The Alliance GAA spearheaded the formation of the new organisation and will initially fund its operations. (Image: Global Aquaculture Alliance)
New organisation to address gaps in aquaculture and fisheries certification
BELGIUM
Thursday, April 26, 2018, 02:20 (GMT + 9)
Not-for-profit organisation Global Seafood Assurances (GSA) has just been officially launched to meet marketplace and public expectations for assurances across the board in aquaculture and fisheries worldwide. The presentation took place in the framework of the Seafood Expo Global, being held in Brussels.
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) spearheaded the formation of the organisation and will initially fund its operations.
Wally Stevens, who will be stepping away from his role as GAA’s executive director to lead GSA, stated that currently there are gaps in both aquaculture and fisheries certification, and the purpose of GSA is to fill those gaps and provide credible assurances to the marketplace that farmed and wild seafood is responsibly produced throughout the entire production chain.
“We need to fill the gaps while linking the various silos of certification together. What we need is comprehensive representation,” Stevens added.
The assurances which GSA will address relate to environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety and animal welfare for farm-raised and wild-caught seafood.
GAA stressed that those assurances will flow from third-party certification programs that have been benchmarked by a combination of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and recognized social compliance programs.
GSA will be open to any certification program that meets the benchmarking criteria above and that chooses to be a part of full supply-chain assurances for either farmed or wild seafood.
The new organisation has already begun to address a major gap in fisheries certification by signing a memorandum of understanding with Seafish to manage its Responsible Fisheries Scheme (RFS) in the UK.
The organisation will also work with other fisheries stakeholders around the world to develop new vessel standards for social responsibility.
Related article:
- Seafish migrates its certification scheme to GAA
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