Industry first environmental declaration for net impregnation

As the first producer in Europe, Steen-Hansen has introduced an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for impregnation products for aquaculture nets. This marks a valuable step towards more climate-friendly seafood production.

“It is very important that we have good knowledge of our own environmental impact. At the same time, as an industry, we must take care of the natural advantages we have for fish farming, with access to clean, cold, and oxygen-rich water. This can give us food with the lowest possible climate footprint,” says Ulrik Ulriksen, CEO of Steen-Hansen AS, in a statement.

What is an EPD?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardized and third-party verified declaration that provides quantified information about a product’s climate and environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle – from raw material extraction to finished product.

For aquaculture, this means getting concrete data on how input factors affect the total climate footprint of the fish.

As more and more inputs in farming receive their own EPDs, the climate accounting becomes more precise. This makes it easier for farmers to identify which measures have the greatest effect on reducing the climate footprint. In the long run, it will be required that all products have such an environmental declaration.

You can learn more about EPDs in this short video

Farmed fish – Climate winners in the fresh food counter

Farmed salmon and trout are already among the most climate-friendly animal proteins in the world. According to international analyses, the production of one kilo of edible product emits approximately:

• Beef: ~27 kg CO₂ equivalents

• Pork: ~6 kg CO₂ equivalents

•Chicken: ~4 kg CO₂ equivalents

• Farmed salmon/trout: ~3 kg CO₂ equivalents

This shows that modern aquaculture, which takes place in naturally oxygen-rich waters, has a very low climate footprint compared to many other protein sources.

Climate Gains with smarter net strategies

Impregnation products help extend the lifetime of nets and reduce the need for net washing. Such calls by cleaning vessels can pose a biosecurity risk for fish and leads to emissions into the environment. Fewer boat visits and reduced diesel consumption mean lower emissions and lower costs for the farmer, important contributions to making the aquaculture industry even more sustainable.

The Norwegian NGO Bellona recently presented its sustainability analysis for net strategies in aquaculture. Together with the University in Trondheim, NTNU, they have looked at bigger pictures, where economic and social sustainability also count in addition to the environmental perspective. Such an MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis) can be a very useful tool when the industry is making investments and choosing the right solutions for the future, as it evaluates many criteria that are often conflicting. As more inputs receive environmental declarations, the precision and availability of such sustainability analyses will improve even further.

Bellona’s calculations showed significant differences depending on which impregnation type or cleaning regime is chosen to keep the net clean, and that the differences become greater when environmental sustainability is given more weight. You can read more about the MCDA analysis here: Sustainability analysis of antifouling methods

An important development for the industry

“Being the first to introduce such environmental declarations for antifouling has meant a lot of pioneering work for us. Fortunately, we have both internal environmental expertise, and we have received support and help from EPD Norway to develop good and reliable tools. This is a small step in the right direction that the industry needs to show that seafood production is not only climate-friendly today but is continuously improving for the future,” says Ulriksen.

With EPDs in place, Steen-Hansen contributes to the new standard in Europe for transparency and environmental impact. As inputs in aquaculture are gradually documented, it strengthens the message and credibility of aquaculture as an environmentally friendly food choice. It provides both farmers and consumers with confidence that development is moving in the right direction.

You can find EPD for Steen-Hansen products here