A new EUR 1 million (USD 1.3 million) grant has allowed the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) to begin work in China on developing more sustainable methods of tilapia farming, the ASC said in a release today.
The ASC is joining with two groups in China, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China, as part of the project.
“This is a most challenging, but exciting, project for the ASC,” said ASC CEO Chris Ninnes. “Thanks to the support of the EU, the ASC and its two partners will be able to begin to help move a key industry toward a more environmentally sustainable, socially responsible form of operation.”
According to the ASC, tilapia is second only to carp in popularity as a farmed fish worldwide, with an estimated 3 million metric tons (MT) per year, and 40 percent of that is produced by China. The country is the world’s largest tilapia exporter, with more than 50 percent of its tilapia entering the world market. The EU, according to the ASC, imports around 10 percent of those exports.
The project will last two years, and is working toward three goals: to make more details on the tilapia supply chain in China available; to introduce ASC standards to China and encourage Chinese tilapia producers to seek ASC certification, and drum up public and consumer support for ASC-certified tilapia from China.
