Number Of BAP-Certified Facilities Surpasses 1,400 Worldwide
The number of Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills worldwide surpassed 1,400 last month, with the addition of 64 new facilities to the third-party aquaculture certification program, the Global Aquaculture Alliance has announced. At the end of September, there were a total of 1,434 BAP-certified facilities worldwide.
September’s tally was the BAP program’s second highest of 2016 after June, when a record 74 new facilities earned BAP certification.
Of the 64 new facilities that attained BAP certification in September, four are processing plants, 56 are farms and four are hatcheries. Over the first three quarters of 2016, 44 processing plants, 316 farms, 57 hatcheries and 18 feed mills attained BAP certification for the first time.
The BAP program is on well track to surpass the 1,500-facility mark in the fourth quarter of 2016.
At the end of September, there were a total of 341 BAP-certified processing plants, up from 308 processing plants at the end of 2015. Collectively, they produce 2.15 million metric tons of shrimp, salmon, tilapia, pangasius and other farmed seafood species annually, up from 1.45 million metric tons at the end of 2015.
As for farms, there were a total of 880 BAP-certified farms at the end of September, up from 606 farms at the end of 2015. The number of BAP-certified hatcheries and feed mills are 145 and 68, respectively.
BAP is the world’s leading third-party aquaculture certification program. It’s also the world’s most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification program, with standards encompassing environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety, animal health and welfare and traceability.
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 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.
