May/June 2010 - Global Aquaculture Alliance

Nandeesha Joins BAP Standards Oversight Committee
Dr. Mudnakudu Nandeesha
has recently joined the
Best Aquaculture Practices
Standards Oversight Committee.
He replaces Dr.
Claude Boyd, who will continue
to assist the BAP
techincal committees.
Nandeesha currently serves
as an advisor to the Centre for
Aquaculture Research and
Development being established
Dr. Mudnakudu Nandee- under the St. Xavier’s Bishramsha
has more than 25 years ganj in Tripura, India. He has
experience in teaching and more than 25 years of experi-
research on aquaculture. ence in teaching and researching
aquaculture in India, Cambodia
and Bangladesh.
He is a former professor of aquaculture at the College of
Fisheries under the Central Agricultural University in Tripura
and worked for a decade in the Department of Aquaculture at
Acknowledging his ongoing
work to advance the Best
Aquaculture Practices (BAP)
certification program,
IntraFish Media named
Global Aquaculture Alliance
President George Chamberlain
one of six nominees for
2010 Person of the Year.
“Chamberlain has made
the right moves to put GAA
George Chamberlain: and its BAP ecocertification
“Mr. Aquaculture”
into the forefront of the aquaculture
sustainability arena,”
IntraFish said.
After a strong 2009, IntraFish said, GAA “solidified its spot at the
top of the aquaculture ecocertification world, moving forward in both
the expansion of certification standards and the development of an
infrastructure within GAA to further grow its ecolabeling program.”
Hundreds of aquaculture facilities in Asia, Central America,
Europe and the United States are certified to GAA’s Best Aquaculture
Practices standards. Adding to the current standards for
processing plants and tilapia, channel catfish and shrimp farms,
BAP certification will extend to feed mills and Pangasius farms
later this year.
GAA Vice President of Development Peter Redmond has
successfully carried the BAP message to top retailers. Dozens of
major grocers, retailers and foodservice companies around the
world have joined Walmart Stores in support of BAP certification.
IntraFish called Chamberlain “Mr. Aquaculture.” He has served
as GAA president since the organization’s founding over a decade
ago. Chamberlain said his nomination symbolizes the strides the
organization has made in advocating responsible aquaculture.
The IntraFish Person of the Year award goes to a seafood
industry leader who clearly influences the direction of the global
the University of Agricultural Sciences in Kartaka, India.
Nandeesha also spent nearly a decade on grass-roots aquaculture
projects supported by Oxfam International, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, World Bank and
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific.
Nandeesha has a doctorate degree in aquaculture nutrition.
Through the publication of two books and over 100 papers and
articles, he had contributed to the fields of fish nutrition, fish
reproduction, developing aquaculture technologies for small
farmers, gender issues in aquaculture and fisheries education.
He served on the World Aquaculture Society board of directors
from 2006 to 2009. He is also a co-chairman of Aquaculture
without Frontiers.
Nandeesha has been recognized through a number of awards,
including the Sahameitrei Award from the government of Cambodia
for his contributions to the aquaculture and human
resource development of that country. He also received the Professor
H. P. C. Shetty and Gold Medal Awards from the Asian
Fisheries Society. The International Research Foundation, Sweden,
presented Nandeesha the Jubilee Award in 2002 for his
efforts in the field of fish nutrition.
Chamberlain Nominated For IntraFish Person Of Year
industry. The recipient of the award is decided by the votes of
IntraFish readers. The winner was to be announced at the European
Seafood Exposition in Brussels, Belgium, in late April.
Advocate Goes Green(er)
The Global Aquaculture Advocate is getting greener. After
reducing the number of annual print issues while maintaining
six issues via digital delivery, GAA’s bimonthly magazine is
making further changes to lessen its environmental impacts.
Beginning with this May/June issue, the Advocate will be
printed on paper stock with at least 10% post-consumer
recycled content. The masthead will also bear the logo of the
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) chain-of-custody certification
system for responsible forestry practices.
GAA’s publication printing partner – St. Louis, Missouri,
USA-based Mulligan Printing – is handling the transition
to the greener Advocate.
After working with GAA in the move to fewer printed
issues, Mulligan proposed the current changes as additional
ways to decrease the magazine’s overall footprint. Mulligan
Printing also participates in AmerenUE’s PurePower clean
air program utilizing renewable energy.
“This is definitely a case where less is more,” GAA
Assistant Director Sally Krueger said. “We appreciate the
input we receive from Mulligan and will consider further
changes in the future.”
