Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard

Food scarcity is one of the main challenges related to our planet’s growing population and changing environment. Furthermore, our current food production is aggravating and accelerating climate change, as almost 24% of global greenhouse gases derive from agriculture (Troell, Jonell, & Henriksson, 20...

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Main Author: Nilsson, Ola
Format: H2
Language:Inglés
Swedish
Published: SLU/Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment 2018
Subjects:
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author Nilsson, Ola
author_browse Nilsson, Ola
author_facet Nilsson, Ola
author_sort Nilsson, Ola
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description Food scarcity is one of the main challenges related to our planet’s growing population and changing environment. Furthermore, our current food production is aggravating and accelerating climate change, as almost 24% of global greenhouse gases derive from agriculture (Troell, Jonell, & Henriksson, 2017). Seafood is likely to become an even more important resource for animal protein than it already is, as the population grows, and the environment becomes less predictable which potentially could result in depleted yields. Aquaculture volumes have increased substantially during the last three decades, with increased production numbers from five million tons in 1980 to more than 106 million tons in 2017 (FishStat, 2013; Zhou, 2017). One species that have seen a rapid growth in production numbers is Atlantic salmon. The increased production in aquaculture has resulted in an increased environmental concern about the consequences of intensive farming. Consequentially, this has resulted in an influx of eco-certification schemes. One of which is the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). This study has compared the national/provincial legislation on aquaculture in the four biggest salmon producing regions; Norway, Chile, Scotland (UK), British Columbia (Canada) and the ASC’s standard, to compare how different the legislations are from the guidelines set up by this eco-certification scheme. The study found that the ASC standard has stricter standards than the aforementioned regions. Furthermore, this study has compared the potential sustainability effects of using national standards versus international standards for salmon farming and found that international standards have an important role to play as they have the potential to make everyone abide by the same minimum requirement. However, in order for them to have a real effect they need to be legally binding and not just be voluntary guidelines.
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spelling RepoSLU131262018-02-15T10:25:06Z Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard Nilsson, Ola Aquaculture Salmon farming Additionality Sustainability Policy analysis Food scarcity is one of the main challenges related to our planet’s growing population and changing environment. Furthermore, our current food production is aggravating and accelerating climate change, as almost 24% of global greenhouse gases derive from agriculture (Troell, Jonell, & Henriksson, 2017). Seafood is likely to become an even more important resource for animal protein than it already is, as the population grows, and the environment becomes less predictable which potentially could result in depleted yields. Aquaculture volumes have increased substantially during the last three decades, with increased production numbers from five million tons in 1980 to more than 106 million tons in 2017 (FishStat, 2013; Zhou, 2017). One species that have seen a rapid growth in production numbers is Atlantic salmon. The increased production in aquaculture has resulted in an increased environmental concern about the consequences of intensive farming. Consequentially, this has resulted in an influx of eco-certification schemes. One of which is the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). This study has compared the national/provincial legislation on aquaculture in the four biggest salmon producing regions; Norway, Chile, Scotland (UK), British Columbia (Canada) and the ASC’s standard, to compare how different the legislations are from the guidelines set up by this eco-certification scheme. The study found that the ASC standard has stricter standards than the aforementioned regions. Furthermore, this study has compared the potential sustainability effects of using national standards versus international standards for salmon farming and found that international standards have an important role to play as they have the potential to make everyone abide by the same minimum requirement. However, in order for them to have a real effect they need to be legally binding and not just be voluntary guidelines. Den globala livsmedelsförsörjningen är en av framtidens stora utmaningar. Med en växande global befolkning och med ett klimat under förändring är det svårt att veta hur livsmedelsförsörjningen i framtiden kommer att se ut. Fisk och skaldjur kommer sannolikt fortsätta växa i betydelse, eftersom det potentiellt har en mindre inverkan på klimatet än konventionellt jordbruk (Troell, Jonell, & Henriksson, 2017). Vattenbruk blir samtidigt en allt vanligare metod för att producera fisk eftersom fiskbeståndet i världens hav har minskat drastiskt de senaste årtiondena (D’amico, et al., 2016; Naylor & Burke, 2005). En av de arter som odlas flitigt är lax (Salmo Salar). Den ökade intensiteten av vattenbruk och laxodlingar har resulterat i en ökad oro för de potentiella effekter havsbruk har på lokala ekosystem och akvatiska miljöer. Det har i sin tur lett till ett ökat antal miljöcertifieringar, en av dessa är Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). Den här studien jämför nationella/provinsiella lagar och policys hos de fyra största lax producerande länderna/provinserna Norge, Chile, Skottland (Storbritannien) och British Columbia (Kanada) och ASC standarden för hållbara laxodlingar. Studien visar att ASC certifieringen har striktare krav på laxodlingarna än vad respektive lag/policy har i de fyra regionerna. Vidare har den här studien fokuserat på om nationella standarder eller internationella standarder är att föredra för att uppnå en hållbar lax industri, och kommit fram till att internationella standarder är att föredra för att skapa en hög minimum standard, men att de saknar effekt då de, som i det här fallet, oftast endast är rekommendationer och inte bindande lagar. SLU/Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment 2018 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13126/
spellingShingle Aquaculture
Salmon farming
Additionality
Sustainability
Policy analysis
Nilsson, Ola
Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title_full Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title_fullStr Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title_full_unstemmed Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title_short Adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the ASC salmon standard
title_sort adding sustainability to salmon farming regulations : a comparative case study of salmon farming regulations and the asc salmon standard
topic Aquaculture
Salmon farming
Additionality
Sustainability
Policy analysis