Skretting North America announced that the company's fish feed production facilities in St. Andrews, New Brunswick and Vancouver, British Columbia had become the first in North America to be certified under the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program.
Commenting on the certification of the feed plants, General Manager of Skretting North America, Chris Beattie said "We are extremely pleased to announce BAP certification for both of our Canadian feed mills. Sustainable practices are very important to us, our customers and those who eat the seafood produced, the final consumer. In the past 2 years we have introduced sustainable raw material sourcing policies, a global CO2 reduction target in addition to on-going R&D programs addressing areas of sustainability such as how to further reduce our use of fish oil. BAP certification is further recognition of our commitment to sustainability and builds on our successful SEA (Sustainable Economic Aquafeeds) program."
SEA is Skretting's program for developing sustainable feed solutions that take account of long term environmental considerations while making it possible for the farmer to operate a profitable business.
The BAP is operated by Global Aquaculture Alliance and encourages the use of responsible production systems that are sustainable regarding environmental and community needs, and efficiently provide safe, wholesome aquaculture products to the world's population. The BAP standard addresses environmental and social responsibility, animal welfare, food safety and traceability in a voluntary certification program.
BAP certification for aquaculture facilities covers four areas: processor, farm, hatchery and feed mill, with 1 star awarded for certification at each stage of the value chain. Skretting North America's certification enables our customers to add an additional star to their current certification program.
Gavin Shaw, Marketing Manager of Skretting North America, added "The introduction of our MicroBalance diets in 2010 allowed us to significantly reduce our use of fishmeal whilst maintaining fish performance, quality and health. In fact, MicroBalance diets have enabled some of our customers to grow salmon and trout with a BAP Fish In:Fish Out ratio of less than 1."
"The current BAP standard requires salmon farmers to have FIFO ratios of less than 2, by June 2016 the requirement changes to a FIFO of less than 1.5. The good news is that MicroBalance diets let our customers exceed the 2016 BAP, FIFO requirement already, today." said Gavin Shaw.
