Norwegian salmon farming has a key role to play in helping prevent the rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections.
The World Health Organization cites antimicrobial resistance as a global threat to human and animal health and estimates that by 2050, ten million people could die from infections caused by untreatable bacterial infections.
But Norway can position itself as a global leader in the fight against AMR with its culture of restrictive and responsible use of antibiotics, according to salmon and trout farmer, Cermaq.
The company is part of SeaBOS, a global collaboration between seafood companies and research institutions, focused on sustainability in the seafood sector.
“Norwegian livestock production is among the global best because Norwegian salmon farming uses the very least amount of antibiotics,” said Cermaq.
“Before sick fish are given antibiotics, we check that there is no resistance, to identify the smallest effective dose.
The types of antibiotics used is also important from a human health perspective. In the production of food for humans, Cermaq only uses antibiotics that are not critical for human health.”
The best way to reduce risk to humans is to minimise antibiotic use in animal husbandry, as it is the only way to avoid selection for resistant genes, says Cermaq.
“There is little risk of transfer of resistant genes to humans from salmon,” explained Henrik Duesund, R&D manager at Cermaq.
“Salmon lives in colds waters, and salmon and humans do not have overlap of bacteria that can infect.”
