Marine ingredients Archives

MarinTrust, GSA sign MoU to meet marine ingredient sustainability goals

November 5, 2021 — The Global Seafood Alliance, formerly Global Aquaculture Alliance; and MarinTrust, formerly IFFO RS; have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together and create an end-to-end assurance program for the global seafood value chain.

The MoU will see the two organizations cooperate on meeting a goal of having 75 percent of the world’s marine ingredients supplies – for products like fishmeal and fish oil – be either certified as sustainable, in an assessment, applying for certification, or a part of the MarinTrust Improver Program by 2025. The two organizations own collectively the MarinTrust Standard for Responsible Supply, MarinTrust Chain of Custody for Responsible Supply, MarinTrust Improver Program, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Best Seafood Practices (BSP) certification programs.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

FRANCISCO ALDON: A decade on, and the marine ingredients industry standard continues to evolve

December 15, 2020 — Francisco Aldon is the CEO of MarinTrust, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Now over 10 years old, the MarinTrust standard (formerly IFFO RS) is no longer the new kid on the block. Entering Version 3.0, the standard continues to improve to reflect both the growing demands of the industry and customers, ensuring integrity and traceability of marine ingredients from start (fisheries) to finish (feed plants, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and pet food sectors). Having joined the standard at its birth, I know it has changed a lot and owes a great deal to all the stakeholders who have contributed to shaping it. The story goes on and the standard will continue to be a reflection of how the society is evolving.

The 2000s was a period of great excitement: free trade was becoming a tangible reality throughout the world. Globalization was on everyone’s lips and aquaculture was booming. There was a growing feeling that some guidance was needed, as people’s welfare and the future of natural resources were at stake. The FAO’s Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries, published in 1995, sent a decisive signal. MarinTrust was born from a need to reassure the aquaculture value chain about the origin and integrity of raw materials going into the production of fishmeal and fish oil. The industry’s trade body, IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organisation, took the lead in facilitating an industry and NGO Technical Committee with the aim to develop an independent third-party standard. The first plant got its certification in February 2010, and by the end of the year, around 30 plants were certified. At that time, the certification covered the assessment of the fisheries management, the supply and processing of only whole fish and the recognition of third-party certification programs such as GMP+, FEMAS, and IFIS. We moved further up the value chain with the launch of the Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard in 2011, enabling the full traceability of certified marine ingredients from source to end user. This same year, we included by-products (heads, guts, and frames) as a new raw material source to produce certified marine ingredients, encouraging the responsible sourcing and utilization of this valuable ingredient, which otherwise would end up as waste.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishmeal-free info deemed misleading and misguided

October 6, 2017 — A competition established to inspire the increased use of alternative ingredients to fishmeal in aquafeeds has been lambasted for “the organisers’ use of negative messaging, exaggeration and misinformation in relation to marine ingredients”.

The winners of the fishmeal-free feed (F3) challenge were announced in Dublin yesterday. However, a statement from IFFO, the marine ingredients organization, – while congratulating the winners – laments that: “Unfortunately, the F3 Challenge organisers have refused our offers to enter into dialogue or meet and provide up-to-date facts, instead choosing to seek publicity through a number of misleading or false statements.”

IFFO rubbishes claims that marine ingredients are not sustainable by pointing to the fact that “over 45% of the global production of fishmeal and fish oil is now independently certified as being safe and environmentally responsible, including in its sourcing of raw materials, a figure that far exceeds any other source of feed ingredient”.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

IFFO RS hits milestone for certification of fishmeal and fish oil production facilities

December 15, 2016 — Almost 45 percent of the global output of fishmeal and fish oil will be certified as responsibly sourced, according to IFFO RS Ltd., the marine ingredients certification organization.

A total of 118 factories in 16 countries have received recognition under the group’s RS Certification Program, which verifies responsible sourcing and production of marine ingredients. Fisheries covered by the IFFO RS certification include anchovy from Peru, pollock from Alaska, sprat in Denmark and Norway, boarfish in the U.K. and Faroe Islands, menhaden from the Gulf of Mexico, and many others, the group said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Aquaculture Exchange: Andrew Jackson, IFFO

November 12, 2015 — Despite great advances in aquafeed formulations aimed at lowering aquaculture’s dependence on wild-capture fishery resources, there is little doubt that fishmeal and fish oil still play a crucial role in the global seafood supply. The highly nutritious marine ingredients are chief components in the production of the world’s animal protein supply — some 20 percent of the global fishmeal supply goes to pig farmers, while high-quality fish oil remains in strong demand for direct human consumption as well.

