Norway wants to increase its self-sufficiency in feed products.
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Norway is setting itself higher goals for sustainability and self-sufficiency in its feed products for both aquaculture and agriculture, as the government announces new targets to increase the use of Norwegian raw materials in feed.
"Fish is climate-friendly and healthy food, but we source too many raw materials for the feed from abroad," said Fisheries and Oceans Minister Cecilie Myrseth in a press release.
"A sustainable production of feed based on an increasing proportion of Norwegian raw materials will reduce climate emissions and strengthen our ability to be self-sufficient," Myrseth argued.
Today, the proportion of Norwegian-produced raw materials in feed for farmed fish is 8%. Norway's government now wants to increase this to 25% by 2034.
Meanwhile, in concentrated feed for livestock, Norway's ambitions are higher: here, the aim is to increase the proportion of Norwegian raw materials from 55% to 70%.
"Last week we presented a strategy for how the degree of self-sufficiency in agricultural products can be increased to up to 50 per cent. An increased proportion of Norwegian raw materials in the concentrate and more forage of good quality will be very important to achieve this goal," said Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad.
The goals announced this week are based on professional advice and input from across the country, the ministers say.
In 2023, the Norwegian government established an operational group which later delivered a comprehensive report with advice on targets and how best to achieve these. The group organised several input meetings across Norway in order to ensure broad involvement and commitment.
"It is good to see that several of our advice and suggestions have been taken into account in the goals and organization the government is now setting out. This is a good start and it will be exciting to follow the development further," said Christina Abildgaard, the Research Council of Norway's Director of Department for Marine Bioresources and Environmental Research, who led the operational group.
Going forward, the ministers say it will be important to see how the policy apparatus can be better organised, and how to best develop regulations and bring about a good interaction between administration, research and industry in order to produce new, sustainable feed raw materials. This means that no new regulations are being launched now, the government confirmed.
The next step is to set up a board and a secretariat, which will be responsible for preparing a strategy and providing professional advice on how to achieve the goals that have been set. The aim is also to arrange an annual, national feed conference and a senior management meeting that brings together politicians, researchers and business leaders.