The World Wildlife Fund announced on Thursday that the draft abalone standards are one step closer to finalization, as the last public comment period is now under way.
The result of the Abalone Aquaculture Dialogue, the standards seek to mitigate the key environmental and social impacts associated with abalone farming, which is responsible for producing approximately 70 percent of the global abalone supply.
Feedback received during the 60-day public comment period will be used by the Dialogue's steering committee to finalize the standards in the fourth quarter of 2010. The committee manages the standards development process, while WWF coordinates the Dialogue.
The Dialogue began in 2008, and the draft abalone aquaculture standards were released along with shrimp in early March.
"One of our priorities has been encouraging input from as many people as possible who have expertise and on-the-ground experience related to abalone aquaculture," said steering committee member Laura Rogers-Bennett of the University of California-Davis. "We will continue to do so through this comment period and are confident that the additional feedback we receive will help to strengthen the standards document and ensure that the standards will support environmentally sustainable abalone farming worldwide."
In addition to the shrimp and abalone standards, dialogues for mollusks, tilapia, kampachi, cobia, pangasius and salmon are also under way or have already been finalized.
