international cooperation is necessary. We operate in the same markets, and consumers are not necessarily concerned with which country their fish comes from. They are, however, concerned with seafood safety and that the fish is produced in a sustainable way. Clear answers to these questions are important to make sure that consumers choose seafood instead of alternative products.

I believe that growth in Norwegian aquaculture within sustainable limits is achievable. Therefore, in my view, the industry has everything to gain by investing in research and technology to solve existing environmental problems. Many of today’s consumers require documentation of sustainability. By solving environmental problems and providing the necessary documentation, the industry will pave the way for future growth.

Governments and the industry have different roles and responsibilities, but we depend on each other to succeed. Norway is keen to learn from the experiences of others and, vice versa, we hope that our own experiences can help other fish-farming countries to develop their aquaculture industries.
We have still a lot to learn about our oceans and the life therein. Therefore, we must strengthen our efforts in marine research. In fact, I believe that there are still unexploited resources for sustainable food production in our oceans today. International co-operation between nations, researchers and companies is necessary, and results and knowledge need to be shared. It is said, and I believe it is true - that knowledge and understanding is one of the things which are enhanced if shared.

Aquaculture producers are in a very favourable situation, as they are producing healthy food. I am sure that your industry will prosper in the years to come.
The secondary title for this seminar is “Food supply from environmental friendly aquaculture – a dream or a reality.” At this point in time we cannot claim to have reached our final goals of an environmentally friendly aquaculture industry – especially as these goals are not static, but I do believe that we are beyond the stage of dreaming. We are wide awake, continuously working to reach our goal of achieving environmental sustainability for the aquaculture of the future.

Thank you for your attention.