New Zealand King Salmon is now eligible to offer three-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) salmon following the certification of its three salmon hatcheries, the Global Aquaculture Alliance announced in early November.
Three stars denote that a product originates from a BAP-certified processing plant, farm and hatchery, and New Zealand King Salmon is Australasia's first salmon company to earn the distinction.
The certification of its three salmon hatcheries in October came soon after the company completed the new multi-site cluster program (BAP-C), resulting in all nine of its salmon farm sites in South Island's Marlborough Sound attaining BAP certification - six existing sites that were already BAP certified and three new sites that just came into production.
Its processing plant is also BAP certified.
The BAP-C program allows an applicant to combine multiple farm sites within a defined geographical area to apply for BAP certification for all sites during a single audit. Audit efficiency is achieved by a combination of reviewing documents and policies common to all member sites such as permits, operating licenses and diver safety, in addition to individual site visits to assess site-specific audit clauses, escapes, therapeutant use and wildlife interactions.
"NZ King Salmon is proud to elevate our existing BAP accreditation to three stars with the addition of our hatcheries. Having independent verification that we are operating to international industry standards within our hatcheries fits very well with our strategy to offer a unique breed of king salmon to discerning customers around the world," said the company.
New Zealand King Salmon is the world's largest aquaculture producer of king salmon, with key export markets of North America, Japan and Australia. The company supplies salmon under three brands - Ōra King, Regal and Southern Ocean - and harvests and processes more than 6,000 tonnes of king salmon annually.
- BAP