The non-profit Sustainable Forestry Initiative maintains
the largest single forest standard in the world. SFI addresses
such issues as worker health and safety, fair labor practices,
civil rights, anti-discrimination and fair wages. Although the
SFI program certifies lands only in the United States and
Canada, program participants must show that paper fiber
they buy offshore is from responsible and legal sources.
BAP Standards Oversight Committee Approves Feed Standards,
Considers IOMs For Small Farms
Wally Stevens said market demand is driving an increase
in farm certifications.
Continued progress in standards development and market
reach was reported at the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)
Standards Oversight Committee (SOC) meeting held March 14
in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
In his introduction, GAA Executive Director Stevens summarized
the overall progress of the BAP program. He referred to
large posters and said market demand for “two-star” product
from BAP-certified farms and processing plants is driving an
increase in farm certification, particularly at tilapia facilities.
Additional processors are becoming engaged in anticipation of
the BAP salmon farm standards.
Stevens also described the proposed new organizational
structure that would integrate the Aquaculture Certification
Council (ACC) with GAA to manage the BAP certification
process using ISO-accredited inspection bodies to conduct facility
audits. Under the plan, the SOC would become part of the
Responsible Aquaculture Foundation, a new body with charitable
status. Within the foundation, Jeffrey Peterson would direct
BAP’s education and training program.
Integrated Operating Modules
ACC President Jim Heerin joined Vice President Bill More
and Peterson in providing an update on the Integrated Operating
Module (IOM) program for multiple small shrimp farms.
In IOMs, a number of farms with similar production methods
and combined total annual production not exceeding 4,000
mt can be grouped together. All undergo full inspections and
participate in traceability, but modified administrative arrangements
allow the farms to save on certification costs. Each IOM
must have a written quality management system defining how
the group is managed to meet BAP standards criteria.
Feed Standards
The BAP feed mill standards were approved for release
pending final changes and review. Requested changes included a
requirement that sources for all fishmeal and fish oil be certified
to the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO)
Global Standard for Responsible Supply or Marine Stewardship
Council program within three years. Until that time, feed mills
are required to develop a plan for transition to sustainable fishmeal
sources.
Tilapia, Salmon Standards
Review of the BAP standards for tilapia farms saw a request
to begin collecting fuel and energy use data so figures for direct
energy use can be calculated. The SOC recommended the establishment
of a minimum mean annual survival rate as an indicator
of fish welfare. It was also suggested that the guidelines for predator
control should be further strengthened and defined.
Progress continues to be made on the BAP standards for
salmon farms. Jon Bryan of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust
was approved to join the Salmon Farm Technical Committee.
As at tilapia facilities, fuel and energy use data will be recorded.
In the future, such topics as greenhouse gases, acidification,
biotic resource utilization, accumulated energy and eutrophication
potential may be addressed in the standards.
Introduced Species
The BAP standards require documented proof that it is legal
to farm a species in a particular place. To strengthen this, the
applicability of the International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea (ICES) Code of Practice on the Introductions and
Transfers of Marine Organisms 2005 was considered.
The code outlines requirements for member countries to
consider ecological, genetic, disease and economic impacts prior
to introducing a marine species. However, ICES only has 20
member countries, with no tropical or developing countries. It
was concluded that the BAP program is functionally equivalent
to the World Wildlife Fund tilapia standards regarding introduced
species.
Social Accountability
Various options were discussed as to how to strengthen social
accountability in the BAP standards. They could include a specific
anti-discrimination clause and bans on forced or bonded
labor. Interviews with workers could be conducted off site to
allow more freedom in responses.
Collaboration between BAP and Fair Trade certification –
which channels price premiums back to producers for social
projects and community benefits – may be considered. In a presentation,
Maya Spaull of TransFair explained that Fair Trade
certification does not aim to duplicate BAP. The program
addresses economic and social criteria in the production and
trade of agricultural products, and wants to address environmental
issues, but not through its own standards.
Audit Formatting
BAP’s shift to ISO-65-accredited certification bodies for
inspections saw a corresponding shift in the audit documents.
BAP’s original audit forms included critical and scored questions,
while the new processing plant audit has eliminated all
scored questions in favor of the yes/no responses typical of
GFSI-compliant standards.
To make the program more consistent across facility types,
possible solutions include converting scored questions “up” to
critical or “down” to recommendations in the guidelines.
Another option is to keep the scoring system, but identify persistent
problem areas and then modify the standards accordingly.
No decision on how to address the situation was made.
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