Multi-Star BAP Tilapia Upgraded To Seafood Watch Good Alternative Rating
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® program has added two-, three- and four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) tilapia to the list of products from third-party certification programs that it recommends to businesses and consumers, which is equivalent to its yellow Good Alternative rating in the program’s popular seafood-buying guide.
The May 31 report comes as welcomed news to the Global Aquaculture Alliance and its BAP third-party certification program.
“We’re elated that Seafood Watch is now recommending to businesses and consumers that two-, three- and four-star BAP tilapia is a Good Alternative,” said Chris Trosin, VP of BAP business development. “We work with a lot of retailers and foodservice operators in North America who also use the Seafood Watch recommendations as a guide in their responsible sourcing decisions.”
Two stars signify that a product originates from a BAP-certified processing plant and farm. Three stars denote that a product originates from a BAP-certified processing plant, farm and hatchery or feed mill, while four stars signify that a product originates from a BAP-certified processing plant, farm, hatchery and feed mill.
In addition to two-, three- and four-star BAP tilapia, two-, three- and four-star BAP pangasius; three- and four-star BAP shrimp; and mussels from a BAP-certified farm are included the list of products from third-party certification programs that it recommends to consumers, each equivalent to a yellow Good Alternative rating.
On May 1, as part of regular updates to its seafood-buying guide, Seafood Watch upgraded Colombian net pen-raised tilapia to the yellow Good Alternative rating. Colombia’s tilapia industry has embraced the BAP program.
Seafood Watch’s color-coded seafood-buying guide groups seafood items as either a Best Choice (green), Good Alternative (yellow) or Avoid (red). Since 1999, more than 56 million guides have been distributed to consumers, and the app has been downloaded more than 1.8 million times.
