With Cargill

by Niamh Cassidy, Managing Editor, International Aquafeed Magazine, UK

Defining sustainability across the entire value chain is key in the aquaculture industry, and measuring your Carbon Footprint (CF) can give a holistic approach to drive the broader decarbonisation needed to make a change in the industry.

In November 2024, International Aquafeed Magazine spoke to Dave Robb, Sustainability Manager for Cargill Aquaculture Nutrition. Based in London, with more than 20 years’ experience in the Aqua nutrition group as the sustainability lead, Dr Robb is also an experienced biologist, looking at fish quality for 23 years.

During our talk, he discusses the SeaFurther(TM) programme, Cargill’s sustainable aquaculture program that promises to reduce the carbon footprint of their customers’ farmed seafood to 30 percent by 2030.

The mission of the Seafurther programme

“The Seafurther programme brought salmon farmers from Norway to visit wheat farmers in the UK who were supplying the wheat used to feed their salmon. The idea was to introduce these customers to help reduce footprint and work towards long term ambitions. The program was launched to support customers and fish farmers in line with scientific based targets and GHG requirements, by integrating and creating a crossover between feed, farming, and suppliers.” says Dr Robb.

The program was initially launched with salmon, but is applicable to all feed aquaculture.

The three main pillars include:

1. Sourcing: working to decarbonise the supply chain and prioritise materials with lower environmental impact
2. Optimisation: working throughout the value chain to optimise resources, reduce feed conversion rate (FCR) in fish
3. Animal health and welfare: improving carbon footprint efficiently through ensuring health animals throughout the farming cycle.

Since the launch in March 2021, Cargill is well positioned to enable these pillars. “Some of our customers have commitments to footprint reductions ranging from 30 to 47 per cent.  Working with some, we have already produced reductions of five percent and are working to scale up.” Dr Robb continues.

Navigating climate change & food security

Whilst it’s increasingly important to make the necessary changes to decarbonise supply chains and curb climate change, food security is also paramount, and any changes should be sustainable and buffer future costs.

“We need to build long-term relationships with customers. There will be a cost for change, and those changes need to be built into the real cost of food. We are working with suppliers to see what changes are required, whilst also understanding the cost implications, which is needed across a broad range of materials to give options in the future.” says Dr Robb.

Understanding how climate change will impact supply chains, and predicting what will be needed/developing new raw materials to provide essential nutrients is also vital.

“Fish stocks are moving with the increased water temperatures, but we don’t know exactly how they will move yet. It’s essential that fishery management is resilient to changes in fish stocks. Fishery improvement programmes are a great tool for developing more robust management practices. We are also seeing changes in crop patterns moving polewards, as the ocean belt moves north over time, with a similar effect in other crops.” says Dr Robb.

Alternative ingredients

Many feed producers are developing new, novel ingredients for the aquafeed industry across the world, to replace traditional fishmeal/oils. These range from insect meal, algae, and fungi to other plant-based options, or cell cultivated proteins and other byproducts.

“With novel ingredients, each has a new unique carbon footprint. To manage those new or existing raw materials (provided they fit the formulations) at the right cost point is critical, so customers can value these new ingredients, and we can then upscale the use. No ingredient is a silver bullet, but new novel ingredients can bring opportunity.”

Optimising production with nutritional value & a low carbon footprint

Reducing the nutritional value for customers will ultimately increase the FCR, so even if the carbon footprint is at its lowest, it would be useless for the customers. Maintaining or improving nutritional value is key to ensure FCR can be reduced helping to drive decarbonisation through the value chain – not just in the feed.

“Targeting nutrition more clearly means you’re able to formulate feeds with essential nutrients for our customers, helping to generate less waste in the system, providing optimal fish growth and FCR.

“In our factories, we look at decarbonisation to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Over the last 8 years, our factory emissions have reduced and moved to renewable energy sources – our Scottish and Norwegian factories are almost completely decarbonised.” says Dr Robb.

Commitment to decarbonisation

Programmes supporting the decarbonisation and sustainability of supply chains require engagement from all ends, and there needs to be an incentive to become responsible for your carbon footprint.

“To see the value of decarbonisation, be able to quantify and remain competitive in the market you need to see commitment downstream, such as the purchasing of lower carbon footprint materials and developing roadmaps to 2030. These roadmaps help to understand what the costs will look like and where to do the work. Customers need an understanding of the opportunity and benefits, and we need to navigate the lowest cost whilst communicating through the value chain.” Dr Robb continues.

Meeting the growing demand for seafood

The challenge now in the aquaculture industry is to keep up with the growing population, and consequently the growing demand for seafood.

“The 2024 SOFIA report from the FAO highlighted the need to produce more seafood globally, but this has to be done sustainably. Focusing on short term solutions can increase risks, so the emphasis must be on putting in the hard work, across many suppliers, to create a diverse and resilient supply chain of low carbon footprint raw materials.” says Dr Robb.

“Invest in practices that result in lower emissions, biodiversity, reducing deforestation, and promoting sustainable sourcing. By moving beyond short-term transactions, you can foster long term collaborations and develop sustainable practices, supporting industry growth and expectations to drive meaningful change for future generations.” he says.

Published in the January 2025 issue of International Aquafeed.