Challenges 

The world’s growing population will need an ever-increasing amount of food to survive. Different types of food production will always leave a footprint, so also for fisheries and fish farming.  

Impacts:   

If Lerøy's operations are not sound, this can directly affect species diversity. In the extreme, this could give our company financial fines, reduced income, and a lack of capital. If we do not operate responsibly, there will be a risk that our operations may affect species diversity both in the various species we fish and in the bottom conditions where we have our farming operations. In the extreme, this can lead to reduced jobs due to a lack of fish that can be caught and locations that must be moved or closed down.

It is essential to avoid biodiversity loss for the sake of future generations access to resources and healthy living conditions, as well as the genuine value of rich and varied earth eco systems.

Lerøy`s ambitions in this area

Our ambition is to create the world’s most efficient and sustainable value chain for seafood by 2025 and aim to avoid harmful impacts on species caused by intervention in the natural environment and in fjord systems, including sedimentation/seabeds.  

We aim to fish and produce food without negatively affecting biodiversity.   

How we work in the area

Throughout the year, we have meetings, email correspondence and conversations with various stakeholders where we present and discuss the areas where we have or can have a potential impact. We also attend conferences and meetings where we meet and discuss. Through this form of dialogue, we gain insight into what stakeholders are concerned with and feedback on what they think about the way we work, measures we have initiated and what they think we should focus on going forward. Through various forms of benchmark surveys, we also receive feedback on what stakeholders think about our measures and their implementation.

Farming 

Part of our efforts to minimize infection pressure and environmental impact is to set a period of minimum two months every second year when an individual facility is fallowed, cleaned, and disinfected. The facilities are divided into zones to allow for coordination of fallow periods. In 2023, each facility was in fallow for 136 days on average. 

Feeding control is a major part of the efforts to prevent overload. Each cage is equipped with two cameras to monitor the feeding process, so that feeding is stopped when the fish are no longer eating. Dedicated and specialized operators monitor this process continuously. Operators also monitor the number of fish, growth, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) to ensure full knowledge at all times of how much feed the fish in a cage are expected to consume. 

Fishing 

Each year, quotas are allocated for various species that are caught. We mainly fish cod, pollock, haddock and prawns. Everything caught must be brought ashore for inspection. In this way, we ensure that we do not overfish allocated quotas, thereby maintaining the species. We may experience unintentional by-catches. These are managed, recorded, reported, and delivered to shore. 

Trawling takes place in separate areas to ensure species diversity in the best possible way. The equipment used is also adapted to the operation so that the fishing can be carried out as optimally as possible. Development work is constantly carried out to further develop the fishing tools.  

Lost fishing gear left on the seabed spoils the sea and destroys seafood caught in it. For the most part lost fishing gear or "ghost fishing" is represented by gillnets, a fishing gear not used by the Lerøy Havfisk fleet. Marine fisheries, including Lerøy Havfisk, are required by the Exercise Regulations to report lost gear to the Norwegian Coast Guard- 

With a regulation, which entered into force on 1 September 2011, Norway takes the lead among fishing states as 800 000 km2 of deep ocean is closed for regular bottom fishing. As a comparison the Norwegian mainland covers an area of approximately 324 000 km2. An additional 440 000 km2 was protected in 2019 as the coverage of this OECM was extended northwards in the areas around Svalbard.

How we measure our impact

Farming

• MOM B and MOM C assessment   

• Share of facilities in coordinated fallow zone (%) 

• Average fallow period (number of days) 

• Escapes (number of fish escaped)

Fishing

• Percentage of certified marine species caught 

• Compliance with quotas 

Action taken due to results

Based on results from the MOM B surveys, measures are implemented where this is necessary. There may be reduced production for a period, fallowing, relocation of a site, etc. 

The Group carries out targeted efforts to shorten production time in the sea by producing large smolt using RAS technology.  

In 2013, Ocean Forest was founded together with the environmental organization, Bellona. Ocean Forest follows a strategy to achieve more efficient recycling of the unexploited resources in the environments surrounding fish farms. This involves utilization of waste products from fish production to produce species at a lower level in the food chain.  

Macroalgae and microalgae require nutrient salts to grow, and nutrient salts are a waste product from e.g., fish farming. Shells live off microalgae and other particles in the sea. This allows for more efficient recycling of unexploited resources in the environments surrounding fish farms while at the same time increasing our marine biomass production without having to add more feed or fertilizer and while keeping our seas cleaner. 

Human-Wildlife conflicts

Lerøy aim to elimate human-wildlife conflicts by 2028.  

Lerøy have been certified ASC for several years, and aim to further assess risk and set clear objectives regarding wild life conflict. 
Lerøy have already implemented passive control method such as anti predator nets to prevent attach on farmed salmon by wildlife, engaging with stakeholders and monitor and reports interactions.