To protect the ocean and ensure that fish stocks intended for direct or indirect human consumption are caught within clearly defined sustainable limits, Nutreco and Skretting published a new responsible sourcing policy that will be used as a practical guide to decide on the type of marine ingredients that can be sourced for its global operations. 

The document builds into the ambitions set in Nutreco’s Sustainability RoadMap 2025, which aims to ensure that by 2025, Skretting sources marine ingredients that are 100% certified or coming from a fishery improvement project for its global operations, as well as ensuring that all the fishmeal and fish oil used to produce feed originate from fisheries that are managed according to the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.  

The policy is built on a risk-based approach and was developed through internal collaboration within Nutreco and Skretting (sustainability, procurement and quality teams) at a global and local level to reflect the realities in the markets and included comments and revisions from external stakeholders.  

Important areas addressed in the policy include: 

• Specific criteria on what to buy according to five sustainability classes of marine ingredients coming from whole fish, byproducts from wild fish catch and byproducts from aquaculture, aligned with the most important fishery management certifications in the industry. 
• Clear purchasing targets for each sustainability class defined, both the relative share of purchases and a defined timeline to reach the ambitions set in Nutreco’s Sustainaiblity RoadMap 2025. 
• Mapping of countries identified with a high risk of IUU fishing activities. Marine ingredients from these countries cannot be sourced unless they come from the highest sustainability classes. The policy in this area supports Nutreco and Skretting’s commitment and work in SeaBOS. 
• Mapping of countries identified with a high risk of forced labor on board fishing vessels. For these countries, there are additional requirements to marine ingredient manufacturers. Skretting is the first company in the world that communicates open and transparent criteria towards marine ingredient suppliers in this area. 

In 2021, 80% of fishmeal and fish oil originating from whole fish and byproducts that were purchased by Skretting came from fisheries certified according to the MarinTrust or MSC programs, or from fisheries that were part of a MarinTrust Fishery Improvement Programme (FIP), which is important progress compared to the 69% reported in 2020. More details will be provided in the next Skretting Sustainability Report.

“The responsible use of marine ingredients is under constant scrutiny and we have an important role to play to contribute with more transparency in the industry. Through this policy we’re open about the criteria that we will use to source our ingredients and we want to be accountable for that. Reaching our targets is not something that we can do alone and it comes with challenges, but we will not shy away from them and will keep collaborating with all the relevant stakeholders to identify and mitigate the risks of our operations,” said Jorge Díaz, sustainability manager at Skretting.

Check out Skretting’s responsible sourcing policy here.