Public Comment Period Opens for Best Aquaculture Practices Salmon Farm Standard Issue 3.0
The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) has released Issue 3.0 of its Salmon Farm Standard for public review and comment. Stakeholders and interested parties are invited to provide feedback on the latest version of the standard until May 5th.
The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program, managed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), aligns with multiple global initiatives, including the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), and Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI). Unique in its approach, BAP is the only certification that encompasses the entire aquaculture production process, ranging from hatcheries and farms to processing plants.
Issue 3.0 introduces significant enhancements over the previous version (Issue 2.4), with a focus on improving various aspects of salmon farming. Key changes include new measures for diver safety, comprehensive requirements aimed at promoting fish welfare, and the introduction of a new metric to evaluate the dependency of a farm’s feed regime on forage fish.
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The revision expands the scope of the audit, with major updates in areas such as social responsibility, wildlife and predator interactions, animal health and welfare, and biosecurity and disease management. Notable amendments in the new issue include:
- Updated procedures for safe diving practices, emergency response for divers, and mandatory training and certification for divers.
- Implementation of the forage fish dependency ratio (FFDR) as a new metric.
- Enhanced guidelines for the protection of predator species, as well as endangered, threatened, and protected species.
- Increased focus on the use and documentation of operational welfare indicators.
- Updated requirements for humane harvest and slaughter processes, including standardized operating procedures.
- Additional stipulations for biosecurity and fish welfare during transport or crowding.
The Global Seafood Assurances (GSA) emphasizes that all comments submitted properly will be made public, albeit with the anonymity of the authors maintained.
