Blue Standard

October 8th 2007

Volume 1, Issue 1

ACC Promotes Responsible Aquaculture Practices through BAP Certification

The Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC) has grown substantially since formation in 2003 and the mission and vision for the organization has been expanded to cover the new challenges and opportunities facing the company.

Several new programs were added in 2007 which include a registered buyers program, a certification program for plants that are re-processing and/or repacking product that originated at another certified facility, a program for certifying small or “cluster” farms, and a new seafood processing plant BAP program scheduled to begin in November.

The increase in scope of work, requirement to use with Trace-Register for traceability of the BAP certified product, and the increased work load expected when the Tilapia and Catfish certification programs come on line in 2008, has required the ACC improve its infrastructure and hire additional personnel.

In October, Kun-Li Chen (Thomas), an Information Technology expert was added to the staff of the Kirkland, Washington office. Thomas is working to improve the ACC website and database systems for documenting information on facilities and programs. Austen Moore has been hired as administrative assistant and will be in charge of record management. Lisa Steinmann was recently hired as the ACC secretary.

Many of the changes being implemented are necessary to allow the ACC to pursue ISO 65 accreditation.

The ACC is growing and we are making changes to improve our capability to serve our clients and inspectors. Beginning the month, the Blue Standard will be published on a quarterly basis.

September and October have been busy months for the BAP certification program with six new processing plants and two new farms being added to the list of certified facilities.

Sandhya Aqua Exports became the first two star group in India when they certified their plant in Visakhapatnam and three farms. Pesca S.A becomes the first processing plant in Guatemala to be BAP certified and two large plants in China, Fuguing Yihua Aquatic Food Co. and YangJiang City Yelin Hoitat Quick Frozen Seafood were certified. Plants completing BAP certification in September were P.T. Mega Marine Pride in Indonesia and Crystal Frozen Foods Co. in Thailand. To Date the ACC has certified 20 plants in 2007.

Several applications for certifying farms have recently been received from Ecuador, Vietnam, and Malaysia, and 14 farms have recently registered for BAP certification.

Buyers can now check the ACC website for three star and two star groups with the addition of those categories listed separately on the website.

ACC Vice President Bill More and ACC Inspector and Auditor Ken Corpron traveled to Thailand in May and July this year to consult with local experts and industry people to find ways to encourage participation in the ACC farm certification program, and to inspect shrimp farms that were awaiting certification.  Meetings with farmer groups were organized by several of the BAP-certified seafood processors including Siam Union Frozen Foods Co., Ltd., Good Luck Product Co., Ltd., and Kitchens of the Ocean (Thailand) Ltd. Several individual farms were also visited.  ACC inspectors from Thailand, Tirawat Leepaisomboon and Pornchai Phulsuksombati were instrumental in arranging some of these meetings, leading discussions with the farmers, and assisting with several of the farm visits.

One of the small farms certified following the inspection visits in May was the Thai Royal Food Co., Ltd. Nakornpong Farm in the Ratchaburi area of Thailand.  This farm operates 33 hectares of shrimp ponds on a closed-system basis to conserve its water resources and to prevent farm effluent from leaving the farm.  It has devoted a significant percentage of the farm surface to settlement and water treatment reservoirs that prepare water to be re-used in subsequent cycles.  The farm is completing its second crop cycle and is expected to produce 600-700 MT of certified shrimp annually.

During Ken Corpron’s July trip to Thailand, he was able to visit several farms that participate in the Thai Department of Fisheries Code of Conduct (CoC) program.  It was evident that CoC-certified shrimp farms had adopted improved production strategies compared with farms that do not participate in the program, and credit should be given to Thailand’s Department of Fisheries and to participating farms for their efforts to bring about these improvements.  The CoC program’s guidelines are divided into many areas including site selection, general pond stocking, feed, effluent, shrimp health management, harvesting, hauling of the product, social responsibility, training for farmer associations, and farm-level record keeping. Department of Fisheries personnel are involved in providing training, preparation of farm standard operating procedure manuals, auditing the farms, and monitoring effluent water quality.  The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s BAP program monitors some points that are not covered under Thailand’s CoC program, but it appears that CoC-certified farms will need only minor additions and improvements to their practices to be able to certify under the BAP program.

