May/June 2010 - Global Aquaculture Alliance

GLOBAL AQUACULTURE
ALLIANCE
The Global Aquaculture Al li ance is an international
non-profit, non-gov ernmental
association whose mission is to further en viron
men tally responsible aqua culture to meet
world food needs. Our members are producers,
pro cessors, marketers and retailers of seafood
prod ucts worldwide. All aqua culturists
in all sectors are welcome in the organization.
OFFICERS
George Chamberlain, President
Bill Herzig, Vice President
Ole Norgaard, Secretary
Lee Bloom, Treasurer
Wally Stevens, Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bert Bachmann
Lee Bloom
Rittirong Boonmechote
George Chamberlain
Shah Faiez
John Galiher
Bill Herzig
Ray Jones
Alex Ko
Jordan Mazzetta
Sergio Nates
Ole Norgaard
John Peppel
Antonio Pino
John Schramm
Iain Shone
Wally Stevens
EDITOR
DARRYL JORY
editorgaadvocate@aol.com
PRODUCTION STAFF
ASSISTANT EDITOR
DAVID WOLFE
davidw@gaalliance.org
MARKETING/ADVERTISING
SALLY KRUEGER
sallyk@gaalliance.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
LORRAINE JENNEMANN
lorrainej@gaalliance.org
HOME OFFICE
5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A
St. Louis, Missouri 63129 USA
Telephone: +1-314-293-5500
FAX: +1-314-293-5525
E-mail: homeoffice@gaalliance.org
Website: http://www.gaalliance.org
All contents copyright © 2010
Global Aquaculture Alliance.
Global Aquaculture Advocate
is printed in the USA.
ISSN 1540-8906
from the president
Past The
Tipping Point
Three years ago, I wrote that the Global Aquaculture
Alliance seemed to be approaching a tipping point.
A tipping point is the threshold before which
small changes have little or no effect, but after which
further small changes “tip” the system, resulting in a
large effect. The term originated in the field of epidemiology,
where it is used to describe the point at
which an infectious disease reaches the outbreak
stage. It has also been used to describe the point at
which global warming stops ocean currents, leading
to major climatic change. Some have even used it to
describe the phenomena by which products or individuals rise from anonymity to popular
demand or celebrity status.
GAA’s tipping point involves Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. For nearly
a decade, we steadily pursued BAP’s principles, which resulted in incremental advances in
the program’s circle of supporters and overall reach. Three years ago BAP certification, then
based only on shrimp, was adopted by Wal-Mart and Darden Restaurants, and progress
began accelerating. A critical mass of support developed through unexpected new linkages
and synergies. Soon, the tipping point threshold was reached – and surpassed.
Now, the BAP certification program has been adopted by most major retailers in the
United States and is gaining traction in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Over
500,000 mt of seafood from BAP-certified facilities enter the global market annually,
and GAA has become the world’s leading
aquaculture standard-setting organization.
Many exciting developments are under
way. The BAP standards have broadened to
include channel catfish and tilapia. New
standards for feed mills, Pangasius farms and
salmon farms are expected soon, and a technical
committee for mussel farm standards is
forming. The United States Food and Drug
Administration pilot study on food safety
verification has been completed, and the Global Food Safety Initiative is expected to
benchmark the BAP processing plant standards in a few weeks.
To help the BAP program meet the challenges of mainstream certification, GAA is
reorganizing its structure to integrate functions, expand outreach and improve efficiency.
It has formed a charitable organization called the Responsible Aquaculture
Foundation (RAF), which will house the BAP Standards Oversight Committee, technical
committees and training, research and development functions. One of the first
international missions of the newly formed RAF will be a cooperative program with
Malaysia’s Department of Fisheries and Ministry of Health to help train aquaculture
producers in environmental, social and food safety excellence.
We are especially pleased with the strong response from sister aquaculture associations
around the world to our reciprocal membership program. This will help improve
communication and coordination at many levels.
Thank you for throwing your weight behind the BAP effort to tip the scales toward
a brighter and more sustainable future for aquaculture. It is thrilling to see the ongoing
progress being achieved at so many levels. This could not have been realized without
your dedicated support.
Sincerely,
George W. Chamberlain
George W.
Chamberlain, Ph.D.
