The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) on Tuesday announced it has awarded its first-ever Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification to a Norwegian salmon farmer.
Kvaroy Fiskeoppdrett, the fast-moving mid-sized salmon farmer, certified two of its farming sites, Movikodden and Selsoyvaer, to the BAP standard.
The company, whose sustainability credentials have landed it in high-profile retailers, including Amazon-owned Whole Foods, said it plans on pursuing BAP for its other three farming sites, as well as its processing plan, hatchery and feed mill.
Kvaroy already holds GlobalGAP and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certifications.
While BAP developed farmed salmon standards years ago, it has struggled to get a foothold for its certification in Norway, where the ASC has a strong uptake. Several farms in Scotland, Canada and other locations hold BAP certification.
As part of the multi-company Global Salmon Initiative (GSI), salmon farming companies around the globe committed to ASC certification for their sites by 2020 -- a deadline that several companies will miss.
Kvaroy passed another industry milestone in June, when it announced it would invest in a land-based salmon farming grow-out operation -- the first conventional farmed salmon producer to do so.
BAP's origins are rooted in the shrimp farming sector, but the program has expanded over the years into multiple species, as well as processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills. Through the first half of the year, a total of 2,773 operations held BAP certificates.
