Pair join ASC
Two more Marine Harvest Canada sites have received certification by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, meaning that there are now 85 salmon sites to achieve this recognition globally.
Marine Harvest Canada achieved two more certifications by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), in its Port Hardy production area. The Duncan Island and Doyle Island farm sites become the fourth and fifth sites in Canada to achieve this recognition. The first certified Canadian salmon farm was Marine Harvest’s Marsh Bay site, also in the Port Hardy area, in January 2015. Collectively, salmon farming companies in BC have achieved five ASC certifications throughout 2015 – furthering their commitment to achieve 100% ‘Gold Standard’ third-party certification by 2020.
The ASC certification demands a high level of transparency throughout the process and staff have to work hard to meet more than 500 individual clauses of the standard.
“This is another important step towards meeting our goal of certifying all farm sites in British Columbia by 2020,” said Marine Harvest Canada’s Certification Manager Katherine Dolmage. “ASC certification is a lengthy process at each site because the third party auditing is extremely rigorous. We are continuing to expand the ASC program, first to Quatsino, where Monday Rock awaits the results of a recent audit, and then to Klemtu, where the first audits will take place next spring.”
The final reports for the ASC certified farms can be found online, along with environmental monitoring reports for the next three Marine Harvest farms under consideration for certification.
“Members of the BCSFA [British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association] continue to demonstrate their progress towards world leading practices,” said BCSFA Executive Director, Jeremy Dunn. “They have made great strides this year to validate their commitment in achieving third party certification and will continue to do so into the future.”
Currently there are 85 ASC certified salmon farms around the world. By 2020, BC aims to be the first region in the world to be certified by ‘Gold Standard’ environmental programs, which includes having all farm-raised Atlantic salmon ASC certified. BC is already the first and only salmon farming region to have all of its Atlantic salmon certified by the Global Aquaculture Alliance Best Aquaculture Practices program.
