SBTs for Nature: Musholm A/S

Science Based Targets for Nature are helping seafood companies set goals that consider marine life and manage their impact on the ocean.

WSP is working with pioneering organizations who have validated science-based targets in place and are now ready to put them into action, embedding nature into business strategy, risk management and operational decision-making. The approach is designed to help firms translate nature ambition into measurable action across the seafood sector and beyond.

Location

Denmark

Client

Musholm A/S

Project Status

Ongoing

Protecting nature to protect our future

“We depend on the resources nature provides for our survival, from the food we eat and the air we breathe to the climate we live in. Protecting its ecosystems and biodiversity is crucial to our future, as well as being the right thing to do,” said Maren Moltke Lyngsgaard, marine biologist and nature advisory lead at WSP.

For organizations, prioritizing nature is key to managing operational, reputational and financial risks. Investors, regulators, customers and other stakeholders increasingly expect organizations to understand how they depend on nature, manage those risks and reduce their environmental impacts.

The challenge is turning nature ambitions into practical actions that can help companies focus investment, manage risk, strengthen long-term resilience and support positive outcomes for nature.

WSP helped pilot, test and validate new ocean framework tools and guidelines with seafood sector businesses in Denmark, including aquaculture company Musholm A/S and fishing company Isafold, a member of the Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation (DPPO).

A target is most valuable when it connects nature impact to business decisions

The first Science Based Targets (SBTs) for Nature were launched by the Science Based Targets Network in 2023 to help organizations evaluate their environmental impacts and develop strategies and targets to address them. They focus on four realms of nature – freshwater, land, ocean and climate with biodiversity embedded across all four. The targets are designed to work alongside existing standards and certifications, including climate focused SBTs.

The framework provides a structured process for understanding and mapping impacts across complex operations and supply chains, identifying priorities and developing SBTs where they can have the greatest effect. Shaped by organisations including the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and the Marine Stewardship Council, it also helps companies integrate the latest marine science into their business strategies at a time when the marine environment and fish stocks are under increasing pressure in many places.

From land to sea to plate: reducing nature impacts across the seafood supply chain

Danish company Musholm was the first aquaculture firm to pilot the SBTs for Nature framework for the seafood sector, helping to inform guidance for other marine organizations wanting to set targets for nature.

As trout farmers who follow the trout’s natural life cycle from freshwater to the sea, the firm were already committed to responsible fish farming, with 75% percent of its production certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Now, the framework is enabling Musholm to go beyond managing its nature impacts and take action to support the natural systems it depends on.

We are proud to have validated SBTs for marine nature. We have learned a great deal about our own impact and provided important insights and know-how on sea farming. For us, these insights are also a call to action, and with measurable targets now ready to put into practice, we hope to lead the way for others to follow.

Thorbjørn Harkamp Managing Director, Musholm

Thorbjørn Harkamp Managing Director, Musholm

We helped the company map how it interacts with nature, both directly through its operations and indirectly through its supply chain and develop SBTs to manage its biggest dependencies and impacts. That meant working closely with Musholm’s partners, including its fish feed supplier, BioMar, and the DPPO, which represents Danish fisheries supplying ingredients for fish feed.

Musholm’s SBTs for Nature, recently validated by the Science Based Target Network, focus on protecting the natural habitats in which it operates, as well as endangered, threatened and protected wildlife species affected by activities across its sourcing and production processes. One target, for example, focuses on reducing the use of marine proteins from overfished stocks in trout feed.

We are also helping DPPO member Isafold set SBTs for Nature focused on their own dependencies and impacts across the seafood industry. As the first fisheries organizations to pilot the SBTN Ocean framework, DPPO and Isafold helped demonstrate how science-based nature targets can be applied at the very beginning of the seafood value chain.

Of Earth’s biodiversity is found in the ocean

80%

Of global GDP depends on nature

55%

Of human-caused carbon emissions are absorbed by nature

50%

With a strong tradition of fisheries documentation, data collection and collaboration with scientists and regulators, DPPO was well placed to test how fisheries can contribute to measurable nature outcomes. The pilot showed how decisions made at sea increasingly influence organizations throughout the seafood value chain, from feed producers and aquaculture companies to customers, investors and financial institutions.

While Musholm is an aquaculture company whose ocean footprint extends upstream into feed production and wild-capture fisheries, Isafold is a fishing operator whose connection to the marine environment is direct: it depends on healthy ocean ecosystems to support its operations. But both examples reveal the same thing: setting credible nature targets requires companies to look beyond organizational boundaries and understand where nature is actually affected.

“Companies should understand their relationship with nature,” Lyngsgaard said. “But that understanding should also be specific enough to change a sourcing decision, an operational practice, a supplier relationship or an investment decision.”

She continued: “These pilots show that moving from nature ambition to measurable action is possible. They also show it requires data, transparency, collaboration and a willingness to learn.”

Five takeaways for organizations and investors

High-profile nature initiatives are valuable, but setting SBTs helps organizations move beyond broad commitments and focus on the areas identified as priorities. Across the pilots, the development and validation process challenged assumptions, clarified decision-making, and required evidence to support proposed actions.
Collaboration is essential. Understanding nature impacts and developing meaningful targets depends on traceability, supplier engagement and data from across operations and supply chains.
To move from ambition to action, SBTs for Nature must align with real business decisions. Procurement, product design, supplier policies, operating practices, technology and location choices all influence outcomes for nature.
Validation can provide confidence, but it should be viewed as a milestone rather than the finish line. Achieving positive outcomes for nature starts with implementation, monitoring, learning and continuous improvement.
Targets need clear ownership, data systems, milestones, partnerships and transparent reporting if they are to influence outcomes for nature.