Number of BAP-Certified Facilities Tops 1,700

Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) added 273 new facilities to the third-party certification program through the first three-quarters of 2017, bringing the total number of BAP-certified aquaculture farms, processing plants, hatcheries and feed mills to 1,737 worldwide, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in mid-October.

Of those 273 new facilities, 53 are processing plants, 172 are farms, 24 are hatcheries and 24 are feed mills. Shrimp farms (93) and salmon farms (53) represented the majority of the 172 farms added to the BAP program in the first nine months of 2017.

That brings the total number of BAP-certified facilities to 392 processing plants, 1,072 farms, 173 hatcheries and 95 feed mills through the end of September.

BAP is the world’s most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification program, with aquaculture standards encompassing environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety, animal health and welfare and traceability. It’s also the only program to cover the entire aquaculture production chain — processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills.

Demonstrating the industry’s long-term commitment to responsible aquaculture, the BAP program has more than doubled in size in the past two years, growing from about 700 BAP-certified facilities at the end of 2014 to 1,500-plus facilities by the end of 2016.

About BAP
A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain — farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills — that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means. BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance.