Jeff Peterson, director of quality control for the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program, gave a talk at the World Aquaculture Society’s (WAS) Aquaculture 2013 event on Feb. 23 outlining the advantages of third-party certification and clearing up any confusion over the certification’s role in aquaculture.
Titled “Understanding Aquaculture Certification,” Peterson’s presentation was part of a series of 15-minute presentations on third-party certification on Feb. 23.
“We’re all generally familiar with the term certification,” said Peterson. “The important thing [to understand] is that certification is an assessment against a standard or a set of standards.”
The cornerstone of any certification program is the auditor’s role in the process, and that auditors must be unbiased, observant, objective and experienced in the field, he explained. For the BAP program, auditors must have a minimum of five years of direct aquaculture experience, speak English well, successfully complete a recognized auditor course and, initially, be witnessed and shadowed by the certification body (CB) with whom they work, among other qualifications.
Certification is not consulting, noted Peterson. “Auditors and CBs are strictly prohibited from offering suggestions on how to resolve non-conformities,” he said. “But applicants can contact BAP for suggestions on how to resolve non-conformities.”
Peterson also addressed the advantages of certification, including that certification helps fill an “information void” in communicating with the marketplace and consumers and can add value and differentiate farmed seafood products in the marketplace.
Peterson said that certification is complex and can be expensive, and therefore is easier for larger, vertically integrated facilities to pursue certification than smaller, independent farms. However, “to be credible and transparent, certification requires multiple layers of oversight, which adds cost,” he said.
Aquaculture 2013 — which took place at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn., USA, from Feb. 21 to 25 — drew around 4,000 attendees from more than 90 countries, including academics, students, fish farmers and equipment and service providers, according to WAS.
The conference program featured hundreds of speakers and presentations covering dozens of aquaculture-related topics.
The triennial event also included a trade show, and the Global Aquaculture Alliance and its BAP program were among the more than 130 exhibitors.
Source: Global Aquaculture Alliance