September 13, 2012
Terrapez tilapia facility first to be certified with BAP designation in Costa Rica
A Terrapez S.A. tilapia facility is the first of its kind to be certified with Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) designation in Costa Rica.
Located in Cañas, Guanacaste, the state-of-the-art, purpose-built plant can process over 20,000 metric tonnes of fresh and frozen products annually.
A tilapia farm owned by Rain Forest/Aquacorporación Internacional in Cañas was certified to the BAP standards in late June. Tilapia grown in its ponds and raceways provide a wide range of fillet sizes. Harvested fish are transported live to the processing plant and quickly shipped to market fresh or frozen by air and ocean.
Rain Forest Aquaculture Quality Assurance teams monitor the entire production process for compliance with BAP and other established standards. Rain Forest Aquaculture's traceability system tracks its entire production from farming stages to market.
"Rain Forest Aquaculture should be applauded for this development," BAP Vice President of Development, Peter Redmond, said. "It responded to the marketplace demand for certification, and the marketplace will no doubt respond in kind by welcoming its large volumes of premium tilapia products."
About 90% of the Rain Forest production of fresh tilapia fillets is exported to the US, representing 25% of the North American market. The remainder is consumed by local and European markets.
BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the international Best Aquaculture Practices standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance. The two-star designation is given to companies with integrated BAP-certified farm and processing facilities.
