op producer, AcuaPesca Group, is the first company in the world to enter assessment against the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Bivalve Standard. AcuaPesca is seeking ASC certification for five scallop farms in Peru.The audit of AcuaPesca’s farms is due to take place 13 to 16 May.
“AcuaPesca is looking forward to promoting ASC certified scallops,” said Carlos Goldin, AcuaPesca president. “We are proud to be the first scallop farm in the world to undergo ASC assessment. Our group of farms exports 2,000 metric tons of scallop meat to France, Italy, U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Chile and other markets.
“We realize that ASC certification will differentiate our product from the rest of the producers. In addition, customers will recognize our product as environmentally and socially responsible.”
The first ASC certified bivalve products are expected to be available to the market before the end of the year.
“Since the bivalve auditor training last October, there has been growing interest from several companies in becoming ASC certified for bivalves, so we are delighted that AcuaPesca has entered their scallop farms for ASC assessment,” said Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO.
"Demand for third-party certified seafood is growing and markets such as Belgium and France are increasingly seeking responsibly certified products. Products such as scallops are important to these countries.
“We already have ASC certified responsibly farmed pangasius, tilapia and salmon available in the market and we now look forward to the addition of farmed bivalves from farms that have proved to limit their environmental and social impacts.”
