wwf aquaculture dialogue standards and asc certification

WWF working towards a sustainable

future for aquacultureWWF Aquaculture Dialogues

Dr Piers Reid Hart14 October 2009

WWF is a conservation organisationWe believe in projects that are:

• Good for People and Nature

• Protect Biodiversity

• Contribute to One Planet Food

Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal farming sector

Why is WWF interested in Aquaculture?

285 million tonnes

Beef14%

Pork23%

Mutton3%

Poultry20%

Eggs14%

Wild fish14%

Farmed fish12% 2006

414 million tonnes

World livestock productionFishstat & FAOstat

414 million tonnes

5 million tonnes

World v UK Production 2006

The most efficient food conversion in the animal farming sector

But Aquaculture also has:

If I had 1 tonne of feed I could produce roughly:

150 kg beef or

300 kg of pork or

500 kg of chicken, or

almost 1 tonne of fish

But aquaculture has impacts:Mangrove loss Escape of exotics

Inappropriate use of antibiotics & chemicals

Social & labor Unsustainable feed ingredients

Loss of biodiversity

Aquaculture dialogues

• WWF US initiative

• Multi-stakeholder roundtables

• Measurable social and environmental standards

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WWF has expertise to create standards

• Rainforest Marketing – 1980s• Forest Stewardship Council – 1990s• Marine Stewardship Council – 1990s• Marine Aquarium Council – 1990s• Protected Harvest – 2000• Climate Savers - 2000s• New Program for IT Industry – 2007• Aquaculture Dialogues – 2000s

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• Develop environmental and social performance-based standards

• Measurably reduce the critical impacts of aquaculture

• Help strengthen the economic viability of aquaculture

Objectives of the Dialogues

• Credible• Effective • Added Value

Criteria

Global initiative

Multi-stakeholder – 2000 participants worldwide

Open and inclusive

Transparent

Consensus-based

Based on sound science

Measurable performance-based standards

ISEAL alliance compliant

Credible Process

Example Impact (Tilapia)Water Pollution

Principle - The guiding proposal for addressing an impact

Conserve and protect water resources

Criteria - Specific areas to focus on in order to reduce an impact

Nutrient use and release

Indicators - Points of measurement to determine extent of an impact

Amount of phosphorus added and released per metric tonne of fish produced

Standards - Quantitative performance level that will evaluate whether or not a principle is being achieved

1. Phosphorus input or utilization will not exceed (27 kg P/mt fish produced), Phosphorus loads released will not exceed (20 kg P/mt fish produced).

The ASC is the Standards holding entity only.

The ASC is a new entity capable of adding value through a consumer label.

Ultimately, this consumer label will help create real change on the water.

The ASC will be operational by 2011 and effective for years to come.

Aquaculture Stewardship Council

• The ASC will offer farm level annual certification;

• By accrediting third-party Certification Bodies (CB) that are ISO 65 compliant:

• The ASC will initially offer certification for 10-12 aquaculture commodity species, which are: salmon, shrimp, Pangasius, tilapia, freshwater pan trout, cobia, Seriola, oysters, mussels, clams, scallops, and abalone.

• The ASC standards will focus on Environmental / Social / Chain of Custody;

• To offer value to retailers, reduce cost to producers, and reduce confusion to consumers; the ASC will “partner” with GFSI members that offer Food Safety standards. Thus offering “one-stop-shopping” for certification.

Aquaculture Stewardship Council

Use market forces to transform aquaculture and create

real change on the water

Strategy

Continuous improvement

High environmental/ Social impacts Low environmental / Social impacts

No. farms

Performance shift

Market forces drive performance and reduce impacts

Continuous Improvement

Provisional Structure

May take 24 months to develop the independent ASC;

Philip Smith has been hired as the Development Director smith@dutchsustainabletrade.com

The Development Director is tasked with: Sourcing potential partners and funding for start-up costs; Updating business plan and projections;Creating the administrative and institutionalization of the ASC (governance, by-laws, etc…); and , ASC set up –office, web-site, staff, etc.Establishing certification process

Where are we now?

www.worldwildlife.org/aquadialogues

aquacultureinfo@wwfus.org