Giving fish farming a stronger voice in Europe

The two organisations today signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the ASC’s booth at Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona. They pledged to work together towards a shared vision of a responsible aquaculture sector providing the solution to growing food demand.

The organisations said the collaboration comes at a time of growing recognition in Europe as elsewhere of the importance of sustainable food systems. These issues are being looked at by the European Union, and both ASC and FEAP have built up valuable knowledge and experience over many years that can help with these developments. FEAP members will also benefit from greater access to ASC’s guidance on improving farm practices, which always bring economic as well as environmental benefits.

ASC chief executive Chris Ninnes said: “Aquaculture’s importance to Europe can’t be overstated: homegrown seafood like salmon, shellfish and seabass are vital to economies across the continent and provide food security. A more effective, and better represented, industry is better for all Europeans.

“From its inception the ASC programme has been about collaboration between diverse stakeholders, so we know how effective this can be at driving change across the industry.”

Two aims

He told Fish Farming Expert: “There are two thrusts to the collaboration that we want to progress. One is to pool our ideas on EU regulation and legislation, and how it impacts on the aquaculture sector. A good example is the EU taxonomy, which is the overarching guidance to provide, at a sector level, what constitutes the basis for green loans and the like.

“We think there’s an opportunity to progress our collective ideas on that, to put them into the (European) Commission and have a representative impact for the sector in Europe.

“Many of the EU’s policies have been trying to promote aquaculture. This is just to make sure the technical realities of the sector in terms of its responsibility and its contribution to sustainability is also recognised in the documents.

“We want to make sure that the wide spectrum of species and production systems bed into that dialogue.

“The second objective is that the ASC is a certification and labelling programme, and we like to be able to promote standards to the sector, and by collaborating with FEAP we feel that we’ve got a channel to reach those farmers that are interested in ASC; that we can establish relationships and meetings and provide information that helps support them on that journey towards certification.”

Social sustainability

FEAP president Lara Barazi-Geroulanou said: “European aquaculture is a frontrunner on environmental and social sustainability, but is a small player in the market.

“The European Union’s legal framework is in need of clear and sound technical screening criteria for sustainable aquaculture. Our working experience as fish farmers, teaming up with the expertise of the ASC on responsible aquaculture standards, will assure reaching valuable results.”

The collaboration will be driven by a steering group co-chaired by Ninnes and FEAP’s general secretary Javier Ojeda, which will identify opportunities and manage projects in line with the organisations’ shared objectives.

According to the EU, aquaculture employs around 70,000 people across the continent, most of which are small businesses or micro-enterprises in coastal and rural areas.