The shape of the world’s reduction fisheries, therefore, has never been more important. Andrew Jackson, technical director at IFFO (The Marine Ingredients Organisation), recently spoke with the Advocate about the latest in reduction fisheries, the ever-increasing part that processing byproducts has to play and why fishmeal is so hard to replace, even for fish considered to be largely herbivorous.

Jackson announced earlier this year that he would step down from his post as technical director at the end of 2015, after nearly a decade of service. He will, however, take up the reins as chairman of the IFFO RS (Responsible Supply Certification Program) independent standards board. “It is my hope and intention to keep serving,” he said of his upcoming two-year appointment.

WRIGHT: What is the difference between “mining” a resource like a forage or reduction fishery and “cropping” it?

JACKSON: People often associate fishing with removing a resource as you would with mining. Like with coal, once it’s taken out of the ground, that’s it, unless you’ve got several million years to wait. You’re not going to get anything back; it’s a one-use resource. You can look at fisheries as, we’ve got this valuable thing, not in the ground but swimming around in the sea, and we can go out there, and we can take it out and we call sell it all and it’s worth this much. You can look at it like that.

But how much better to crop it, as you would a sustainably managed forest. You take it out at a rate at which it can be replenished by nature. That’s what the best management does. And that is when you become truly sustainable. In my book, sustainable means you can keep doing the same thing over and over again, year after year, and it’s always there. That’s what we should be looking to do, in any fishery, whether we’re taking it out for direct or indirect human consumption.

Read the full story at The Advocate

IFFO Welcomes New Technical Director

October 22, 2015 — The following was released by IFFO:

IFFO, the trade association for the global marine ingredients industry, will see the retirement of Technical Director Dr. Andrew Jackson at the end of 2015 after ten years of great contributions to the organisation. IFFO will be joined in November by Dr. Neil Auchterlonie – taking over as Technical Director from 1st January 2016 after a two month handover period with Dr. Jackson.

Dr. Auchterlonie has B.Sc, M.Sc and PhD degrees in Marine Biology, Applied Fish Biology and Aquaculture, and has spent time working in technical and production positions in aquaculture companies and government department and research agencies. Neil has a strong track record in managing aquaculture and fisheries science programmes in both public and private sector, specialising in commissioning, managing and reporting on science that addresses policy questions for both government and industry.

Andrew Mallison, IFFO Director General, welcomed Dr. Auchterlonie, saying “The technical services provided by IFFO to members and the wider industry are a key part of the organisation. Neil was the unanimous choice of the selection panel for this critical role from a wide range of international candidates. Andrew Jackson has made a huge contribution to IFFO and I am delighted that Neil brings a set of new skills to further develop our services to members.”

Dr. Auchterlonie said “I am delighted to be offered this opportunity to join the team at IFFO. I have been aware of the excellent work of both IFFO and Andrew Jackson over the years, and I am very humbled to be offered this chance to contribute to the organisation’s work at a crucially important and exciting time for the marine ingredients industry and the aquaculture sector.”

Aquaculture And Marine Ingredients Video Premieres At IFFO Annual Conference

October 7, 2015 — After decades of growth, the aquaculture industry continues to expand as a crucial segment of the global seafood market, and sustainably harvested fish meal and fish oil are fueling this growth. In a new video produced by Saving Seafood and released in partnership with IFFO, the trade association representing the marine ingredients industry, and Omega Protein, aquaculture industry leaders and experts discuss the future of fish meal, fish oil and farmed seafood. The video, which premiered on 28th September at IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, is also being made available to the public.

View the video, “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients,” here

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” said Dr. Rick Barrows, a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana.

Fish meal and fish oil are irreplaceable because they are some of the best sources of the proteins and essential nutrients that are vital to healthy farmed fish. Some of these nutrients, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are an increasingly important part of human diets as well, having been linked to improved heart health and better brain function.

“You and I, like fish, need 40 essential micronutrients,” says Dr. Michael Rubino, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Office of Aquaculture. “Forage fish, in the form of fish meal and fish oil happens to be the perfect combination of those micronutrients.”

