In a letter to leading WWF members, more than 70 environmental and human right groups are protesting the World Wildlife Fund’s plans to launch a certification label for aquaculture products.
Claiming that the WWF rejects invitations to discuss the issue with representatives of affected communities in six different aquaculture regions across the world, the letter says the plans to form an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), along the lines of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) that certifies fish and shellfish, “do not reflect or take into account the wishes of local communities and indigenous peoples who live alongside shrimp and salmon farms”.
A representative of some European NGOs has earlier expressed that “we feel both that the aquaculture dialogues and the ASC are very much top down processes, pushed by particular interests in the USA, and not in tune with the experience and views of grass roots communities, particularly in the developing countries, notably so in Asia and Latin America”.
Introducing the plans, WWF stressed the fact that “by volume, almost half of the seafood we eat is from aquaculture – the fastest growing food production system in the world – and aquaculture’s contribution is expected to continue to rise”, adding that “as a conservation organization that protects the world’s oceans and coastal habitats, WWF believes the seafood industry can improve its practices so the growth of the industry has little to no negative impact on the environment now and in the future”.
The WWF presently coordinates eight multi-stakeholder groups around the world with more than 2,000 participants who discuss global standards for the industry, the so-called “Aquaculture Dialogues”. The standards will involve twelve aquaculture species, including salmon, shrimp, mussels, clams, oysters and scallops. The first sets of standards, for tilapia and pangasius, are expected to be completed in 2009, and the remainder will be finalized in 2010.
“If we want to see change on the water, we need to back this hard work with a credible independent entity that makes it easy for producers who are in compliance with the standards to become certified”, WWF says.