New BAP Hatchery Standards Completed

September, 2014

The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program has expanded its coverage with the completion of new BAP hatchery and nursery standards for finfish, crustaceans and mollusks.

The addition of the BAP hatchery standards represents a key advancement for the BAP program, as they allow companies to pursue four-star designation for all species covered by the BAP program.

“We are very proud to announce the release of the new BAP hatchery standards,” said Peter Redmond, BAP vice president of market development. “This now enables our partners to become four-star certified across the aquaculture sector. It’s a massive enhancement to the program while delivering true and meaningful change throughout the seafood supply chain.”

Until now, BAP hatchery standards existed for only shrimp. Now that they’ve been finalized, the new BAP hatchery standards for finfish, crustaceans and mollusks will replace the existing BAP shrimp hatchery standards.

For currently certified shrimp hatcheries or those in the process of certification or application as of Sept. 17, 2014, compliance with the new standards will be mandatory for recertification beginning March 17, 2015. For new hatcheries and nurseries that raise shrimp or other species and are not yet certified or in process, the new standards are effective immediately as of Sept. 17, 2014.

They apply to all aquaculture facilities that produce eggs and/or juvenile aquatic animals for live transfer to other aquaculture facilities. Production facilities include ponds or tanks on land with directed inflows and outflows of water, trays located intertidally on the foreshore, or rafts or cages (net pens) floating in a body of water. They do not apply to facilities that produce only aquatic animals for harvest and slaughter for human consumption.

The technical content of the BAP hatchery standards for finfish, crustaceans and mollusks was developed by a technical committee led by John Forster of Forster Consulting Inc. in Port Angeles, Washington, USA. The BAP Standards Oversight Committee—whose members represent a balance of stakeholders from industry, NGOs and academia—recommended refinements to the draft of the BAP hatchery standards before approving them for release. Input received during the 60-day public-comment period, which ended on March 31, was also integrated into the final standards.

A PDF of the BAP hatchery standards can be found here.

To apply for BAP certification, please review the information here.

About BAP
A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved 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. BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance.