Fishin’ Company, GAA Partner to Develop Positive Messages for Aquaculture
The Fishin’ Company and Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) are working together to build a new narrative for aquaculture around the positive aspects of the industry, including the nutritional benefits, efficiencies of production, growing adoption of best practices, and, most importantly, passion of the people involved in farming and processing seafood.
The partnership comes as GAA launches a new consumer-facing webpage on its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) website, designed to help consumers decipher the concept of responsible aquaculture and third-party aquaculture certification. The first post to the webpage features workers in the tilapia industry in Hainan, China, from which The Fishin’ Company sources its tilapia.
“As an industry, we have not done a sufficient job of telling our story. There is an incredible human element that we want to bring to the awareness of the U.S. consumer. Too often the terms ‘farmed fish’ or ‘aquaculture’ have no emotional connection or meaning. We want to change that,” said Manish Kumar, CEO of The Fishin’ Company.
Aquaculture is a resource-efficient method of producing animal protein and is expected to represent nearly two-thirds of total seafood consumption by 2030. Not only is aquaculture’s growth vital to feeding a burgeoning human population, but it is also key to alleviating pressure on wild- fisheries. Despite aquaculture’s potential, its image continues to suffer from outdated, recycled misinformation coupled with a lack of positive information.
Matt Brooker, Director of Retail Sales at The Fishin’ Company, has partnered closely with GAA this year to develop positive information on aquaculture. “This collaboration will also engage the larger industry to participate on a pre-competitive basis for the benefit of the entire seafood industry, emphasizing the importance of both wild and farmed seafood to the global consumer,” he said.
“We appreciate The Fishin’ Company’s efforts to develop positive information on responsible aquaculture and encourage other suppliers to do the same. We need to do a better job of telling the story of the farmers and processors committed to responsible aquaculture as well as to GAA’s BAP third-party certification program,” said Steven Hedlund, GAA’s Communications Manager.
About GAA
The Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international, non-profit trade association (Established in 1997) dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture through the development and implementation of Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards and related activities. BAP has become the most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification solution with standards encompassing the entire aquaculture production chain and addressing every key element of responsible aquaculture, including environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety, animal welfare, traceability and more.
About The Fishin’ Company
The Fishin’ Company is the largest importer of tilapia in the United States and one of the largest importers of frozen fish, with offices and processing sites located around the world. The company focusses every day on building strong, long-lasting partnerships with customers, and has the distinct honor of supplying many of its original customers. The company offers both private label and Fishin’ branded packaging options. The company’s vertical integration and long-term supplier partnerships allow it to provide high-quality branded and private label retail packaging, food service offerings, custom products, and bulk offerings. In addition, The Fishin’ Company provides a wide range of sustainably-sourced, wild-caught and farm-raised seafood products that are MSC and BAP certified, including species such as tilapia, salmon, cod, swai, haddock, snow crab, and mussels. The company prides itself on being fully compliant with all food safety and social compliance-related requirements.
