Salmon farming has grown from a few thousand tonnes in the early 70's to around 1 300 000 tonnes in 2010.
During the same period, the global production of fishmeal has been stable, and hence also the global catch of forage fish. It has been a clear ambition for the salmon industry to reduce our dependency on marine raw materials for feed. Since 2004, salmon farmers have actually reduced the use of fish meal and fish oil, and at the same time increased the production of salmon. We now produce more salmon than before, with less marine raw materials.
There can be large year to year variations in the global production of fishmeal and fish oil. However, the range of variations has been more or less the same for the last 40 years. For instance, fishmeal production was around 5000 tonnes in 1976 and at a similar level in 2008. In peak years, it can be as high as 7000 tonnes. There has also been a change in the utilisation of fishmeal, from animal feed to feeds for salmonids and aquaculture.