While fish farming offers enormous potential, growth is hampered by escapes, sea lice, and diseases. There is a need for improved operational risk management for sustainable growth of this industry. DNV GL’s Barrier Management (BarMan) project enables more efficient control during operations, providing environmental, efficiency, and economic gains for operators.
Challenged on the one hand by population growth, poverty and resource scarcity, and on the other by obesity and poor nutrition, experts have identified a growing global demand for seafood. There is potential for a sustainable increase in the aquaculture sector as fish– unlike many other sources of animal protein, can be produced with a relatively low carbon-footprint.
The industry is also hampered by a complex regulatory regime with many different stakeholders and multiple authorities that need to be coordinated in their approach to dealing with the constraints of the industry. The industry is also still relatively young compared to the mature industries in their way of handling risk management.
“Chance favors only the prepared mind”
Louis Pasteur
Controlling barriers
DNV GL is working to improve barrier management in aquaculture and help fish farmers focus on key barriers that need to be in place for controlling the risks for fish escape and fish welfare – across different regulators and regulations. Barrier management can enable more efficient demonstration of control during operations, providing efficiency gains for operators and the auditors.
Success will only be possible by understanding all factors in farmed fish production, and controlling threats affecting these factors negatively. This is the focus of risk management.
Certification regimes can be put in the context of barrier management and generate added value through providing information on the strength and weaknesses in performance. Barrier management will enable fish farmers to demonstrate control towards different regulatory regimes and to focus resources on the barriers that have the largest impact on securing production success.
The benefits
There are considerable benefits in applying barrier management: improving industry efficiency and facilitating growth through the improved production operations, fish welfare, reduction in fish escape and the prevention of disease outbreak.
More specifically, the value creation lies in simplifying the governance process through a risk-based approach, improving industry efficiency and facilitating growth; increasing control of daily operation for operators by monitoring the most critical parameters, providing information which can be used to fulfil regulation and innovate; and for regulators, clearly define key barriers which need to be audited, and improve transparency.
Currently, 17 per cent of the protein consumed worldwide comes from the ocean, a figure expected to rise to 40 per cent by 2050. Norwegian authorities estimate a six fold increase in aquaculture value generation by 2050. DNV GL’s barrier management project will contribute to improving industry efficiency and facilitate sustainable growth in Norwegian and international aquaculture.