By James Wright
Joe Zhou knows responsibility. As director of seafood purchasing for the world’s largest casual-dining company, Darden Restaurants of Orlando, Fla., it’s his job to ensure that Red Lobster and Darden’s three other concepts can provide their customers with what they want: lots of shrimp.
While there’s plenty of affordable shrimp on the market these days, paying the lowest price possible is not Zhou’s lone priority. Earlier this year, Darden announced that it will require its suppliers to prove their environmental stewardship by adhering to Best Aquaculture Practices, social and environmental fish-farming standards enforced by the Aquaculture Certification Council. All BAP-certified facilities must undergo an independent review of their operations, from the hatchery to the processing plant.
The BAP are gaining clout with major seafood buyers who are capitalizing on today’s eco-movement. But when the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, announced late last year that its shrimp suppliers would need to adhere to the BAP standards, it proved that even the retail industry’s biggest buyers are adding civics and science to their business models.
Do you or your vendors employ the Best Aquaculture Practices? Knowing more about BAP may change the way you buy seafood.
Q. Who created the Best Q. What do BAP standards hatch- Aquaculture Practices? encompass, and what is eries, farms
The Global Aquaculture Alliance of St. required for compliance? and processing plants
Louis developed the standards, which The BAP standards cover the process, but will extend its reach into feed mills BAP-certified workers at a are enforced and certified by the not the product, so BAP certification and analytical laboratories in the fu- shrimp farm in Asia sample their product.
Aquaculture Certification Council in is not a guarantee of the condition, ture, to round out its “four-star” certi-
Kirkland, Wash. ACC was founded as quality or safety of products from BAP- fication model (plant, farm, feed and important and valuable trend facing a separate organization in 2002 and has certified facilities. seed). Currently only four three-star fa- both importers and exporters,” says an exclusive licensing agreement to cer- While requirements differ slightly cilities are certified for their plant, farm Brian Wynn, president and CEO of tify its participants using the GAA’s from hatchery to farm to processing and seed operations. Ocean Boy Farms Rubicon Resources, a shrimp supplier BAP standards. plant, any certified facility must be of Clewiston, Fla., is the only three-star in Los Angeles. Rubicon is a founding
The ACC was founded to send a 100 percent compliant with critical- company in the United States. supporter and board member of ACC positive message to consumers about issues standards in four areas: com- Once standards for the entire and one the program’s licensed buyers. aquaculture, says George Chamberlain, munity, environment, food safety and shrimp-raising process are established “Offering a fully traceable and sus-president of the GAA. traceability. and certifiable, which Moore says is a tainable product is what the market
“[Farm-raised seafood] as a protein All certified facilities must demon- couple of years away, other species will demands.” has enormous growth potential, but strate legal rights for land use, water be included. But the BAP’s greatest influence, there are obstacles,” Chamberlain use, construction and operation as well Moore says, has come from Wal-Mart says. “Consumers receive mixed mes- as compliance with food-safety regula- Q. Who is BAP-certified and and Darden. He notes that since the sages [in the media] about aquacul- tions like HACCP (hazard analysis of what does participation in the retail giant’s pledge, nearly 70 process-ture and get confused. critical control points). Protection of program include? ing plants have registered for certifica-
“If we really want [farmed prod- mangroves near shrimp ponds, reduc- The participant list is steadily growing; tion, most from Southeast Asia. uct] to achieve its potential, the goal tion of effluents and predator control 10 hatcheries, 22 farms and 11 pro- “It was a huge shot in the arm [for is to eliminate the negatives and are other areas of concern. Hatcheries cessing plants worldwide are BAP-cer- the BAP],” says Wynn. Rubicon focus on building awareness of its and farms especially must not deny lo- tified, Moore says. The certified facili- Resources is also one of Wal-Mart’s positives. One of the mechanisms cal communities access to public re- ties are in Belize, Mexico, Ecuador, shrimp suppliers. is certification.” sources like fishing grounds. Honduras, Indonesia, Madagascar, Because of high tariffs and duties im-
Both the GAA and ACC share a Further, all approved processing Nicaragua, Thailandand Vietnam. posed by the U.S. government on common goal, says Bill Moore, the plants must comply with national la- There are also 12 licensed buyers un- shrimp imports from several countries council’s operations director. bor laws that assure worker safety and der the ACC Buyer Program, 11 of in Southeast Asia, “preferential buying
Photo courtesy of Global Aquaculture Alliance
“We’ve made [the program] attrac- adequate compensation. And to meet which are in the United States. The re- has been reduced there,” Moore says. tive to both small and large producers traceability requirements, processors quirements to become a licensed buy- The new applicants, he says, are seek-by having clear objectives for long- must maintain documents that verify er, which include a nominal fee, are be- ing an “advantage to sell to conscien-range sustainability,” Moore says. “It broodstock and feed sources and report ing rewritten and should be available tious retailers and distributors.”
starts at the processing plant; that’s the any antibiotic or chemical treatments. soon. Ocean Cuisine International of For more information about the center of activity. Chain-of-custody records must be Danvers, Mass., a division of Fishery Aquaculture Certification Council, vis-
“But responsible buyers want to go made available for any product sold. Products International of St. John’s, it its Web site at www.aquaculturecer-all the way back to the source. By cer- Newfoundland, was the first buyer to tification.org.
tifying farms and hatcheries, we can Q. What species do BAP- be licensed by ACC, in November trace the product to make sure they’re certified companies farm? 2003. Assistant Editor James Wright can be adhering to responsible practices.” ACC currently certifies only shrimp “I think sustainability is the most e-mailed at jwright@divcom.com
References:
http://www.seafoodbusiness.com
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