FAO develops compliance manual on animal health and welfare for small-scale aquaculture certification
MANILA - A group of international experts on small-scale aquaculture, aquaculture certification and aquatic animal health convened in the Philippines to begin the development of the first of a three-volume series of compliance manuals to support small-scale aquaculture certification. The exercise, spearheaded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the European Commission, seeks to improve small scale aquaculture farming practices and thus enable them to comply with certification requirements set out in the FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification.
"FAO recognizes that market access is the end goal of certification in aquaculture. Adhering to certification requirements will lead to the improvement of husbandry practices and, as a consequence, sector sustainability and societal and consumer benefits. The need to empower smallholders with the means to obtain certification remains to be a great challenge owing to expected costs and the lack of technical and organizational capacities" explains José Luis Fernández, FAO Representative in the Philippines, who opened the three-day meet on 3 March 2017 and welcomed participants from Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and Viet Nam and technical officers from FAO Headquarters in Rome.
In the Philippines, FAO has been working closely with the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in addressing priorities related to the development and resilience of the aquaculture sector.
Small-scale aquaculture
FAO has underscored the vast potential of the aquaculture to contribute to the eradication of hunger and poverty, especially in the tropics where catches of main fish species are projected to decline by up to 40 percent by 2050.
Aquaculture is an industry still dominated by small-scale farmers. While they are responsible for nearly 70 percent of global output, almost none of them have received certification. Therefore, improving their knowledge on how to comply with certification standards, as well identifying national policy and regulatory gaps, are becoming more crucial and urgent.
FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification
Developed after a transparent and exhaustive consultative process, the FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification was approved in 2011 and adopted by member states. It provides a framework for the development, organization and implementation of credible aquaculture schemes.
Assistance to small-scale aquaculture and to developing countries is among the fundamental principles of the Guidelines. In the context of the Guidelines, small-scale aquaculture is defined as aquaculture farms with small production volume, and/or relatively small-scale surface area, mainly without permanent labour, and typically lacking technical and financial capacity to support individual certification.
The three-day preliminary expert workshop was successfully completed on 5 March 2017 in Manila. The compliance manual framework will provide a background on the importance of the small-scale aquaculture sector; the opportunities and challenges in meeting certification requirements; specific guidance in optimizing health through minimizing stress, reducing disease risk and maintaining a healthy culture environment; aquatic animal welfare; and implementation. It is expected that this will be made available during the next session of the Committee on Fisheries SubCommittee on Aquaculture to be held in Iran in October 2017.