On the heels of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council's (ASC) launch of its tilapia and pangasius standards, along with getting commitments from nearly two-thirds of the global farmed salmon industry; the Council announced progress for seven more standards for shrimp, bivavles and a number of other species.
The Council said the final two standards, shrimp and seriola/cobia, are making good progress. The Shrimp Audit Manual is currently being finalized and will be forwarded to the Technical Working Group (TAG) for approval in the coming month. The Shrimp Standard and draft Audit Manual are expected to be handed over to the ASC in October/November 2013.
Meanwhile, the second and final public comment period for the Seriola and Cobia Standard is now open and will close on 19 October 2013.
Additionally, the TAG is now reviewing the audit manuals for the bivalves and abalone standards. The audit manual for freshwater trout standard is in its final review and is expected to be sent for approval in a matter of weeks. All three documents are anticipated to be approved in the next couple of months. The three standards have had successful pilot audits worldwide to ensure robust application in practice the Council said.
The additional standards follow the Councils' Global Salmon Initiative’s (GSI) announcement in August 2013 that it has chosen ASC as their guiding standard.
“It took us a long time to get the salmon standard right and in it we have set some challenging targets, and asked some of the hardest questions, but these were needed to ensure it was robust. The standard was developed with industry for industry, and is set at a level where only 15 per cent of companies could currently meet its best practice requirements. This means there is a lot of work to do before all the farms can be independently certified to ASC standard, and the firm commitment of GSI members to achieve this is a vital factor in making it happen.” says Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO.