Supporting and advancing key Canadian aquaculture standards and certification initiatives

Final report
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA)
AIMAP 2012-MA01

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) through Government and Industry funding aims to accelerate Canadian Aquaculture industry preparedness for the adoption of market-based, third-party audited standard and certification programs.

This Project assessed the feasibility of using the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification (2011) and Article 9 of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995) (herein after called the FAO Documents) to demonstrate Responsible Aquaculture Management of the Mussel and Trout Sectors in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Ontario. The result, amongst other things, was the development of a CAIA FAO Based standard that was used to assess on farm Responsible Aquaculture Management.

The work program had some key deliverables which were achieved in all areas. One of the key developments of the project was to assess if certification could be provided on a regional basis as against on a farm by farm basis, and thereby in the process, reduce the cost of the audit for small scale farming operations. Another key outcome was to assess the legislative structure of the Province and its adequacy when governing and managing aquaculture whilst also assessing on farm activities. This aspect of assessing the legislation is different to mainstream aquaculture standards as it takes an in-depth look at the aquaculture legislation through the production of Sector Reports. Three Sector Reports were produced which compared the Aquaculture legislative structure within each Province to the requirements of the FAO Documents. In each case, some minor gaps were identified where some of the requirements of the FAO documents were not expressly defined in the legislation. However, none of the identified deficient areas were deemed to be major or critically deficient and could be corrected with some on-farm or regional amendments. At the same time, fifteen on-site farm audits in the Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island Mussel Sectors and Ontario Trout Sector were carried out against the requirements of the FAO Documents. The purpose of these audits was to assess on farm activities against the requirements of the FAO Documents and to gather information for the development of metrics for a Standard. Whilst some sites had no non-conformances, most sites identified had some minor non-conformances against the requirements of the FAO Documents. However none of the sites had any non-conformances of sufficient significance that could not be closed as in a typical audit situation. Similarity across all sites within each region was seen and gave credence to the objective that farms could be audited on a regional basis as against a site by site basis, if the program proceeded.

Another development was the application of the FAO-based Standard in other similar industries such as Oysters, where interest has been expressed and there is a paucity of relevant standards available. This can easily be achieved without much changed to the current Standard.

Industry and Stakeholder Liaison was carried out throughout the project with Government, ENGO's, Industry and Retailers. This dialogue was positive in all occasions. A key focus was Retailer acceptance and through a series of meetings with the main Canadian retailers, positive feedback was received on the project and a welcoming of such a system to be implemented. The main ENGO comment was that they would like to see the metrics that form the standard and would like to have input at the next stage of the project. Government input was to contribute to the Sector Reports and in all cases there was a general acceptance of the benefits of such a program. Industry liaison was positive in all aspects and there was a willingness to see it expand across in to other sectors such as oyster production.

In carrying out the on-site farm audits, it gave industry the full audit experience of any of the main aquaculture Standards.

Another aspect of the Project was Benchmarking the CAIA FAO-based Standard against some of the main Aquaculture Standards. This work demonstrated that whilst some minor gaps were identified, mainly to do with metrics and detailed specifics contained in the Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Best Aquacultural Practices (BAP) Standards, there is a high degree of correlation between all three Standards. As all three Standards have as their core fundamentals, Animal Health and Welfare, Environmental Integrity, Food Safety and Socio-economic criteria, this high degree of correlation was expected. This benchmarking was necessary to build market support for CAIA's FAO-based certification program as it must be seen to be in line with other commercially acceptable certification programs. Some interest has already been expressed by some Standards owners about the possibility of a mutual recognition for the Program.

Finally, the Sector Reports and Farm Audit Reports were Peer Reviewed for both Technical Content and also the application of using the FAO Documents to develop an FAO-based Standard for the Mussel and Trout Sectors. This Peer Review determined that there should be support for a more uniform and structured process for future Sector Reports and benchmark assessments. This was to be expected as this CAIA initiative was a world first in using the FAO Documents in this manner for Aquaculture. However the Peer Review also concluded that the methodology of using the FAO Documents in this manner clearly demonstrated the sustainability of the farming operations in all three Provinces.

In conclusion, subject to addressing some of the identified deficiencies and including some additional control mechanisms to the CAIA FAO-based standard, the methodology of using the FAO Documents to establish a robust certification program for use in smaller scale aquaculture Industry in Canada has proven to be feasible and has also received acceptance with the major stakeholders. It has been possible to demonstrate high levels of compliance of the respective industry's both on a farm and regulatory perspective based on regular sample auditing of farms and reviews of the management controls of Aquaculture within the respective Provinces. The CAIA FAO-based standard also benchmarks well when compared to the main aquaculture standards which are available for the Trout and Mussel Industry's. Subject to the establishment of metrics and a mechanism for accreditation along with Industry uptake, the CAIA FAO-based Responsible Aquaculture Management Standard has a role and function for the Certification of Mussel and Trout Industries in Canada.