24 MARCH 2018 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG than 1 million t in the 1950s to more than 100 million t now. This scenario can however be misleading because most of the growth in aquaculture production occurred in China and in other Asian countries and was generated mainly by increases in carp, shrimp, and pangasius, mollusc and seaweed production. The Environmental Impact of Aquaculture In terms of environmental impact, aquaculture production is a good alternative to other ways of producing animal proteins. The feed conversion ratio of farmed fish ranges from around onethird that of farmed cows and one-half that of pigs, depending on farming practices and species. Aquaculture performs well also in terms of CO2 emissions. Farming salmon, for instance, produces 10.9 kg CO2 equivalents per kg versus 39.2 for lamb and 27.0 for beef (Brown 2011). Regarding the use of land, one must differentiate between aquaculture on land from that at sea. The latter usually consists of provisional cages that can be removed and that have also a low impact on the landscape. Land-based aquaculture infrastructure can have a greater impact, but considering the good performance in feed conversion ratio, one can expect a lower impact on agriculture land use when compared to farming terrestrial livestock. Although aquaculture has potential environmental impacts, the industry has demonstrated that it can reduce them faster and more effectively than fisheries. Fishing vessel are built to function in the same way for years and this rarely allows space for changes to reduce the impacts of a particular gear on the environment or fuel consumption. Over the years instead, as aquaculture production increased, fishmeal and fish oil use per ton produced has decreased, thanks to improvements in feeding practices and higher efficiency in feed composition and fishmeal harvesting and processing. In the 1990s, the use of antibiotics, a reason for much attention by international environmental NGOs, has been reduced dramatically in many countries as a result of the introduction of new vaccines and better disease management. Escapes too, have been reduced in some countries as stronger nets have been introduced. It is of course against farmers economic interests to experience fish escapes. International Sustainable and Responsible Aquaculture Certifications Consumer awareness on the potential impact of aquaculture on the environment has grown over the years and companies have started looking for third-party certifications to recognize their sustainability efforts. Over 500 different organic standards have developed since then and a plethora of sustainability and responsibility certifications. In 2007 the European Union, in an effort to bring some order and standardization to the organic market, introduced a regulation on organic farming that covers production, processing and the control and labelling of organic food (EC 2007). The EU organic aquaculture production accounts for almost 4 percent of the total aquaculture production. The main producer of organic farmed products is Ireland (44 percent), followed by Italy (17 percent), the United Kingdom (7 percent) and France (6 percent). Four years later, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) produced its own Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification (FAO 2011), recognizing the importance of voluntary environmental and social sustainability certification, calling it “a market-based tool for minimizing potential negative impacts and increasing societal and consumer benefits.” These FAO guidelines describe credible aquaculture certification schemes as those consisting of three main components: standards, accreditation and certification. The FAO also listed a minimum number of criteria to be included in the standards: animal health and welfare, food safety, environmental integrity and socio-economic aspects. The FAO guidelines and the market response trimmed down a long list to a small group of internationally accepted sustainability and responsibility standards: Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP/GAA), Friend of the Sea and GlobalG.A.P. Among them, Friend of the Sea and GlobalG.A.P are the only aquaculture certification programs recognized by EU national accreditation bodies and the first ranked in terms of number of certified species and tons of production. Bringing Fish Welfare into Responsible Seafood Certification The market for vegan products is growing at a pace of 3 percent per year globally, with China running at a surprising > 15 percent Stocking density has a strong effect on fish welfare.
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