Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue met to start revising draft standards

The Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue met in Saint John, New Brunswick (Canada) this week to discuss draft standards to improve the environmental and social sustainability of the salmon aquaculture industry. After incorporating input from the meeting in Saint John and completing several sections in the document, the draft standards will be posted for the last comment period. Final standards are expected by mid-2011.

Approximately 90 people – including representatives from environmental organizations and first nations, salmon producers, retailers, fishermen and scientists from the world’s most prominent salmon farming regions – discussed feedback on the standards received by 53 organizations during the first comment period for the standards, held from August to October.

Among the key issues discussed at the meeting were how to ensure that ecosystem health is addressed in a farm-based standard, making sure the standards are clear and can be audited, and balancing complexity and cost of the standard with the need to have meaningful environmental and social measurements.

After being finalized, the standards will be held by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and amended periodically to reflect changes in science and technology, as well as to encourage innovation and continuous improvement.

For more information about the salmon Dialogue and to provide feedback during the next public comment period, go to www.worldwildlife.org/salmondialogue.