The Southern Shrimp Alliance and the Corporate Accountability Lab have filed a joint petition asking the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Best Aquaculture Practice's (BAP) certification process, which is run by the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA), alleging that the certification scheme engages in false or deceptive advertising and marketing.
“GSA, BAP, and retailers promote BAP certification as a tool consumers can use to ensure seafood meets strict environmental and labor standards,” Corporate Accountability Lab Executive Director Charity Ryerson said in a statement. “In practice, BAP certification is little more than a marketing tool. It misleads consumers into thinking all is well, while workers at BAP-certified facilities report severe exploitation and dangerous working conditions, and communities suffer from pollution that has destroyed fisheries and contaminated drinking water.”
GSA did not immediately respond to SeafoodSource’s request for comment.
A three-year study conducted by the Corporate Accountability Lab found that BAP-certified facilities in India “often exhibited working and environmental conditions that were indistinguishable from those at uncertified facilities.”
The nonprofit human rights organization reported a number of labor and environmental violations, including forced labor, unsanitary living conditions, restrictions on movement, underpaid wages, and groundwater contamination.
A Southern Shrimp Alliance analysis further found that 87 percent of the Indian shrimp entry lines rejected at the U.S. border in 2024 for antibiotic contamination originated from BAP-certified facilities.
“BAP’s industry-led certification scheme has clearly failed to fix the many safety, ethical, and environmental problems plaguing the Indian shrimp sector,” Southern Shrimp Alliance Executive Director John Williams said. “Rather than improving conditions, the certification often masks exploitative practices, misleading U.S. consumers into believing they’re purchasing ethical and sustainable products. We urge ...
