The Hidden Cost of Farmed Salmon

The briefing examines the environmental and social impacts of Mowi, the world's largest salmon producer and a key supplier to Sainsbury's. It highlights the unsustainable use of wild-caught fish in aquafeed, high fish mortality rates, frequent escapes, and the use of antibiotics and chemicals, arguing that these practices contradict Sainsbury's sustainability claims.

• Mowi's aquafeed production relies heavily on wild-caught fish, which the authors describe as an inefficient use of marine resources. In 2019, Mowi used an estimated 880,000 tonnes of wild fish to produce 436,000 tonnes of farmed salmon, a volume of wild fish exceeding Canada's total fisheries capture of 720,000 tonnes in 2018.
• Mowi's sourcing of fish oil from Mauritania and Peru raises sustainability concerns. In 2019, 24.2% of Mowi's fish oil came from round and flat sardinella from Mauritania, where no fisheries are currently MarinTrust-certified and the species is considered overfished. Additionally, 40.2% of its fish oil was sourced from Peruvian and Chilean anchovy, a fishery plagued by corruption and the overfishing of juvenile fish.
• Mowi has experienced significant fish mortality across its global operations. In 2019, the company's mortality rate was calculated at 12.26%, which is more than double the 5% mortality rate allowed on Red Tractor certified chicken farms. Specific incidents include the death of 2.6 million salmon at its Northern Harvest Sea Farms subsidiary in Canada in 2019 due to warm water temperatures.
• The company has a poor record regarding fish escapes, which can lead to interbreeding with wild populations. In 2018, Mowi reported 783,323 escaped fish, significantly more than other benchmarked companies. Notable incidents include 52,000 escapes from the Austvika farm in Norway in 2018 and 690,000 escapes from the Punta Redonda farm in Chile in 2018.
• Mowi's use of antibiotics and chemicals is highlighted as problematic. Antibiotic use increased between 2018 and 2019 from 40 to 44 grams of active substance per tonne produced. In Scotland, Mowi used 19.6 tonnes of formaldehyde between April and December 2019, a substance classified as a carcinogen by the EU since 2016.
• The briefing argues that the MarinTrust certification standard is flawed due to corporate interference and vested interests, as members of the governing body include representatives from the world's largest fishmeal and fish oil producers.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2020). The Hidden Cost of Farmed Salmon. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FeedbackCM-MarketBrief-MOWI.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. The Hidden Cost of Farmed Salmon. 2020. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FeedbackCM-MarketBrief-MOWI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=The Hidden Cost of Farmed Salmon |date=November 2020 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FeedbackCM-MarketBrief-MOWI.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2020hidden, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{The Hidden Cost of Farmed Salmon}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FeedbackCM-MarketBrief-MOWI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }