Four-Star BAP Group Is First For India

Penver Products Ltd., in conjunction with National Fish & Seafood (NFS), is India’s first group to achieve four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) status for shrimp or any species, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in early April.

Four-star BAP status denotes that the processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills from which a group sources are BAP certified. It’s the highest such achievement in the BAP program.

There are now a total of 21 four-star BAP groups, 18 producing shrimp and three producing salmon.

Four-star BAP status was achieved when Avanti Feeds Limited’s feed mill recently earned BAP certification. Also certified are Ocean Edibles International Ltd. processing plant, which is leased to Penver Products; its shrimp farm, which consists of one five-farm IOM (integrated operating module); and BMR Industries Pvt. Ltd.’s shrimp hatchery.

The effort was coordinated by U.S.-based NFS, a division of Pacific Andes International Holdings Limited, which sources shrimp from Penver. In February, NFS and Penver held a joint training seminar to educate farmers on responsible aquaculture practices and the BAP farm standards.

“We are delighted to have achieved certification of India’s first four-star BAP group. We want to thank Avanti Feeds, Penver Products and the BAP staff for their efforts to advance responsible aquaculture in India. This achievement is the result of the cooperation of Philips Thomas, Madhu and our farmers associated with this project in Andhra Pradesh. Together we share a commitment to drive aquaculture improvements in India. We will continue our work to help farmers, small and large alike, to meet the BAP standards, and expect to add significant quantities of four-star BAP shrimp over the next 12 months,” said Jeff Sedacca, president of the shrimp division at NFS.

In addition to the recent certification of a five-farm IOM, NFS and Penver are grouping together small-scale, single-pond farms for certification under the new BAP group program. This program, which is in its pilot phase, will provide family farms with a cost-effective option to participate in the internationally accredited certification scheme.

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.