Myth 6: Irish Eco-Label Salmon the ‘Greenest’ Salmon you can Buy

In this day and age, consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious in their buying habits and adopting more sustainable purchasing patterns, this includes choices when it comes to purchasing salmon.

Ireland’s salmon farming industry has always been proactive in dealing with environmental issues and recognising their responsibility towards sustainable practices. In fact, Ireland’s very strict licencing regime has already embraced the concept of sustainability. Prior to the granting of a licence to farm salmon, an extensive environmental impact assessment must be carried out in order to establish potential environmental impacts of setting up a farming operation in a particular area.

Salmon farming, like any other food production industry such as vegetable, beef or dairy farming does create a certain amount of environmental impact. And like these other agricultural production systems, salmon farming must comply with rigorous environmental standards to ensure that no significant environmental damage is caused by its operation.

More recently, an even greater level of environmental sustainability has been embraced by the Irish salmon farming industry. Earlier this year, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Irish Sea Fisheries Board (BIM) launched the world’s first independently accredited Eco-Standard for farmed salmon. Ireland’s largest salmon farming company, Marine Harvest Ireland is the first company to qualify for BIM's Irish Quality Eco-Salmon Standard.