CEO: ASC process will be 'shorter, quicker, cheaper' than MSC

<p style="text-align: justify; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt"></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">"It's a very pivotal moment for the ASC, one that the supply chain has been long waiting for," Ninnes said. "It's exciting times."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">The launch may just be the beginning for the not-for-profit ASC, but its also a long time coming -- and the culmination of the hard work of 2,000 aquaculture industry members, from company heads to scientists, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">These stakeholders helped develop the standards and establish the performance requirements that interested fish farms will have to comply with in order to obtain ASC certification.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">The result, Ninnes said, is "requirements (that) are metric-driven," meaning "the answers can be provided in a relatively simple format, often" and "the need for expert opinion is greatly reduced."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">"Of course you need experts to help you make the audits credible, but you are not relying on their personal opinion," he said. "It's actually defined within the standard and within the guidelines."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">Although there are other aquaculture certification programs, such as Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), Ninnes said the <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">ASC differs because of the "active participation by key stakeholders."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">ASC features a stakeholder advisory group, which can consist of up to 40 aquaculture insiders and experts. The non-profit is also consistent with the principles of International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling (ISEAL), which counts standards such as Fair Trade as members.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">With the streamlined method, Ninnes, who was the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) deputy CEO until this past September, said the actual audits would be concluded quickly, which often is not the case with the MSC.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">"It will be shorter, quicker, cheaper [than the MSC's process],"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>"It's a great opportunity to sit back, reflect ... and ensure that [since] the ASC is a very young organization, it doesn't make the mistakes of its predecessors. Although there's a lot of market interest behind the ASC, one of the things I think is absolutely pivotal is that we launch standards when we can be assured they can actually be applied in a very consistent way, so we don&#8217;t see different certifiers in different jurisdictions interpreting them in a different way. We want to avoid sending different signals into the market."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">Still, the ASC is looking into partnering with the MSC and possibly use its Chain of Custody platform for traceability, Ninnes said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">"Immediately, that will create a lot of familiarity for the 2,000-odd companies that are already involved with the MSC's traceability program."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; margin: 6pt 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt">The ASC is starting with tilapia standards, to be followed "in a matter of weeks" by pangasius, mussels, oysters, clams, abalone, then finally, later down the road, shrimp, salmon and trout.</span></p>