Relatively few large integrated shrimp projects exist in Thailand, which has slowed the implementation of the BAP program down to the farm level, since most farms are small and independently operated.  One of the early examples of integrated projects in Thailand was the one operated by Aquastar in southern Thailand, but the project stopped operations about ten years ago due to financial difficulties.  Another large Thai processor, the BAP-certified Charoen Pokphand Public Co., Ltd., continues to operate some large shrimp farms in Thailand, and two of these were certified under the BAP program in 2007.  Other BAP-certified processors, Andaman Seafood Co., Ltd., and Chantaburi Seafoods Co., Ltd., of the Rubicon Group, have taken the unusual step of purchasing some large older shrimp farms and is in the process of converting these farms to conform to the standards of the GAA’s BAP program.  It will then use these farms to encourage smaller farmers to participate in farm improvement programs.

It is evident that there are many challenges facing the BAP farm certification program, and a considerable amount of communication will be required on a local level to encourage implementation of the BAP program at small shrimp farms. However it is expected that as the benefits of certification become more widely accepted, once more farms will enter the program.

Many Seafood processing plants, especially those located in coastal areas, have historically disposed of their effluents in drainage systems or other convenient routes without proper treatment to reduce solid and organic wastes rich in nutrients, processing plant additives and inorganic substances. Most of the untreated wastes end up in rivers, estuaries or the ocean where they contribute to eutrophication of the receiving waters.

Processing plants seeking BAP certification need to develop a management plan to treat waste before they are released into the watershed or natural waters. The management plan should include good management practices (GMP) to treat and dispose of effluents and solid waste. Facility discharges must be monitored and quantified to assure compliance with BAP water quality standards as well as country regulations.

The BAP program requires influent and effluent sampling at various points, to include where the plant effluent enters the treatment facilities or exits the processing plant, where the treated effluent leaves the treatment system, and where the treated or untreated effluent enters the environment (canal, river, estuary, etc.). Facilities may also need to take a sample at the point where the discharge leaves the facility property or mixes with water that is not part of the facility treatment system. Additionally, facilities need to record the volume of plant water discharged requiring treatment, expressed as cubic meters for a 24 hour period. Measuring or monitoring of effluents is not required for effluents that are not discharged into public water. Facilities that have their effluents treated at municipality and industrial parks are exempted from taking measurement of their discharge water and are considered to be in compliance with BAP standards.
Solid waste must be stored or disposed of in a responsible manner for facilities to qualify for BAP certification. Guidelines for seafood processing plant effluent being discharged are shown below:

Proper treatment and management of processing plant wastes and effluents is of paramount importance to facilities wanting to comply with environmental regulations and become BAP certified.

One of the key factors in ACC’s development as the leading non-profit, independent certification organization for aquaculture facilities is the   quality and experience of the inspectors/auditors who test that facilities are in compliance with the BAP standards for environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture.

A review of the ACC website which lists the experience and qualifications   of the inspectors/auditors gives clear evidence of the depth of training, education and experience that these professionals bring to their responsibilities. The roster consists of independent consultants, staff members of certification services, educators, regulators, etc., each one of whom has the requisite experience to have qualified for, and has attended and passed, the ACC five day training and education program necessary to make the inspector/auditor roster.

With these prerequisites it comes as no surprise that aquaculture facilities value both the detailed inspection and the recommendations and assistance in completing necessary corrective action in order to achieve BAP certification.

One other area where inspectors/auditors play an important role is in helping achieve ACC’s other primary objective, educating industry members, government employees and regulators, educators and the public to the importance and benefits of establishing and maintaining BAP standards that promote and encourage responsible and sustainable aquaculture practices and the advancing science technology that supports these standards. To date, ACC has conducted educational and training seminars in seven countries.  Inspectors/auditors play an essential role in these seminars as instructors, guides and role models to the participants.  

ACC is proud and privileged to be associated with such an outstanding group of inspectors/auditors who are playing a critical role in encouraging the responsible and sustainable production and processing of aquaculture products.