ASC celebrates new milestone in China at Qingdao Seafood Expo

In Qingdao this week the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo is taking place, and ASC is celebrating a new milestone in the country, as the number of ASC-certified farms reaches double figures.

Two new organisations received ASC certification at a special event held during the Expo in Qingdao, and they have taken the total number of ASC farms in China to 10 – between them producing over 40,000 tons every year.

The two new certificate holders are the Weifang-based Green Life Foods, farming oysters, and the Pengcheng Marine Products Company, whose farm in Guangdong has the additional honour of being the first ASC-certified white shrimp farm in China.

“These 10 ASC-certified Chinese farms have set an example of environmental and social responsibility for both Chinese and global aquaculture,” said Contessa Kellogg-Winters, ASC Communications Director, who was at the event in Qingdao. “China’s aquaculture production accounts for more than two thirds of the world’s total production. Promoting responsible aquaculture in China will have a profound impact upon the future of the global aquaculture industry.”

The ASC programme is growing in China, having started in 2012 when ASC worked with China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA) and WWF to improve the practices of tilapia farms in the country. Today the ASC-certified farms in China are producing more than 40,000 tons of responsibly produced tilapia, bivalves and shrimp every year.

“As a company with aquatic products distribution as its main business, we chose to have our farm certified against the ASC standard because we wish to ensure food safety from the source, to secure a safe farming environment,” said Zheng Yiqun, General Manager of Pengcheng Marine Products. “ASC certification is our commitment to responsible consumption.”

“ASC certification made us realise that the vitality of our company’s future will come from a complete supply chain with responsible aquaculture at the source,” said Chen Weijiang, President of Weifang Green Life Foods.

“ASC will further its growth in China, invest more resources in helping more farms improve their practices, and promote responsible production in China’s fishing industry,” said Fang Qing, Commercial Manager of ASC China.