Certification

Put simply, certification is a way of providing assurance that a product, process or service conforms to specified requirements, or standards. Companies that choose to become certified usually undergo an intensive third-party audit to verify their compliance.

Although common in many industries (think of all the household items certified against UL standards, for example), certification is new to aquaculture. In fact, some of the standards are still in development. Still, as more global fish and seafood buyers look for verification that products are safe and sustainable, certification is sure to become more important. This means that being certified will become a condition of market access.

Canadian aquaculture producers believe their products meet sustainability standards so they are keen to demonstrate their commitment through certification.

Certification is a five-step process:

• Current practices are evaluated to establish baseline performance
• Targets and goals for improvement are set
• Performance is monitored
• Improvements are documented
• New targets and goals are set for further improvement

According to an IPSOS Reid survey, commissioned by Cooke Aquaculture, 57% of salmon consumers think that certified seafood is safer to eat, 55% believe it’s healthier, and 67% feel it’s more considerate of the fish.

Going organic

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is also supporting the development of a National Organic Standard for Canadian aquaculture products. Once in place, the standard will give consumers an easy way of identifying organically grown Canadian aquaculture fish and shellfish. In addition, it will ensure that imports are held to the same standards of production.

Learn more

• Canadian General Standards Board

Traceability: From farm to fork

Preserving the attributes of certified products by means of a traceability system is essential. The aquaculture industry has implemented very comprehensive traceability for its products. Farmed salmon are sometimes given bar codes that follow the fish through all product transformations, from egg to the fillet in the supermarket. Clams, oysters and mussels have tags showing the date and place of harvest. These tags are kept with the shellfish until they are purchased by the consumer.

According to a study of fish and seafood traceability in Canada, the farmed-salmon sector was given a grade of A+ and the shellfish industry a grade of A.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has worked with the International Standards Organization (ISO) to develop traceability standards for wild and farmed finfish. A new standard for shellfish is also under development through the ISO process. These standards will ensure that there is a common format for documenting traceability that can be used by producers around the world.

Learn more

• Archipelago traceability report (PDF version)
• ISO.org (PDF version)