GROWING: Global Aquaculture Alliance’s sertification program Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) has made good progress the last year, according to updated figures which will be presented at the GOAL 2012 conference in Bangkok, october 30 to november 2 2012.
«Participation in the BAP program is only growing,» writes www.gaa.org, the alliance's webpage.
From Dec. 31, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012, the BAP program added 33 processing plants and 44 farms, bringing the total to 195 processing plants and 246 farms. At the end of September, BAP certification was pending for 40 processing plants and 59 farms. In addition to the processing plants and farms, there are a total of 25 BAP-certified hatcheries and nine BAP-certified feed mills.
The BAP-program promotes responsible practices across the aquaculture industry, with certification standards for hatcheries, farms, processing facilities and feed mills.
INDUSTRYWIDE BENEFITS: «The BAP program drives continued improvements via high standards that deliver significant benefits industrywide. The BAP standards currently cover aquaculture facilities for shrimp, salmon, tilapia, channel catfish and Pangasius. Additional standards are under development,» according to www.gaa.org.
Those 195 BAP-certified processing plants yielded an annual total of 918,000 metric tons of product as of Sept. 30, 2012, up 156,000 metric tons from Dec. 30, 2011. Additionally, there were 162 two-star BAP-certified processing plants yielding a total of 435,000 metric tons of product as of Sept. 30, 2012, up 162,000 metric tons from Dec. 30, 2011.
«It’s also worth recognizing the progress that one species, in particular, has made in 2012,» writes www.gaa.org: Mainstream Canada’s Brent Island salmon farm in British Columbia became the first salmon farm to achieve BAP certification in December 2011. By Sept. 30, 2012, 39 farms and five processing plants were producing 93,000 metric tons of one-star salmon and 124,000 metric tons of two-star salmon. At the time, BAP certification was pending for 30 salmon farms and 12 processing plants._
The BAP program has also made great strides in the area of training. This year, the BAP program added 14 auditors (nine at a course in Bangkok, Thailand, in February and five at a course in Vancouver, Canada, in September). Though they’ve been trained regarding the BAP standards, not all are ready to officially perform an audit until witnessed and approved by the certification body.
NEW MEMBER: Tops Friendly Markets has announced that it will be adopting Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification as part of its comprehensive aquaculture procurement policy. Tops Friendly Markets’ goal is to work closely with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) and its suppliers to ensure that all aquaculture products are BAP certified to the farm level by early 2013, where certification standards are available.
Tops is a leading full-service grocery retailer in upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania, USA. It operates 127 company-owned and five franchised stores under the Tops Markets banner.
“We are extremely pleased by the announcement from Tops. Their commitment shows that the issue of responsible aquaculture is not just a global or national issue, but a regional and local issue. We applaud the actions taken by Tops and welcome the growing number of retailers sourcing BAP product for their consumers,” says Peter Redmond, BAP’s vice president of global development.
“At Tops, we recognize the importance of having high-quality seafood products available for our consumers and are committed to the efforts of the Global Aquaculture Alliance,” says Jim Lane, Tops’ meat and seafood director. “Our shoppers can be assured that our focus is toward providing the freshest, highest-quality seafood, including farm-raised seafood that is farmed in a responsible and sustainable way.”
Source: http://www.gaalliance.org