Salmon farmers in Canada have signed up to new national commitments aimed at providing safe, reliable, healthy and low carbon footprint protein for Canadians and other markets.
The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Association (CAIA)’s National Salmon Farming Commitments confirmed that all major producers in the country have signed onto the seven industry-wide commitments and their corresponding actions and targets, and will continue to work together to monitor and track progress.
These commitments are as follows:
- Fish Health – use best management practices and technologies that support the well-being of farm-raised salmon
- Sustainable Feed – support innovation in aquaculture feeds and are committed to the sourcing of environmentally sustainable ingredients that provide high-quality nutrition for fish
- Climate Change – continue to reduce carbon emissions and becoming more resilient in the midst of a changing environment
- Food Security – provide a reliable and healthy source of farm-raised salmon to Canadians to help navigate future uncertainty to communities and boosting food security throughout Canada
- Food Traceability – ensure consumers can more easily access the information they want about their salmon meals
- Ocean Health – continuous improvements to farm practices that further protect the marine ecosystem, including the benthic ecosystem health beneath farms, and to prevent plastic waste and debris from entering the oceans from operations
- Public Reporting – report against these commitments at an aggregate level on an annual basis
The goal is to achieve these commitments by 2032, and to transparently report progress each year.
CAIA explained that Canada’s salmon farmers began discussions to develop a set of national commitments in 2021 and established an External Advisory Committee to provide expert advice and feedback on their development.
The committee is comprised of representatives with diverse expertise from key stakeholders and rightsholder groups from Canada’s east and west coasts.
