Zurich, Switzerland-headquartered tilapia producer Regal Springs has announced a new carbon reduction agenda that includes two events bringing together industry experts to shape policy to lower carbon emissions in the aquaculture sector.
The events will take place simultaneously on 28 November in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Choluteca, Honduras, both locations of Regal Springs tilapia farms.
"By fostering unity across the sector, we aim to establish new benchmarks for sustainability and lead the charge toward a low-carbon future in aquaculture," Regal Springs CEO Alois Hofbauer said. "These events are the next step in our commitment to a sustainable, responsible, and resilient seafood supply chain.”
Representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the United States Soybean Export Council, national governments, and leading voices from the tilapia and shrimp industries are set to attend the events.
Regal Springs was the first tilapia producer to partner with the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), launching a measure to reduce environmental impacts, with a particular focus on carbon emissions. The IDH, which is supported by the Dutch government and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, supports sustainable practices across the private sector.
Through its partnership with IDH, Regal Springs has begun to quantify the carbon footprint of its tilapia products, including the impact of feed and emissions, the company said.
In 2023, the firm announced that its carbon footprint results for its Honduran products totaled 7 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram produced for frozen tilapia and 5.3 kilograms for fresh tilapia. For both products, the firm found that the three primary contributors to emissions were tilapia feed, emissions from processing plants, and the grow-out stage.
“These findings underscore our commitment to transparency and affirm our determination to reduce aquaculture’s carbon footprint,” Hofbauer said. “We are proud to be at the forefront, showing that a sustainable future for aquaculture is both achievable and essential.”
The next step in the Regal Springs carbon reduction agenda is to extend its carbon footprint assessment to include products from Indonesia and Mexico, as well as its corporate carbon footprint, with new results expected by the end of 2026.
The company has also urged other seafood companies and retailers to join in participating in the IDH Aquaculture Working Group.