President
Global Aquaculture Alliance
georgec@gaalliance.org
Thank you for throwing
your weight behind the
BAP effort to tip the scales
toward a brighter
and more sustainable
future for aquaculture.
from the editor
Readers Respond
To Digital Advocate
Feedback received by me and other members
of the Global Aquaculture Alliance staff has indicated
that the exciting change we introduced to
the Global Aquaculture Advocate magazine in its last
issue – a digital edition – has been well received.
This is very encouraging to us.
Like its print-based Advocate “sister,” the new
digital Advocate continues to include the up-todate,
factual industry information that is our
trademark, but makes it available online in forms
that are easily downloaded and stored electronically. This content will remain permanently
available on our website or in your electronic storage.
Our goal in distributing the Advocate electronically is to further GAA’s mission
of “feeding the world through responsible
aquaculture” by focusing attention on the
Best Aquaculture Practices program and
certified facilities around the world, on
sustainability developments in the marketplace
and on new technologies that
improve production efficiency and sustainability.
The digital Advocate is available free
at www.gaalliance.org.
Going forward, we will continue our
coverage of the entire seafood production
value chain, keeping an eye on the rapid
expansion of the aquaculture industry
driven by increasing global seafood
demand. Through this coverage, we will pay particular attention to potential
impacts, life cycle assessments and long-term sustainability issues.
Another change we are introducing with this issue is our further effort to
become more environmentally responsible. This magazine is printed on paper stock
with at least 10% post-consumer recycled content. In addition, the masthead
includes the logo of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification system for
responsible forestry practices.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standard addresses issues like worker
health and safety, civil rights, anti-discrimination and fair wages. The SFI mark is a
sign that wood and paper products are bought from a responsible source, backed by
a rigorous, third-party certification audit.
As always, we encourage your suggestions for current topics you would like us to
cover, as well as your contributions of short articles that are aligned with our mission
to support responsible aquaculture. Please contact me at your convenience for
details about our article submission guidelines.
Through the years, your critical comments have significantly improved our magazine,
and I urge you to continue sending us your comments on how we can best
represent and serve our industry.
Thank you for your continuing support.
2 May/June 2010 global aquaculture advocate global aquaculture advocate May/June 2010 3
Sincerely,
Darryl E. Jory
Darryl E. Jory, Ph.D.
Editor
Global Aquaculture Advocate
editorgaadvocate@aol.com
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Agribrands International Inc.
Agromarina de Panama, S.A.
Alicorp S.A. – Nicovita
Aqualma – Unima Group
Aquatec/Camanor
Asociación Nacional de Acuicultores de Colombia
Asociación Nacional de Acuicultores de Honduras
Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Camarão
Bangladesh Chapter – Global Aquaculture Alliance
Belize Aquaculture, Ltd.
Bluecadia Aquaculture Group, LLC
Bluepoints Co., Inc.
Cámara Nacional de Acuacultura
Camaronera de Cocle, S.A.
Cargill Animal Nutrition
Continental Grain Co.
C.P. Aquaculture Business Group
Darden Restaurants
Deli Group, Ecuador
Deli Group, Honduras
Diamante del Mar S.A.
Eastern Fish Co.
El Rosario, S.A.
Empacadora Nacional, C.A.
Empress International, Ltd.
Expack Seafood, Inc.
Expalsa – Exportadora de Almientos S.A.
FCE Agricultural Research
and Management, Inc.
Fishery Products International
India Chapter – Global Aquaculture Alliance
Indian Ocean Aquaculture Group
INVE Aquaculture, N.V.
King & Prince Seafood Corp.
Long John Silver’s, Inc.
Lu-Mar Lobster & Shrimp Co.
Lyons Seafoods Ltd.
Maritech S.A. de C.V.
Meridian Aquatic Technology Systems, LLC
Monsanto
Morrison International, S.A.
National Food Institute
National Prawn Co.
Ocean Garden Products, Inc.
Overseas Seafood Operations, SAM
Preferred Freezer Services
Productora Semillal, S.A.
Promarisco, S.A.
Red Chamber Co.
Rich-SeaPak Corp.
Sahlman Seafoods of Nicaragua, S.A.
Sanders Brine Shrimp Co., L.C.
Sea Farms Group
Seprofin Mexico
Shrimp News International
Sociedad Nacional de Galapagos
Standard Seafood de Venezuela C.A.
Super Shrimp Group
Tampa Maid Foods, Inc.
U.S. Foodservice
Zeigler Brothers, Inc.