The final step in the process of creating global standards for salmon farming began this week when the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue kicked off the last public comment period for the draft standards.
The final standards will address the key negative environmental and social impacts associated with salmon farming and allow for the economic viability of the industry, which produces more than 60% of salmon eaten globally today. Impacts addressed through the standards include water pollution, sourcing of feed ingredients, disease transmission between farmed and wild salmon and labour issues on farms.
Feedback received during the 30-day public comment period will be used by the Dialogue’s nine-person Steering Committee to finalise the standards in the third quarter of 2011. The standards-development process has included more than 500 farmers, conservationists, government officials, academics and other salmon farming stakeholders.
“We’ve already taken one giant step forward with the 400 pages of input received during the first comment period last year,” said Katherine Bostick of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who coordinates the Dialogue.
Significant changes were made to the proposed standards as a result of the public comment provided on the initial draft. Among the changes are greater emphases on minimising parasiticide use, clearer standards related to responsible sourcing of feed ingredients, and requirements that address key negative impacts of smolt production. Additionally, the revised standards seek to protect wild fish from on-farm diseases and parasites by requiring farms to operate in an area-based management system, monitor wild fish and incorporate wild monitoring results into farm management. To encourage transparency and learning, the standards require public disclosure of sea lice monitoring data on the farm and in the wild.
The Dialogue standards will be given to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) to manage when that entity is in operation later this year.
