February 28, 2014

Arctic Salmon farms obtain BAP certification

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) announced in late February that Fjardalax ehf's salmon farm sites in Iceland are Europe's first salmon farms to attain Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification.

The two farms, Patreksfjörðu and Tálknafjörður, are situated in the West Fjords of Iceland, in three adjacent fjords, Tálknafjörður, Patreksfjörður and Arnarfjörður.

The farms have been in operation since 2010, and the fish are processed at the company's plant in Patreksfjörður.

This year, Fjardalax is expected to produce approximately 4,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon. The majority of its salmon is exported as H&G fish to buyers in Europe, the US and Japan. The company's products are marketed under the Arctic Salmon brand.

"We at Arctic Salmon are extremely proud to have attained BAP certification, Europe's first salmon farms to do so," said Höskuldur Steinarsson, the company's general manager.

Steinarsson added that BAP certification is something they have been working hard to get for some time. The requirements are demanding, so they are very happy to finally be there and are looking forward to see how the market will react to this. Attaining BAP certification is a very important milestone along that path for Arctic Salmon.

"The certification of Icelandic salmon farms is a key milestone for the BAP programme within Europe," said Peter Redmond, BAP's VP of business development. "We welcome Arctic Salmon as the first of many farms in Europe to be certified to the GAA's Best Aquaculture Practices certification standards, and commend the leadership role that the company has assumed within the industry."