Íslandsbleikja has become Iceland's first processing plant to attain a Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in early February.

 

Íslandsbleikja is also the world's first Arctic charr facility - processing plant, farm or hatchery - to earn BAP certification.

 

The site - located in Grindavík, on the southwest coast of Iceland - processes 2,000 tonnes of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) annually, supplied by two land-based farms and three hatcheries throughout Iceland. Íslandsbleikja markets its fresh and frozen Arctic charr to retail and foodservice companies across Europe and North America.

 

Íslandsbleikja is owned by Samherji hf., a leading Iceland-based seafood company, with operations throughout Europe, Africa and North America. Samherji is continuously seeking to stay ahead of the competition and currently is assessing the possibility of becoming BAP's first land-based tank aquaculture farm.

 

"We are proud to be Iceland's first BAP-certified processing plant. Arctic charr is a unique product and to have BAP certification helps us fulfill the needs of environmentally conscious consumers and ultimately helps us grow our business," Jón Kjartan Jónsson, managing director of Íslandsbleikja, said.

 

With the certification of Íslandsbleikja, there are now 13 types of farmed seafood represented in the BAP programme, in addition to aquaculture feed - Arctic charr, barramundi, channel catfish, golden pompano, grouper, mussels, pangasius, rainbow trout, red snapper, salmon, shrimp, steelhead trout and tilapia.

 

Iceland's first ever BAP-certified facilities, two salmon farms, came in early 2014.