Read the full story at IFFO

VIDEO: Sustainable Aquaculture Takes Center Stage at International Conference

There are no replacements for fish meal and fish oils in aquaculture feeds
Fish meal and fish oil are supplied from sustainable marine ingredient fisheries
Government labs are studying how to put sustainable supplies to best use
Just 5 million tons of fish meal and fish oil help produce 300 million tons of food for humans

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 28, 2015 – After decades of growth, the aquaculture industry continues to expand as a crucial segment of the global seafood market, and sustainably harvested fish meal and fish oil are fueling this growth. In a new video produced by Saving Seafood and released in partnership with IFFO, the trade association representing the marine ingredients industry, and Omega Protein, aquaculture industry leaders and experts discuss the future of fish meal, fish oil, and farmed seafood. The video, which premiers today at IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, is also being made available to the public.

Marine ingredient fisheries, like the menhaden fishery in the U.S., provide a steady supply of fish meal and fish oil to meet the needs of the aquaculture industry. Dr. Jeffrey Silverstein, the USDA National Program Leader of Aquaculture notes in the new video that these fisheries have “been very sustainable over the last 30 years,” and that the ingredients they provide will continue to be valuable as aquaculture expands.

“Aquaculture growth has been about 8 percent per year for the last 25 years,” says Dr. Silverstein. “Today, about 50 percent of the seafood consumed by humans is coming from aquaculture, and that’s slated to continue growing. So we’re going need to produce more and more seafood through aquaculture.”

With growing global demand for marine ingredients, the aquaculture industry is also looking toward the future, adapting and innovating to make the use of fish meal and oil more efficient. While new formulas and substitute ingredients will become increasingly common, fish meal and fish oil will remain irreplaceable components of aquaculture.

“Aquaculture will, over time, be able to grow, but fish meal will still be at the base of aquaculture, and if you took fish meal away, this would have a very serious effect on the aquaculture industry in the world” says Dr. Andrew Jackson, Technical Director of IFFO. Dr. Jackson was awarded the Seafood Champion Leadership Award the at the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, in acknowledgement of his work to promote sustainability in the marine ingredient and aquaculture industries.

Dr. Jackson also notes that marine ingredients are an increasingly important component of the global food supply. According to Dr. Jackson, 15 million tons of fish are used annually to produce 5 million tons of fish meal. That 5 million tons goes to feed 35 million tons of aquaculture, and goes into the animal feed that produces around 300 million tons of food. Dr. Jackson sees this as a reasonable tradeoff, “so long as things are being done in a proper, responsible, sustainable way.”

The interviews with industry leaders and experts were conducted at the 2015 Seafood Expo North America in Boston and the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit. Featured in the video are Drs. Silverstein, Rubino, Barrows, and Jackson, as well as Andrew Nagle, a member of the Seafood Sales and Purchasing team at the John Nagle Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Saving Seafood is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry.

IFFO is an international non-profit that represents and promotes the global fish meal, fish oil, and marine ingredients industry.

Omega Protein Corporation is a century old nutritional company that develops, produces and delivers healthy products throughout the world to improve the nutritional integrity of functional foods, dietary supplements and animal feeds.

View the video, “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients,” here

View a PDF of the release here

VIDEO: Aquaculture Abounds this Week with New Video Premiere and U.S. Aquaculture Week

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 24, 2015 — Global experts agree: the marine ingredients used to sustain aquaculture are irreplaceable for their nutritive benefits for aquaculture species and the human consumers who eventually enjoy them as food. In conjunction with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) first-ever Aquaculture Week, Saving Seafood announces a new video showcasing the vital role that marine ingredients play in the expanding, sustainable aquaculture industry. Produced in partnership with the International Fish Meal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO) and Omega Protein, the video features interviews with aquaculture industry leaders and experts from both sides of the Atlantic.

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” explains Dr. Rick Barrows in the video. Dr. Barrows is a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana. Dr. Barrows, alongside Dr. Andrew Jackson, Technical Director of IFFO and recent recipient of the Seafood Champion Leadership Award at the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, join a handful of other global aquaculture experts in the new video.

This week, NOAA is “celebrating the important role of aquaculture in providing a sustainable seafood supply, building economic opportunities and resilience in coastal communities, and conserving our natural resources,” just days ahead of IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, where attendees will view the premiere screening of “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients.” With today’s announcement, Saving Seafood includes a 30 second preview of the new video, and will release the full-length video to coincide with its showing at IFFO’s Annual Conference.

Saving Seafood is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry.

IFFO, the International Fish Meal and Fish Oil Organisation, is an international non-profit that represents and promotes the global fish meal, fish oil, and marine ingredients industry.

Watch a preview of the new video here