Soil Association organic fish-farming standards top WWF benchmarking study
19th December 2007
The Soil Association’s organic fish farming standards scored 90% and took top place in a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) study of 24 international aquaculture certification schemes.
The study analysed existing certification programmes against criteria that WWF believes are important to achieve sustainability and credibility in the aquaculture sector. Four key issues were examined: the environment, social issues, animal welfare, and the standard setting and certification process.
Of the 24 aquaculture standards examined, 17 were selected for the benchmarking study. Ten organic standards were included in the study and gave the top ten scores.
Soil Association Aquaculture Programme manager Peter Bridson said: “We have always been committed to developing the highest standards possible for farmed fish, particularly for salmon and trout in the UK. It is very encouraging to get international recognition from an organisation such as WWF for all this hard work. Despite having the highest score, the report still highlights areas for further improvement. Some of these have already been achieved since the report was drafted, but we are continuously working to improve the standards further’.”
