Aquaculture Certification - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 115

and in Thailand, the Thai Quality Shrimp label can be applied to the product that
conforms to the Good Aquaculture Practices (GAPs) laid down by the Thai Depart-
ment of Fisheries. As its name implies, the Malaysian Aquaculture Farm Certifica-
tion Scheme is also country specific. In Chile, salmonids can be certified to the Code
of Good Environmental Practices produced by Fundaci on Chile and SIGES-Salmon
Chile.
Organic aquaculture certification has an advantage over non-organic certification
largely because the organic label is well recognised by consumers and a growing
number are willing to pay a premium price. Because of this, organic certification
is already well developed for terrestrial farm produce. However, there has been
much debate about how organic principles can or should be extended to apply to
aquaculture, particularly for carnivorous species, and particularly in the US. The
US Department of Agriculture has yet to officially approve any organic aquaculture
standards, thereby blocking the use of the coveted 'USDA Organic' label. Tacon
and Brister (2002) discuss the prospects of private and national organic certification
schemes in more detail.
All the schemes listed in Tables 5.1 and 5.2 are voluntary and have requirements
that either exceed or strengthen existing legal obligations. However, some certifica-
tion schemes are mandatory and are more akin to operating permits than ecolabels.
For example, the certification provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services is a requirement for all aquaculture operations within the
state. It covers a wide variety of systems for producing penaeid shrimp, sturgeon,
shellfish, live rock and aquatic plants, and is based on compliance with a series of
site requirements and defined BMPs (www.FloridaAquaculture.com).

5.6 Unintended consequences

Concerns about the unintended consequences of aquaculture certification schemes
have been raised in many quarters, particularly with respect to the developing
world. Bostock et al. (2004) has drawn parallels with problems that have arisen
with certification initiatives for forestry products to illustrate how schemes devised
largely in developed countries can pose problems in poorer regions. Thus, despite
initiatives by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), very little certification has
been successful in the natural forests of the developing world. Problems have been
attributed to:

non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from developing countries setting the
FSC's agenda;
FSC certification favouring the management systems of developed countries;
the high costs of certification discouraging poor performers from applying;
the disproportionate benefits between producer and processor;