Three bivalve farms belonging to Ria Austral South America in the Queilen, Pichicolu and Hudson Channel areas of Chile, have achieved Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification - taking the current number of ASC certified farms past the 200 mark.
The three scallop producers all achieved certification against the ASC Bivalve Standard, an achievement that includes both an environmental and social assessment by an independent auditor.
“The certification of more than 200 farms is a significant benchmark for the programme and a clear indicator of the growing importance of responsible aquaculture,” said Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC. “We are thrilled that so many producers have made the choice to engage with the ASC and equally pleased that the pipeline of farms under assessment maintains this strong growth. Collectively this benefits the environment, the farm workers and adjacent communities.”
The number of ASC certified farms against all standards has grown exponentially each year. Between January 2015 and January 2016, 81 farms became certified - a 65% increase over the number of farms participating in the programme over the 12 month period. ASC says it has good reason to anticipate another phase of strong growth as close to 100 additional farms are currently in assessment.
The growing engagement of farms in the ASC programme has been matched by significant commitments from influential seafood buyers and producers, including the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which has pledged to source seafood from ASC certified farms throughout the Olympic village for both athletes and spectators.
Currently, the top ASC certified species is salmon. The 84 salmon farms included in the official count are in line with the industry commitment to the Global Salmon Initiative. This is closely followed by shrimp, with 34 shrimp farms entering the programme in 2015.
