LONDON — The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) has released its latest 2025 Sustainability Report, marking 13 consecutive years of transparent, standardized reporting on the environmental and social performance of farmed salmon producers. The document compiles data across 11 farming member companies operating in Canada, Chile, Norway, and Tasmania, representing the largest publicly available industry dataset.
For the first time, the report integrates three groundbreaking feed metrics: marine ingredients sourced from trimmings, the inclusion of novel ingredients, and the proportion of low-risk soy. In addition, it expands tracking on non-medicinal technologies used for sea lice management. Together, these metrics establish an essential baseline for feed evolution, strengthening industry accountability and guiding collective action year over year.
“Responsible feed sourcing is one of the most important ways to reduce aquaculture’s environmental footprint,” stated Taylor Voorhees, Global Aquaculture Director at The Nature Conservancy. “While the sector has made meaningful gains, tracking progress at the necessary level of detail has been challenging. By introducing these new metrics, GSI members are demonstrating their commitment to sustainable sourcing and providing a clearer picture of improvements across the industry”.
Tom Pickerell, Global Director of the Ocean Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI), added: “Aquaculture plays an essential role in building nutritious food systems that ensure food security and climate benefits, but this contribution must be backed by robust evidence. Transparent reporting moves the dialogue beyond perceptions, allowing stakeholders to evaluate progress against clear benchmarks and identify where further effort is required”.
Key Findings and Performance Highlights:
- Antibiotic Stewardship: A 68% reduction in average antibiotic use across salmonids since 2013, including a 22% drop over the last five years through holistic fish health management.
- Sea Lice Management: A 79% reduction in average combined medicinal sea lice treatments since 2013, driven by continuous investments in non-medicinal approaches and on-farm innovation.
- Feed Efficiency: A 64% decrease in average fishmeal use and a 31% decrease in fish oil use since 2013, reflecting advancements in feed efficiency and alternative ingredient utilization.
- Global Certification: 65% of member production is ASC-certified (Aquaculture Stewardship Council), confirming that nearly two-thirds of total output meets top international standards.
- Workforce and Community Impact: Over 21,600 employees worldwide. The report expands on workforce demographics, detailing employment data by age, gender, and contract type across coastal communities.
“There is no hiding from the data,” remarked Sophie Ryan, CEO of GSI. “Every metric in this report exists so we can clearly assess our progress and identify where more work remains. This year’s expanded metrics give our stakeholders a comprehensive view of performance, delivering the kind of data-driven progress GSI was built to achieve”.
João Campari, Global Leader of Food & Agriculture Practice at WWF International, concluded: “Pre-competitive collaboration among producers, feed manufacturers, and external partners is what drives change at the speed and scale our planet needs to bend the curve of biodiversity loss”.
Editor at the digital magazine AquaHoy. He holds a degree in Aquaculture Biology from the National University of Santa (UNS) and a Master’s degree in Science and Innovation Management from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, with postgraduate diplomas in Business Innovation and Innovation Management. He possesses extensive experience in the aquaculture and fisheries sector, having led the Fisheries Innovation Unit of the National Program for Innovation in Fisheries and Aquaculture (PNIPA). He has served as a senior consultant in technology watch, an innovation project formulator and advisor, and a lecturer at UNS. He is a member of the Peruvian College of Biologists and was recognized by the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) in 2016 for his contribution to aquaculture.
