This month, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) via the Responsible Aquaculture Foundation (RAF) accepted a $435,000 grant from the Open Philanthropy Project to develop best practices for animal welfare for salmonids, tilapia and channel catfish. As part of the two-year grant, GAA will identify best practices for animal welfare by surveying existing commercial practices, reviewing
In 2017, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) celebrated its 20th anniversary, and with it came growth and change within the organization. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank our industry friends for supporting and participating in our pre-competitive activities. Here are some of the highlights of 2017:
The Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in late November that Jeff Fort has agreed to take on the role of chief operating officer, effectively immediately, in addition to his existing role as chief financial officer, a position he has held with the organization since 2012. Fort has been involved with GAA since its inception in 1997.
The number of Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified facilities jumped 3.3 percent from October to November but fell just shy of 1,800 through the first 10 months of 2017, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in mid-November. It’s been an impressive year of growth for the BAP third-party certification program, with the number BAP-certified facilities hitting 1,794
Congratulations to Open Blue Sea Farm Panama S.A., the world’s first company capable of offering four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) cobia. The company became eligible to offer four-star BAP cobia upon confirmation that it purchases feed from two BAP-certified feed mills, Biomar Aquacorporation Products S.A. in Costa Rica and Vitapro S.A. in Peru. The announcement
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) submits the following response to the segment titled “Supermarket Seafood: What You Need to Know About the World’s Most Affordable and Widely Available Fish,” which aired on The Dr. Oz Show on Nov. 2. Though GAA appreciates that its industry-leading third-party certification program, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), was cited in the segment,
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) held its first ever China Marketplace Forum at the 2017 China Seafood & Fisheries Expo in Qingdao on Nov. 1. The forum, which was attended by more than 100 people, highlighted GAA’s efforts to promote responsible aquaculture in China through its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program. GAA CFO/COO
Oysters and scallops are the latest species represented in the industry-leading Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program. The Rushan Hope Well Foods Co. Ltd. processing plant in China has attained BAP certification, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in early November. It’s the first facility of any kind — processing plant or farm — that handles
The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) division invites new auditor candidates and returning auditors requiring refresher training to attend a BAP auditor training course in Lima, Peru, from Feb. 4 to 10, 2018. The course is also open to industry observers, including government officials, producers and other industry stakeholders who wish to
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is looking to fill an open position on its 12-member Standards Oversight Committee (SOC). The position is for a representative of the non-governmental conservation community. GAA coordinates the development of the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification standards for seafood processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills. The standards are developed
Congratulations to The MacKnight Food Group. The company’s smoked salmon processing plant in Miami, Florida, has attained Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) announced in late October. The 15,000-square-foot Miami facility is one of four processing plants owned and operated by the privately owned company. The secondary processing plant produces smoked
Add hairy crab to the list of species represented in the industry-leading Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program. The Zhejiang Aoling Aquatic Seeding Technology Co. Ltd. hairy crab farm in China has attained BAP certification, becoming the world’s first crab farm of any kind to earn the distinction, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) announced
Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) added 273 new facilities to the third-party certification program through the first three-quarters of 2017, bringing the total number of BAP-certified aquaculture farms, processing plants, hatcheries and feed mills to 1,737 worldwide, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in mid-October. Of those 273 new facilities, 53 are processing plants, 172 are farms,
The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) is the world’s first aquaculture certification program to be recognized by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), GAA and GSSI announced jointly on Oct. 4. The GSSI Steering Board has approved the recognition, determining that the two-star certification against the BAP Finfish and Crustacean Farm Standards
Yiguo.com and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at a ceremony in Shanghai on Sept. 15, 2017, at which Yiguo.com announced it would begin working with GAA’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program. Yiguo.com, a leading China-based grocery food e-commerce platform, committed to including BAP in its seafood sourcing
Congratulations to TerraVia and Bunge Oils for their AlgaPrime™ DHA aquaculture feed ingredient, recipient of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) fifth annual Global Aquaculture Innovation Award, sponsored by Preferred Freezer Services. Walt Rakitsky, Ph.D., senior VP of emerging business at TerraVia, will accept the award and give a presentation at GAA’s GOAL 2017 conference at
The Global Aquaculture Alliance has launched new social responsibility aquaculture courses. Written by social development consultant Birgitte Krogh-Poulsen, a member of GAA’s Standards Oversight Committee, the courses address social responsibility as an essential element of aquaculture. The course lessons cover fundamental labor rights, worker safety and health, and community relations. The course lessons are geared
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is delighted to announce that it has hired industry veteran Greg Brown to take on the role of BAP program integrity manager for its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program. Brown comes to GAA with a wealth of knowledge in a variety of fields, including auditing and certification, quality