ISSUE FOCUS 28 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2024 About Øyvind Ihle Øyvind Ihle is the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI). Ihle holds a wealth of experience from across the seafood and marine ingredients industry, having held various leadership roles in sustainability and innovation. This Norwegian native has dedicated the past decade to promoting health and sustainability in seafood value chains, in companies such as BASF (Omega-3), DSM/Veramaris (algae feed ingredients), and Avramar (seabass and seabream farming). Most recently, Ihle has been serving as a Board Member at Zooca (zooplankton for feed and nutraceuticals), and his efforts to change consumer habits for the better have earned him an invitation to support the Eat Seafood America campaign by serving Seafood Nutrition Partnership's marketing committee. the global demand for more sustainable seafood, Seafood MAP furthers the impact of currently existing sustainability commitments by all actors and leverages opportunities for growth in the sector. STEP 4: INCREASE FOCUS ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY With regards to supporting social responsibility efforts, it should be acknowledged that seafood is one of the most-traded foods in the world. SOFIA 2024 confirms some 70 million tonnes of seafood products (live weight equivalent) worth a record $192.2 billion were exported in 2022. By comparison, exports totalled just $7.9 billion in 1976. While this growth is worthy of our recognition, it is also important we understand that seafood is one of the most at-risk industries from a social sustainability perspective where limited safeguards to protect workers are prevalent. For example, it is widely accepted that fishing is one of the world’s most hazardous occupations – therefore, ensuring safe and decent working conditions for all in fisheries and aquaculture remains one of the biggest challenges. It is also true that despite playing a critical role in the sector, many small-scale producers face the most unstable working conditions. Ensuring social responsibility within the seafood industry means protecting the rights and well-being of workers, promoting fair labour practices, and supporting those communities involved in seafood production, especially the most vulnerable communities and populations. It is further documented that the consumption of fish and shellfish provides important essential nutrients in many local diets, in particular minerals and vitamins, as well as being affordable for low-income populations – thereby ensuring access to nutritious foods for some nutritionally vulnerable populations. STEP 5: INCENTIVISE POSITIVE CHANGE Finally, we maintain that providing incentives for sustainable practices encourages industry players to invest in sustainable methods. These incentives can include but are not limited to price premiums for certified products, subsidies, or grants for sustainable innovations. The opposite is also true, that governments must stop subsidising unsustainable practices such as overfishing. With healthy eating as a dominant food trend, and the wide acceptance by the public that seafood is the best source of marine Omega-3s, an integral part of healthy living, the long-term global demand for seafood is certain to continue to rise at an increasing rate. Again, fortunately, it is widely maintained that while covering over 70% of Earth's surface, our oceans still only contribute an exceedingly small fraction of the world's total food supply. It is within their scope to produce much, much more. And with any substantial increase to terrestrial food production unlikely due to declining yield rates and general land and freshwater scarcity, the onus really is on the seafood economy to provide a great deal more healthy and sustainable food. What’s clear then is that while the blue food space is highly complex, with many elements and challenges at play at the same time and comprising a vast array of different species and products that are produced in many different regions around the world in many different ways, it’s also an area with fantastic long-term opportunity – a truly viable means to meet the world’s future food requirements, particularly if it puts sustainability and the 5 steps I’ve highlighted at the heart of its strategy.
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