For BAP Program, A Year Of Growth, Accomplishments, Milestones
January, 2015
For the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program, 2014 was marked with growth, accomplishments and milestones.
The BAP program experienced year-on-year growth in 2014, in terms of the volume of product originating from BAP-certified facilities and the number of BAP-certified facilities. The annual output from BAP-certified processing plants totaled 1.43 million metric tons through Dec. 31, 2014, up 2.7% from Dec. 31, 2013.
The number of BAP-certified facilities totaled 701 as of Dec. 31, 2014, up from 648 facilities a year ago. The total includes 271 processing plants (up 23 units from a year ago), 371 farms (up 20 units from a year ago), 32 hatcheries (up four units from a year ago) and 27 feed mils (up six units from a year ago).
Also, the number of companies offering two-star product jumped from 101 at the end of 2013 to 151 at the end of 2014, a 49.5% increase.
More growth is expected in 2015. As of Dec. 31, 2014, 111 new facilities were pending certification, 45 more new facilities than a year ago.
As for accomplishments and milestones, the Monterey Bay Aquarium recognized two-star, three-star and four-star BAP shrimp and Pangasius from Vietnam as a “good alternative” in its influential Seafood Watch® seafood-buying guide. Progress also came in the form of standards development in 2014. The highly anticipated hatchery and nursery standards for finfish, crustaceans and mollusks were completed, allowing companies to pursue four-star designation for all species covered by the BAP program, which will contribute to its growth in 2015.
The BAP program welcomed a number of firsts in 2014, including Europe’s first BAP-certified salmon farm and tilapia farm, the world’s first BAP-certified rainbow trout processing plant, the world’s first company to offer three-star Pangasius and the world’s first company to offer four-star BAP salmon.
Interesting in learning more about the BAP program? Visit GAA’s contact webpage, or meet with GAA at Aquaculture America 2014 in booth No. 337 or at Seafood Expo North America in booth No. 481.
About BAP
Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved global performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain—farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills—that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means.
