Seafood Expo North America (SENA) is the largest seafood trade event in North America, but on Monday afternoon the focus was on China, as Green Life Foods Co., Ltd. was welcomed to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) by CEO Chris Ninnes.
Green Life Foods achieved certification in 2018, becoming the first ASC certified mussel and oyster producer in China. The company made many adjustments to its production and processing practices to achieve ASC certification. One such improvement was the replacement of all Styrofoam floating rafts used over the 750 hectares of its production sites with sturdier and more durable ball rafts. These longer-lasting replacements will reduce an estimated two tons of plastic waste every year.
Green Life Foods is also focusing on employee safety and providing opportunity for its community, providing over 100 jobs for women from local villages, who work on the preliminary processing of its farmed shellfish.
“The efforts of Green Life Foods to reduce plastic waste pollution, support local communities and improve the work environment for their employees demonstrate a commitment to both environmental and social responsibility,” said Chris Ninnes. “We are pleased to see growing demand for ASC certification in China, not only for exporters but also for the domestic market, where responsible practices are increasingly important to consumers.”
“Green Life Foods is a company focusing on the export of canned smoked shellfish. The ASC certificate will help us win customers recognition and expand the markets in North America, Australia and Japan,” said Chen Weijiang, General Manager of Green Life Foods.
Other ASC-certified products from China at SENA include the Chinese white shrimp of Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd., the tilapia of Guangdong Evergreen Conglomerate Co., Ltd., as well as tilapia products of many ASC-certified enterprises from Hainan Province of China.
At present 11 Chinese enterprises have received ASC certification for their responsibly managed farms, and every year they provide the consumers in China, Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific Region with nearly 60,000 tons of responsible and sustainable seafood, including tilapia, bivalves and shrimp.
About the ASC
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) in 2010 to manage the certification of responsible fish farming across the globe.
The ASC standards require farm performance to be measured against both environmental and social requirements. Certification is through an independent third party process and reports are uploaded to the public ASC website.
The on-pack ASC logo guarantees to consumers that the fish they purchase has been farmed with minimal impacts on the environment and on society.
For more information about ASC please visit www.asc-aqua.org.
