The number of new processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills that have secured Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification from the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has reached a monthly record, with 74 facilities making the grade in June.
Of those 74 newly certified facilities, five are processing plants, 55 are farms, 12 are hatcheries and two are feed mills. They join the additional 26 processing plants, 195 farms, 34 hatcheries and 17 feed mills that have attained BAP certification so far this year.
As of the end of June, the number of facilities worldwide that have earned BAP approval reached 1,290, indicating a 22 percent increase during the first half of 2016.
“The growth is attributed to a number of internal and external factors. Internally, the introduction in early 2015 of the iBAP program, a precursor to BAP certification, has helped facilities better prepare for full BAP certification. More than 60 facilities have navigated the deadline-driven iBAP program and applied for full BAP certification," GAA said in a press release.
The certifier continued: “Externally, the farmed shrimp industry’s rebound from early mortality syndrome has helped result in a 43 percent increase in the number of BAP-certified shrimp farms over the first half of 2016, as more farms come back online. There are now a total of 306 BAP-certified shrimp farms.”
Specifically, the number of BAP-certified tilapia farms has jumped by 21 percent during the first half of 2016, and the number of BAP-certified salmon farms has increased by 10 percent. Overall, 81 tilapia farms around the globe are BAP certified, while 329 salmon farms bear the same distinction.
Volume-wise, a total of 330 BAP-certified processing plants annually yield 1.78 million metric tons of product, as of the end of June, a 23 percent increase over figures from 2015, which had certified processors collectively producing 1.45 million metric tons of product as of the end of December 2015.
