Promoting sustainable feed choices in Norwegian Salmon aquaculture by exploring sustainability awareness among fish feed manufacturers and fish farmers

Norwegian salmon aquaculture represents half of the world's farmed Atlantic salmon. Nonetheless, the sector's importance is expected to grow further as the Norwegian government plans to expand it. Alongside this landscape, the government and industry aim to increase the sustainability of the sector, necessitating efforts from all groups involved in the supply chain, especially those involved in the production of aquafeeds, the most critical stage in terms of environmental impact and costs. The present study aims to understand the perception and awareness of fish farmers and fish feed manufacturers about the most critical sustainability criteria when selecting fish feeds, looking to establish possible strategies that could contribute to promoting sustainable feed choices in the industry. The results evidence that for both actors, performance (nutrition/health) and technical aspects are more important than feed sustainability, which is also important but on a lower level. Moreover, strategies such as increasing collaboration efforts with other stakeholders in the supply chain, as well as making changes to the sustainability strategy and regulations, could aid in promoting more sustainable choices in the industry. Furthermore, based on the results of the farmers' survey, we defined how highlighting certain information about the products can be used to increase the sustainable choices of fish farmers, such as information about local products and raw materials, certified feeds/ingredients used in the formulations, environmental indicators of the feeds, and social internal and external contributions of fish feed manufacturers. Our findings align with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Feed standard's philosophy of comprehensive sustainability performance assessment and offer recommendations for evaluating the social dimension of sustainability. • We studied farmers' and manufacturers' perceptions of sustainable fish feeds • We used a mixed-methods approach of farmers' surveys and manufacturers' interviews • Performance and technical aspects are more important than feed sustainability • We defined strategies that could help in promoting sustainable choices