Our Members’ Meeting in Madrid, followed by the IFFO workshop in Zhuhai (China), gave all our members and delegates a very detailed overview of the marine ingredients market and quality trends as well as deep insights on climate change impacts and the way to keep improving our contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As of now 54.5 percent of the world’s fishmeal production is IFFO RS certified and the industry is actively working to increase that number: fishery improvement projects (FIPs) will be an important tool in driving this number even further upwards and IFFO is working hand in hand with IFFO RS in looking at ways to facilitate the process for fisheries to engage in FIPs. No other major natural feed ingredient can claim such a high level of certification! IFFO RS is also currently working on enhancing the IFFO RS standard and Improver Programme to take into account the challenges in the management of multi-species fisheries in which sometimes hundreds of species are regularly caught. This pioneering approach aims at providing a robust framework and clear guidance on expectations, in line with the recommendations which were made in the IFFO / GAA study on South East Asian fisheries.

Success rests on collaboration with all stakeholders and a better understanding of their expectations and the constraints they face. The workshop that IFFO held in China in May, open to journalists, NGOs, academics and representatives of the industry, is a very good example of what can be achieved to gain a better knowledge on emerging trends in this instance covering the importance of fishmeal quality and supply chain integrity.

The same consideration led me to take part in a panel at the 2019 IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in New York City where we discussed the roles of the feed ingredient and aquafeed sectors in supporting the growth of the aquaculture industry. I am convinced that a continued contribution to these discussions will allow our stakeholders to capture the importance of fishmeal’s and fish oil’s contribution to aquaculture, a vital and sustainable segment of the global seafood market as the world’s population is growing.

Petter Martin Johannessen
Director General

The June 2019 issue covered the following topics:

• Chinese insight on our industry: report on IFFO's workshop in Zhuhai
• South East Asia: IFFO and IFFO RS call for collaboration
• What will fill the fishmeal gap?
• News on IFFO RS' multispecies Pilot
• Summary of IFFO's 2019 Members' Meeting
• China will drive forward the aquaculture industry 
• Panama small pelagics FIP demonstrates continued improvement