The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has chosen Australian salmon company Tassal to help test new international performance standards, as part of a final ASC review.
The testing will take place on Tassal’s farms in Macquarie Harbor on the west coast of Tasmania.
“We are delighted to welcome Tassal as one of ASC’s valued salmon standards pilot partners. Having Tassal on board will bring valuable experience to the process,” said ASC CEO Chris Ninnes. “The pilots are an important exercise to ensure the future quality and consistency of the audits against the ASC standards.”
The ASC, together with the World Wildlife Fund, initiated and coordinated the standards with input from over 2,000 international stakeholders.
“This will see the highest international standards of responsible aquaculture tested in Australian waters by one of the leaders in the aquaculture industry,” said Gilly Llewellyn, WWF-Australia’s director of conservation. “This is a progressive move by Tassal and an important first step toward full ASC certification for all its operations in the future. The project will also greatly assist in creating effective ASC standards for responsible aquaculture.”
Tassal, in a statement, noted it is the only Australian company being asked to take part in the pilot study.
“Our sustainability focus and the way we have reported our performance has significantly improved over the past 12 months,” said Linda Sams, Tassal chief sustainability officer. “It is very gratifying for Tassal to assist with the final stage of this important development work. Not only will Tassal be providing practical feedback to further enhance the ASC’s draft audit manuals, we will be able to use the pilot audits to develop an understanding of how our business practices relate to the relevant ASC standard.”
