More than 37% of the Earth's land surface is reserved for agriculture, producing almost all of the food we eat. The IPCC's Special Report on Climate Change and Land (August, 2019) demonstrates how fragile and decreasingly productive that land is. Rapid and large-scale change to the food system is needed to provide nutritious food to a burgeoning global population, without further damaging natural resources.
Recommendations such as those from the EAT Lancet Report, are encouraging us to move towards a plant-based diet. However, due to socio-economic, cultural and access factors, meat will remain in people's diets. We need to consider the most sustainable and nutritious meat options, and that includes seafood.
The oceans cover 70% of the planet, yet provide just 5% of the protein we eat. If responsibly managed, a blue revolution can provide eco-friendly and nutritious food while alleviating pressure on land and protecting ocean biodiversity. The blue revolution isn't a vision for the future; it has begun. Aquaculture provides more seafood for human consumption than wild capture, and demand is growing. If done right, aquaculture can support healthy oceans, healthy people and a healthy planet.
The industry recognizes that if it is to expand to meet demands in a sustainable manner, a step-change decrease in environmental impact is needed. Achieving such radical change requires a new perspective on food production, and a group of salmon farmers, representing approximately half of the global industry, has been trialing a new approach.
The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) uses collective problem-solving to drive environmental improvements across the entire industry, not just the top performers. This CEO-led change model is unlike any other in the food sector, employing a system of pre-competitive collaboration guided by four key principles: transparency, collaboration, responsibility and innovation.
GSI focusses regional and global efforts on environmental and social priorities. By combining expertise from within the group as well as from NGOs, external private and public sector partners, the group believes it is easier and faster to innovate and improve - and is seeing results.
Working on the topics of certification, biosecurity, feed sourcing and transparency and public perception, the GSI has been running for 6 years, and this session we will look at how the GSI has implemented its model of collaboration, what progress it is demonstrating, and what challenges the group continues to face. In addition, we shall discuss what is needed to transfer this model to other sectors and how wider collaboration is crucial for the whole aquaculture sector to reach its potential in a blue revolution.