Species
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council will work with independent third-party accreditation and certification organisations to provide certification of aquaculture operations that grow one or more of the twelve species groups, for which the standards are formulated by the Aquaculture Dialogues, initiated by WWF. For these species the ASC will introduce a consumer label to be used by processors and distributors that will belong to the certified ‘chain of custody'.
Below you find an overview of the species groups concerned. For more information per species, please click on the relevant species group in the menu on the left side or click on 'Read more' for the species that interest you.
| Species groups | Aquaculture Dialogues
| |
| Abalone
| The Abalone Aquaculture Dialogue began in 2008. Three Dialogue meetings have been held in: Australia, South Africa and Thailand. Meeting participants and the Dialogue's Steering Committee have identified key impacts associated with abalone aquaculture and developed a baseline set of principles, criteria, indicators and standards that will be fine-tuned over the next few months. The draft document has been posted for public comment on March 1, 2010. The expected finalisation date for the abalone standards is September 2010. | |
| Bivalves
| The first Bivalve (clams, mussels, scallops and oysters) Aquaculture Dialogue meeting was held in August 2004. The Dialogue was on hold for a few years because of funding delays, then reinitiated in October 2007. The Dialogue has convened six meetings in North America, one in Europe and one in New Zealand. More than 300 people have attended the Dialogue meetings. In August 2009, a workshop was held in China to incorporate stakeholders from Asia in the process. Input from the meetings was used to develop the first draft of the bivalve aquaculture standards for the first of two sixty-day public comment periods in October 2009. The second (and final) comment period began in February 2010. The Aquaculture Dialogue standards for bivalves are expected to be finalised by mid 2010. | |
| Cobia
| The inaugural meeting of the Seriola and Cobia Aquaculture Dialogue was held in February 2009. At this first meeting, participants developed the goals and objectives of the Dialogue. Over the course of the Dialogue, participants will identify key environmental and social impacts associated with the farming of Cobia. They will create principles for addressing each impact. Next, they will develop criteria on how to reduce each impact and the indicators that will address how to measure the extent of each impact. This will be the framework for creating measurable, performance-based standards. | |
| Freshwater Trout
| The first meeting of the Freshwater Trout Aquaculture Dialogue was held in Denmark in November 2008. At the second meeting of the Dialogue in May 2009, participants drafted the criteria on how to reduce farming impact. In their meeting of November 2009, Dialogue participants formulated draft indicators. Technical experts are working to strengthen the indicators so they can be used to create measurable, performance-based standards for freshwater trout farming. | |
| Pangasius
| The first draft of principles, criteria, indicators and standards was posted in April 2009 for the first of two 60-day public comment periods. Feedback received was discussed at the meeting held in August in Vietnam, and used to revise the document. The second draft of the standards document was posted for public comment on November 20, 2009. The standards are expected to be finalised in May 2010. | |
| Salmon
| The Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue started in 2004. Final draft principles and criteria, available in English and Spanish, are based on latest input received during two public comment periods and at Dialogue meetings held in 2008 and 2009. The Steering Committee is in the midst of drafting indicators. The final standards are not expected before the end of 2010. | |
| Seriola
| The inaugural meeting of the Seriola and Cobia Aquaculture Dialogue was held in February 2009. At this first meeting, participants developed the goals and objectives of the Dialogue. Over the course of the Dialogue, participants will identify key environmental and social impacts associated with the farming of three types of Seriola (S. rivoliana, S. quinqueradiata and S. lalandi). They will create principles for addressing each impact. Next, they will develop criteria on how to reduce each impact and the indicators that will address how to measure the extent of each impact. This will be the framework for creating measurable, performance-based standards. | |
| Shrimp
| The Global Steering Committee (GSC) created several Technical Working Groups, engaging with key people worldwide. For more information about their progress, read the summary from the November 2009 GSC meeting. The first public comment period for the draft shrimp standards started March 1, 2010. The standards will not be finalised before October - November 2010. | |
| Tilapia
| Through a five-year Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogue (TAD), coordinated by WWF, over 200 people created global standards designed to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of tilapia farming. Tilapia farmers who adopt the standards will earn a label certifying that their seafood was farmed environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible. | |
