Certification has become an important functional component for operations at all levels of the aquaculture industry, from the grower to the processor and through to the distributor. Certification by licensed third-party certifiers has become quite common as a way for industry to demonstrate key food safety, food quality, social responsibility and environmental sustainability metrics.
In 2011, based on industry priorities related to certification and standards interpretation, the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA) undertook a program of certification orientation and technical services for our trout, salmon and mussels farming and processing members. This project sought to address knowledge and technical gaps around certification readiness, and to alleviate some of the costs involved with certification.
The NAIA Certification Benchmarking project comprehensively outlined standard and certification options for our members through the delivery of Certification Orientation Workshops followed by open-style operational (on-site) audits for our farming and processing operations. NAIA then led the development of comprehensive documentation and record-keeping systems for our mussel farming companies seeking certification to the Canadian Organic Aquaculture standard. NAIA then helped in the coordination and scheduling of synchronized audits for the mussel sector such that audit costs were minimized.
As a result of NAIA’s work on certification preparedness, Newfoundland and Labrador offered the first certified organic mussels in North America and had the first Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certified mussel plant in the world. The program gave the staff of our member finfish operations a basic familiarity with standards and certification which helped support their companies’ efforts to secure certification to standards such as the BAP. NAIA continues to provide technical support in certification and auditing to our members.