Prawn and barramundi farmers in Australia have moved one step closer to merging their industry bodies.
Talks in Cairns at the annual joint conference of the Australian Prawn and Barramundi Farmers Associations ended with an agreement to form a national alliance.
Outgoing president Alistair Dick told ABC that with new farms in the pipeline for the first time in a decade, there's renewed optimism the tide is finally turning for Australian aquaculture.
A new business competition designed to bring together the sustainable seafood businesses and investors has been launched in the USA.
Fish 2.0 encourages businesses to compete for cash prizes and the chance to pitch their ideas to investors.
The competition aims to dispel the myth among investors that the fisheries and aquaculture sectors are too specialised, too complex, and without enough strong business ideas to merit building expertise in this area into investor teams.
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) in early August applauded Belize Aquaculture Ltd. for becoming the first shrimp company in Belize and the second in Central America approved to offer three-star shrimp.
Belize Aquaculture’s shrimp hatchery, farm and processing plant located in Stann Creek District, in southeastern Belize, all earned BAP certification on July 26, 2013.
Founded in 1996, Belize Aquaculture produced 4.5 million pounds of Pacific white shrimp in 2012 and is on target to produce 10 millions pounds in 2014 across 68 four-acre ponds. The company also operates a British Retail Consortium (BRC)- and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-certified processing plant.
Belize Aquaculture sells a variety of fresh, frozen and cooked shrimp products to retail and foodservice customers in Asia, Europe, the United States and Central America.
“The three-star certification is a recognition of our company’s consistent efforts to innovate and improve the quality of our products and the sustainability of our practices,” said David Fleming, director of Belize Aquaculture. “As a company, we are confident that our buyers and customers will acknowledge the value of this certificate and our commitment toward quality, environment and social development.”
Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain -- farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills -- that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means. BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
 |
| shrimp-heads-dau-tom (Photo credit: Phú Thịnh Co) |
