reLAKSation 457
Minister v. a Chilean fillet: Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish Aquaculture Minister, was this week waved at with a Chilean salmon fillet. We, at Callander McDowell, know it was Chilean because we bought it. It was bought from a shop only twenty minutes walk from the venue of the conference at which the Minister spoke and only twenty minutes walk from the Minister’s department.
We thought it appropriate to physically have a Chilean salmon fillet with us when we posed a question to the Minister because in the wake of the Chilean crisis, there does seem to be a tendency to now dismiss Chile as a main player in the international salmon industry. In her speech to the conference delegates, the Minister said that the Scottish salmon industry is benefiting from the shortage of salmon caused by the collapse in the Chilean industry presenting the industry with an opportunity for growth.
Certainly the current high prices for salmon are indicative of a shortage of fish in the marketplace but just as high prices will lead to a suppression of demand, the shortages left by the Chilean crisis will be filled by the eventual return of Chilean salmon to the market place. The current opportunity to exploit the shortages is only a short term opportunity and one which simply moves the problem from one market to another.
The Minister praised the rise in exports of Scottish salmon to £400 million a year however this success is offset by the fact that although Britain is a salmon producing nation, the country also imports large volumes of salmon. We have discussed in a previous issue of reLAKSation that Norway exported over 46,000 tonnes of salmon to the UK last year. We do not have figures for Chilean salmon imports but the simple fact that we could buy Chilean salmon in Edinburgh last week shows that the Chilean industry has been able to maintain a presence in the marketplace.
The reality is that the Scottish industry is missing an opportunity. There is clearly plenty of demand locally for Scottish salmon (although there was until prices started to rise the way they have) that is being ignored in favour of the export market. Scottish producers should not be choosing between export and local markets. They should be supplying both.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Con: The meeting at which the Scottish Minister spoke was to discuss key issues affecting the Scottish Government’s renewed Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture. We will be commenting on some of the areas discussed in later issues of reLAKSation. However, one presentation that stood out was given by Dr Philip Smith of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. This was because it was not really part of the remit of the Strategic Framework but also because as the presentation progressed, it became increasingly apparent that the ASC was not necessarily all it seemed to be.
Ever since the idea of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council was first mooted, the focus was the promotion of sustainable aquaculture. From the outset, this is something that we, at Callander McDowell believe is unnecessary since the very nature of aquaculture means that it is inherently sustainable. It is not necessary for aquaculture producers to prove that they are sustainable. It is fact. Aquaculture is not the same as wild catch fisheries which are trying to wear a badge to attest to their sustainability of the fish stocks.
As the ASC have come closer to market, the reality it seems is that they wish to demonstrate that the aquaculture is not inherently sustainable at all but rather that aquaculture’s approach to the environment and social issues is sustainable. Yet, even this is not the exact picture. In his presentation, Philip Smith describes the motivation for the ASC as environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. The word ‘sustainablilty’ hardly appeared in his presentation at all.
So what is the purpose of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council if it is not to promote sustainable aquaculture? Judging from the overall tone of the presentation, it seems clear that the ASC is simply designed to be the acceptable face of the environmental lobby. Whereas the aquaculture industry may be reluctant to engage directly with the environmental lobby, it seems that there has been more of a willingness to pursue the environmental issues within the remit of the ASC. However, the outcome is likely to be the same, persuading the aquaculture industry to be directed by the environmental agenda.
One of the Power Point slides in Dr Smith’s presentation spells out the real threat to the aquaculture industry by following the ASC’s wider scheme. This slide which is published on our website is titled ‘The ASC is more than a holding body, it is a global transformation system for aquaculture. The slide shows the link between producers and consumers and identifies the supply chain as the greatest point of leverage. The fisheries industry has already had experience of this point of leverage with environmental protestors invading the headquarters of high profile supermarkets leading to negative publicity with the threat of more to come unless the supermarkets are prepared to adopt the environmental agenda. However, even more worrying and hidden at the bottom of the slide in small words against an indistinct background is the statement WWF Global Priorities. What this slide clearly is intended to mean is that the ASC will force the aquaculture industry to work towards what the WWF wants rather than what the aquaculture industry either wants or needs. This is not the sustainable way forward for the aquaculture industry.
The wording on the slide under the two ended red arrow is WWF Global Priorities. It is well camouflaged.
At the end of his presentation, Dr Smith took a couple of questions. He was asked why the Scottish salmon industry would even consider signing up to the ASC to demonstrate its responsible approach to aquaculture when it has its own well accepted code of conduct. Dr Smith fudged the answer saying that the Scottish industry could follow its own ‘quality’ policy (rather than code of conduct) and that the ASC was something different. He is right, the ASC is different. It is nothing but a back door attempt to get the aquaculture industry to sign up to the WWF vision of aquaculture.
Ubiquitous: The problem with farming any fish with a perceived luxury market image is that once it is produced in any sort of volume, it loses its exclusivity. This is exactly what has happened to farmed salmon. Of course, whilst there are some who will rue this loss, there will be plenty more who welcome the widespread availability of a value for money meal choice (although perhaps not at this precise time).
This change in image is reflected in the comments of food writers and restaurant reviewers in the choice of dishes they highlight. Xanthe Clay of the Daily Telegraph is just one writer that has referred to farmed salmon as ‘ubiquitous’ choosing to select recipes that are salmon free. On the odd occasion when she has mentioned salmon, she says that the ultimate choice is wild salmon.
A couple of Scottish salmon farming companies have tried to fill this perceived gap between wild and farmed, producing what they describe as a high quality salmon which they supply to the ‘premium’ market. As advocates of market-led strategies, we, at Callander McDowell, can only applaud these companies for producing what that sector of the market wants.
Last week, the Observer’s food critic, the well known Jay Rayner reviewed the new restaurant operated by the champion of sustainable fish, chef Tom Aikens. This is on the terrace of Somerset House in central London. Jay was not impressed but did give mention of one or two dishes including one made with ‘the ubiquitous Loch Duart salmon’.
It seems that the world in which Loch Duart operates is just a microcosm of the wider salmon market. In the same way that farmed salmon has flooded the wider market place, the specialist Loch Duart can now be found in every fashionable restaurant. It is no longer as special as it once was, just as farmed salmon is no longer special.