The final step in the process of developing trout-farming standards began on Wednesday when the Freshwater Trout Aquaculture Dialogue (FTAD) kicked off the last public-comment period for its draft standards.
Feedback received during the 30-day public-comment period will be used by the FTAD’s eight-person steering committee to finalize the standards in the third quarter of 2011. The standards, which when finalized will address key environmental and social impacts associated with trout farming, began in 2008 and has involved more than 300 farmers, conservationists, government officials, academics and other stakeholders.
Significant changes were made to the standards after the first public-comment period ended in September, including an emphasis on simplifying the standards to reduce complexity and costs and eliminating some of the third-party assessments that can be covered through enhanced farmer documentation.
“It’s evident that FTAD stakeholders are working tirelessly with the objective of making these standards the most credible,” said Christoph Mathiesen of World Wildlife Fund, which coordinated the dialogue. “Since farming takes place around the world, including Europe, Eurasia and the United States, we want to make sure the standards respect the differences in culture, technology and aquatic resources so that they are accessible to everyone who wants to farm trout responsibly.”
The final standards will be handed over to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council to manage.
Just two days ago, the last public-comment period in the process of developing salmon-farming standards under the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue kicked off.
