The Ainan Fishery Cooperative Association, which produces red sea bream, has become the first facility in Japan to achieve the Global Seafood Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification.
Located in Ehime Prefecture, the Yasutaka Suisan farm and the Hamasui processing plant, both members of the Ainan Fisheries Cooperative, have achieved BAP certification.
‘We are very pleased that two of our members, Yasutaka Suisan and Hamasui, have become the first in the world to receive BAP certification for red sea bream. BAP standards have been benchmarked by GSSI (Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative) at the farm, and GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) at the processing plant, which we believe will give further impetus to exports. Although Ainan is a small town at the southernmost tip of Ehime Prefecture, it is one of Japan’s top aquaculture producers, and we hope that Ainan sea bream will spread its wings to the rest of the world,’ said Hiroki Tachibana, President of the Ainan Fishery Cooperative Association.
‘The seafood industry in Japan is amongst the leaders in Asia for promoting and developing more responsible practices that fit with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,’ commented Steve Hart, VP of Market Development at GSA.
‘I would like to commend the Ainan Fishery Cooperative Association for becoming the first BAP-certified facility in Japan, with their red seabream farm.’
