The draft shrimp and abalone aquaculture standards are products of two roundtables involving over 500 people. (Photo: WWF)

Draft abalone and shrimp aquaculture standards released

WORLDWIDE
Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 16:30 (GMT + 9)

Draft standards designed to minimise the harmful impacts of shrimp and abalone aquaculture on the environment, farm workers and communities were posted on Tuesday for the first of two public comment periods. The drafts are products of the Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue and the Abalone Aquaculture Dialogue, two roundtables of over 500 people including aquaculture industry leaders, NGOs and scientists.

In addition, the Dialogues’ tilapia standards are final and the completed pangasius standards are expected in April. The pangasius Dialogue has completed its public comment phase and will hold its final meeting in Vietnam this week.

“The 2,000 people involved in the Aquaculture Dialogues [...] have been listening to stakeholders, learning from scientists and tapping into their own expertise so they can develop meaningful and credible standards,” said Jose Villalon, managing director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) US Aquaculture Programme and coordinator of the full set of Dialogues.

All of the Dialogue standards will address the key negative impacts associated with aquaculture instead of a litany of impacts, which may increase certification costs. The shrimp and abalone standards will address chemical pollution issues including the destruction of ecologically sensitive habitat to create farms, using high amounts of wild fish to feed farmed seafood and community conflicts around altered use of land and water.

These will be the first global shrimp and abalone standards created through an open, transparent process aligned with the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance’s guidelines for standard setting. The process encourages input from a broad and diverse group of people and ensures that ideas will be considered by the full Dialogues.

Similar processes have been used for some land-based agriculture industries, but not at such an early stage of the industry’s development.

Feedback received during the 60-day public comment periods will be used by each Dialogue’s Global Steering Committee for revision before being posted again for the last comment period. Final shrimp and abalone standards are expected by late 2010.

The revisions also will be based on input received during outreach meetings held worldwide with stakeholders to discuss what types of standards would help positively transform the industry. This includes meetings with small-scale shrimp farmers in India, Vietnam and Thailand; people who live near shrimp farms in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Brazil; government agencies that provide assistance to farmers; and European seafood buyers.

All of the Dialogue standards will be amended periodically to reflect changes in science and technology, and to encourage innovation and permanent improvement. Revisions will be coordinated by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), the new entity being developed to manage the standards, and the process will include many of the Dialogue participants.

Related article:

- Sustainability standards developed for farmed tilapia

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

 WWF Norway

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