CAMPBELL RIVER, British Columbia – As the year comes to a close, British Columbia achieves two more certifications by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Marine Harvest Canada has announced that two of its Port Hardy farm sites, Duncan Island and Doyle Island, are the latest salmon farms to attain ASC certification. Collectively, salmon farming companies in British Columbia have achieved five ASC certifications throughout 2015 – furthering their commitment to achieve 100% ‘Gold Standard’ third-party certification by 2020.
“Members of the BCSFA continue to demonstrate their progress towards world leading practices,” said BC Salmon Farmers Association Executive Director, Jeremy Dunn. “They have made great strides this year to validate their commitment in achieving third party certification and will continue to do so into the future.”
Currently there are 85 ASC certified salmon farms around the world. The ASC standard is the most recently developed and most demanding global sustainability certification system. It was developed through a dialogue process led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that engaged over 2,000 representatives from the global aquaculture industry, retail and food service sector, NGOs, government and scientific community between 2004 and 2015.
By 2020, B.C. aims to be the first region in the world to be certified by ‘Gold Standard’ environmental programs, which includes having all farm-raised Atlantic salmon ASC certified. British Columbia is the first and only salmon farming region to have all of its Atlantic salmon certified by the Global Aquaculture Alliance Best Aquaculture Practices program. The province is also home to North America’s first certified organic Chinook producer Creative Salmon. Today, over 50% of the world’s seafood is farmed, with projections showing this figure will explode to 75% in just 15 years.
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About the BC Salmon Farmers Association:
B.C. salmon farmers grow 58% of all salmon raised in Canada and account for 60% of the total landed value of seafood in British Columbia, generating more than $1.14-billion towards the provincial economy. The BCSFA represents the province’s vibrant and diversified salmon aquaculture sector, inclusive of companies raising salmon, as well as the businesses that proudly provide services and supplies.
For more information visit BCSalmonFarmers.ca
Source: BC Salmon Farmers Association
