INTRODUCTION
Marine aquaculture has grown into a vital industry, providing an alternative source of seafood while supporting the global animal-source protein supply worldwide. However, with this rapid expansion comes a pressing need for consistent regulations, improved aquaculture facilities, and sustainable operations to ensure long-term viability.
A global ocean health standard focusing on controlling and reducing emission from aquaculture activity to marine environment is one of many initiates to improve sustainability in global aqua-industry.
MAIN APPROACH
An ocean health standard is established and serves as a key framework for certifying and improving sustainability, and establishes best practices for designing, constructing, and maintaining aquaculture facilities to ensure environmentally responsible operations. It outlines comprehensive measures to ensure the health and welfare of farmed fish stocks while limiting the overall environmental impact from aquaculture operations. Some of the key drivers to implement requirements in this standard include:
By adopting to these requirements, fish farming companies may potentially improve consumer trust by increased sustainability through enhanced operational performance and reduced environmental impact. This is mainly achieved through limiting the discharge to the marine environment from aquaculture operations.
As global seafood demand rises, sustainability has become an essential aspect in current aquaculture. Poorly managed fish farms can cause significant negative environmental impacts related to e.g. spread of infectious agents, fish escape as well as nutrient- and chemical discharge, leading to water pollution, destruction of marine ecosystems and biodiversity loss. Therefore, we see that fish farming industry is rapidly developing innovative solutions to face these challenges.
This ocean health standard addresses marine environmental concerns by requiring a site-specific biosecurity plan for each production cycle, with special attention to local conditions. Additionally, it mandates a baseline survey of the installation- and transition zones before aquaculture facility is installed, and/or before substantial expansion. This provides a benchmark to measure changes over time, allowing for the detection of trends and shifts in environmental conditions. Furthermore, this set of requirements also encourages improved waste management through the implementation of a waste plan for waste storage and treatment for sewage and solid waste together with sludge collection. These measures illustrate some examples of how the standard ensures that fish farms contribute to cleaner water and healthier aquatic habitats.
CONCLUSION
The aquaculture industry faces increasing demands for food security, environmental responsibility, and technological advancement. As we move forward, continued innovation and adherence to best practices will be essential to maximize the potential of fish farming and ensure its role as a sustainable source of seafood. Compliance with consistent requirements such as the standard DNV-ST-0678 “Environmental impact of marine aquaculture installations” will be necessary for the aquaculture sector to achieve long-term success. Ultimately, this standard serves as a roadmap for responsible, high-performance aquaculture that can meet the challenges of the next decade and beyond.