Qionghai Zhongpingzi Grobest Tilapia Farm and Chengmai Xingyuan Development Co Ltd have become the first finfish farms in China to achieve Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. This landmark achievement reflects the pioneering initiative and efforts of a few companies in the industry to tackle some of the major challenges facing tilapia farming in the PRC.
The success of the farms and their respective processors, Hainan Xiangtai Fisheries Co., Ltd and Hainan Sky-Blue Ocean Foods Co., Ltd, was celebrated on November 3 during the Sustainable Seafood Forum in Qingdao. Formal handover of the certificates was conducted by the independent certification body that assessed the farms against the ASC standard, Intertek. The ceremony was attended by government officials, seafood industry representatives, NGOs and the media.
Qionghai Zhongpingzi Grobest Tilapia Farm and Chengmai Xingyuan Development Co. Ltd are the first among a number of farms that undertook pre-assessments with help from WWF China to see if they operated in a way that meets the ASC Tilapia Standard. A third tilapia farm, Wenchang Zhou Qinfu, has been assessed against the ASC standard and hopes to be certified soon.
Achieving ASC certification brings global recognition that the Zhongpingzi Grobest and Chengmai Xingyuan Development Co. Operations are being run in a responsible way. It marks the start of their contribution towards a global market for responsibly produced seafood.
Yang Huaying, deputy executive director of Hainan Sky-Blue Ocean Foods Co. Ltd, commented: “We are pleased that Qionghai Zhongpingzi Grobest has passed the assessment against the ASC Tilapia Standard. ASC certification allows us to prove to our customers that we are committed to responsible aquaculture.”
Liu Rongjie, president of Xiangtai Fisheries Co. Ltd, said: “For us it is important be able to show through a third party that our ambitions towards responsible tilapia farming have been achieved. The ASC certification of Chengmai Xingyuan Development Co. Ltd helps us communicate this to our stakeholders.”
Making progress towards a more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tilapia sector in the Chinese aquaculture industry has been achieved through a partnership between ASC, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA) and WWF China. As a result the industry has begun to make measurable strides in improving the transparency of Chinese tilapia aquaculture.
ASC does not audit or certify farms itself; this is done by independent certifiers. The certifiers have to undergo a rigorous process of accreditation by a company that is independent of ASC, Accreditation Services International (ASI). ASI also monitors the performance of accredited certifiers. Before certifiers can formally undertake audits their staff must have participated in an ASC Auditor Training course and passed the mandatory exam to demonstrate their full understanding of and competence in the application of the standard.
Chris Ninnes, ASC’s chief executive officer, stated: “These certifications reflect the substantial efforts of the farms to make real improvements in their operations. The farms were subject to scrutiny by a team of independent experts, which assessed them against the strict requirements of the ASC Tilapia Standard. This is a major milestone and they should be immensely proud of their achievements.”
Throughout the assessment process stakeholders had the opportunity to add input into the farm audits, with their views actively sought. This is a unique feature of the ASC program.
Jin Zhonghao, director of market transformation for WWF China, said: “The ASC standard for tilapia aquaculture was created by a series of open roundtable discussions coordinated by the WWF. The multi-stakeholder initiative involved more than 200 tilapia farming experts including producers, conservationists and scientists. The resulting standard is incredibly robust, built on scientific knowledge and practices aimed at addressing the key negative environmental and social impacts of the industry.”
By meeting the ASC Tilapia Standard, both Qionghai Zhongpingzi Grobest Tilapia Farm and Chengmai Xingyuan Development Co. Ltd have demonstrated that they are well managed and minimize any adverse environmental or social impacts by, for example, focusing on the conservation and quality of water resources, not engaging in misuse of antibiotics, minimizing escapes, complying with strict feed requirements and meeting a range of social requirements.
About ASC, CAPPMA and WWF-China
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council is as an independent, not-for-profit organization 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 (draft) reports are uploaded to the public ASC website.
The on-pack ASC logo assures consumers that the fish they purchase has been farmed with minimal impacts on the environment and on society.
The ASC standard specifically addresses the following seven principles:
- Legal compliance (obeying the law, the legal right to be there)
- Preservation of the natural environment and biodiversity
- Preservation of the water resources and water quality
- Preservation of the diversity of species and wild populations (for example, minimizing escapes that could become a threat to wild fish)
- Monitored and responsible use of animal feed and other resources
- Animal health (no unnecessary use of antibiotics and chemicals)
- Social responsibility (for example, no child labour, health and safety of employees, freedom of assembly, community relations).
CAPPMA was founded in 1994 as a national non-profit organization directed under China’s Ministry of Agriculture. Its membership consists of more than 1,200 seafood producers, processors, distributors, suppliers, and institutions for fisheries research and education, as well as relevant social entities and specilists that provide various services for seafood processing and marketing.
At present CAPPMA has established ten branches of alliance. They are shrimp, other shellfish, tilapia, sea cucumber, fishmeal and fish oil, cuttlefish, silverfish, seafood processed by-products, aquatic products wholesale market and seafood processing, and re-exporting associations.
CAPPMA is not only working on safeguarding companies’ rights and interests, but it plays an important role in improving self-discipline mechanisms and ensuring stability and prosperity of the market.
WWF is one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to the conservation of nature. Since the first office was founded in Switzerland in 1961, it has grown into a global network active in more than 100 countries with almost five million supporters.
WWF-China has been active since 1980, when it was invited by the Chinese government as the first international NGO to work on nature conservation. The Beijing office opened in 1996, and there are now eight additional field program offices spread across the nation. WWF has more than 120 staff working in China on a broad range of programs including species, freshwater and marine. During the past 19 years it has sponsored more than 100 major projects, investing over 300 million yuan.
