WWF is in the process of forming an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), similar to the existing Marine Stewardship Council. The ASC is expected to be operational by 2011 and will be responsible for working with independent, third party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with the standards for responsible aquaculture being developed by participants of the Aquaculture Dialogues.
Mussels - soon to be certified? (Source: Stock.xchng)
Over 2000 participants, including farmers, conservationists, academics and government officials are working towards developing standards for 12 species: shrimp, salmon, abalone, clams, mussels, scallops, oysters, Pangasius, tilapia, trout, Seriola and cobia. WWF believe the outcome of the dialogues will be the creation of the most credible standards for the aquaculture industry, which the ASC will implement.
Not everyone shares this view – according to an article on SeafoodSource 70 international non-government organisations from 5 countries expressed their opposition to the formation of the ASC in a letter to WWF. They believe the ASC will support industrial aquaculture and harm local environments and indigenous communities.
What do you think? Will the ASC encourage more sustainable aquaculture practises world wide or will it simply be another ‘eco-labelling’ system that will confuse consumers?
The December issue of Fish Farming International includes a Q&A article with Philip Smith, Development Director for the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Subscribers can view the full article in the December issue, however I found two comments in the article particularly interesting. On being asked if it is likely that many certification bodies will develop for aquaculture resulting in confusion for consumers, similar to the issues with wild seafood certification, Philip’s response noted “The Aquaculture Dialogue standards will be the most credible and robust in the market place. They are based on science, metrics and performance measurements…We are seeing significant commitment to the ASC and the Aquaculture Dialogue standards from this sector. It is my wish that retailers and consumers can depend on one credible logo”.
The interviewer’s following question was: When the standards are finalized, will GlobalGAP abandon its standards and move fully over to the ASC’s, or will there continue to be a GlobalGAP standard? To this, Philip responded with “The scope of the Dialogue standards and GlobalGAP’s differs. GlobalGAP are adding the Dialogue standards for some species to their own, as they become available. This will strengthen their social and environmental standards and is not intended to replace them. The partnership provides the opportunity to ‘leverage’ synergies and improve efficiency in the certification process. It will not enable products from GlobalGAP certified farms to be ASC labeled. It is not an exclusive arrangement and both parties may develop alternative partnerships or ways to bring certified products to the market in future.”
That sounds confusing for consumers and retailers already to me. One the one hand it is suggested consumers and retailers will be able to depend on one credible logo, however GlobalGAP’s certification process will continue to differ from the ASC’s after the interim period during which the ASC is developing governance frameworks and acreditation processes. Are we already heading towards multiple sustainable aquaculture certification standards?