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K. Bostick
WWF, which has a short list of criteria on the characteristics of a credible standard.
WWF believes that standards should be measurable rather than prescriptive.
Measurable standards not only ensure that performance improvements can be demonstrated against a baseline, but also allow producers to meet the standards using a
wide variety of practices, encouraging innovation. The flexibility in deciding how
best to meet a quantitative standard is especially important for small farmers who
may not have access to certain technologies. No eco-label or organic standard exists
today for aquaculture that focuses on measurable rather than prescriptive standards
for key impacts.
WWF believes that standards should be targeted to focus on key environmental
and social impacts while providing the traceability necessary to ensure food safety,
food quality, and chain of custody. Though there are numerous potential impacts of
aquaculture production, a very small number are likely to be responsible for the
majority of the environmental and social concerns. The Consortium on Shrimp
Farming and the Environment found that 6 – 10 key impacts accounted for most of
the concerns related to the global shrimp farming industry. Any given farm might
have 3–4 activities that account for the majority of the impact of that operation
(World Bank et al. 2002). The Consortium also found that for over two-thirds of
these impacts, implementing better management practices and mitigating the
impacts could pay for themselves within three years. Identifying these key impacts,
determining ways producers have found to reduce them, and focusing standards on
the handful of key impacts of production can in most cases significantly improve
the sustainability of a farm and reduce impacts to acceptable levels.
Finally, a credible standard must have broad stakeholder support, must have
been developed in a transparent manner. WWF is developing standards in collaboration with a large number of partners through international, multi-stakeholder
Aquaculture Dialogues. Each Aquaculture Dialogue is focused on a species group
and works to agree upon key impacts of production for that species group, identify
better management practices and key gaps in the research, and develop metric-based
standards for the production of the species-group that are acceptable to stakeholders.
A broad range of stakeholders, including producers, NGOs, researchers, governments, retailers and other members of the market chain are involved in each of the
Dialogues.
It is relatively easy for stakeholders to come to agreement on standards for cultured species that do not depend on food supplements, use little by way of fishmeal
or fish oil, or are already highly regulated with regard to effluent pollution. It is
much harder to reach consensus for carnivorous species cultured in open systems
and species which rely on wild stocks for juveniles. For such species there is more
contention on where to draw the line on impacts.
Generally speaking, there exists tremendous debate around agricultural, fisheries,
and aquaculture related eco-labels regarding the strength of the standards that form
the basis of these labels. Groups that support the strictest of standards are
concerned that anything less would allow unsustainable production to receive an
eco-label. Groups that support less stringent standards, with a requirement for continuous improvement, are concerned that if standards are too strict, producers will
K. Bostick
WWF, which has a short list of criteria on the characteristics of a credible standard.
WWF believes that standards should be measurable rather than prescriptive.
Measurable standards not only ensure that performance improvements can be demonstrated against a baseline, but also allow producers to meet the standards using a
wide variety of practices, encouraging innovation. The flexibility in deciding how
best to meet a quantitative standard is especially important for small farmers who
may not have access to certain technologies. No eco-label or organic standard exists
today for aquaculture that focuses on measurable rather than prescriptive standards
for key impacts.
WWF believes that standards should be targeted to focus on key environmental
and social impacts while providing the traceability necessary to ensure food safety,
food quality, and chain of custody. Though there are numerous potential impacts of
aquaculture production, a very small number are likely to be responsible for the
majority of the environmental and social concerns. The Consortium on Shrimp
Farming and the Environment found that 6 – 10 key impacts accounted for most of
the concerns related to the global shrimp farming industry. Any given farm might
have 3–4 activities that account for the majority of the impact of that operation
(World Bank et al. 2002). The Consortium also found that for over two-thirds of
these impacts, implementing better management practices and mitigating the
impacts could pay for themselves within three years. Identifying these key impacts,
determining ways producers have found to reduce them, and focusing standards on
the handful of key impacts of production can in most cases significantly improve
the sustainability of a farm and reduce impacts to acceptable levels.
Finally, a credible standard must have broad stakeholder support, must have
been developed in a transparent manner. WWF is developing standards in collaboration with a large number of partners through international, multi-stakeholder
Aquaculture Dialogues. Each Aquaculture Dialogue is focused on a species group
and works to agree upon key impacts of production for that species group, identify
better management practices and key gaps in the research, and develop metric-based
standards for the production of the species-group that are acceptable to stakeholders.
A broad range of stakeholders, including producers, NGOs, researchers, governments, retailers and other members of the market chain are involved in each of the
Dialogues.
It is relatively easy for stakeholders to come to agreement on standards for cultured species that do not depend on food supplements, use little by way of fishmeal
or fish oil, or are already highly regulated with regard to effluent pollution. It is
much harder to reach consensus for carnivorous species cultured in open systems
and species which rely on wild stocks for juveniles. For such species there is more
contention on where to draw the line on impacts.
Generally speaking, there exists tremendous debate around agricultural, fisheries,
and aquaculture related eco-labels regarding the strength of the standards that form
the basis of these labels. Groups that support the strictest of standards are
concerned that anything less would allow unsustainable production to receive an
eco-label. Groups that support less stringent standards, with a requirement for continuous improvement, are concerned that if standards are too strict, producers will