Five Belizean shrimp farms awarded Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification.

Utrecht, 22 April 2015 – Five Belize shrimp farms have been awarded Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. The Belize Shrimp Grower Association members have achieved certification against the global science-based ASC Shrimp Standard as responsible and well-managed farms.

Member of the Belize Shrimp Growers Association, Alvin Henderson, describes Belize as a country of rich biodiversity with a stretch of mangrove belt along the coast that acts as a natural filtration system.

“The journey towards ASC certification has helped to highlight areas of our operations where we can make meaningful change with minimal financial resources. Sometimes all that is really required is a change of perspective,” Henderson explains. “We’re using less water on our farm through improving the way we manage water quality. And, by focusing on compliance, we uncovered that the water in the receiving body is of even better quality since our mangrove buffer acts as a biofilter.”

A responsible future for Belize shrimp aquaculture

“We want to continue with the process of improving our farms. Meeting the ASC standard has ensured an objective assessment of our farms and the marine environment through independent evaluation,” Henderson said.

Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO, said: “I congratulate the Belize Shrimp Growers Association members on their ASC certification, they should be very proud of their achievement.

“These farms have undergone a transparent, open and demanding assessment process – and through that have proven their responsible practices. The improvements they have made will make a difference for the future environmental sustainability of the region and to a community ethos of social responsibility.”

Sea Farms Ltd brings Belizean shrimp to the European market, Dominique Gautier, Technical Executive, Sea Farms, said: “This achievement is the demonstration that members of the Belize Shrimp Growers Association share a common foundation of core social, environmental and ethical values. ASC certification will help in developing a positive image of Belize as a trusted provenance in the marketplace and will open new commercial opportunities for Belizean shrimp.”

Support for responsible aquaculture

The farms worked with WWF Mesoamerican Reef program officer for aquaculture, Mauricio Mejia, to develop better management practices and reduce their environmental impacts.

“The dedication and collaboration of the shrimp farmers both in improving their farm
processes and meeting the social and community aspects of the standard have made a big
difference,” Mejia said.

“WWF calls upon other shrimp-producing countries in Latin America to take action and help their shrimp farmers achieve ASC certification.”

The Belize Shrimp Growers Association was provided with funding from the Compete Caribbean Program to audit the individual farms and prepare for ASC certification. Moreover, the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) has supported the farmers with funds and technical assistance, such as training and research. The Compete Caribbean Program supports private sector development and competitiveness in 15 Caribbean countries, and is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Government of Canada and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). IDH, an accelerator of sustainable market transformation, also supports farmers with access to lucrative international markets.

“Our farmers are very grateful for the invaluable contribution this funding and support has provided in assisting Belize’s shrimp industry in achieving ASC certification,” Henderson said. “While a few of our farms would have moved towards certification anyway, the support we received has accelerated the process of change in Belize.”

Measurably reducing adverse impacts

Following an independent assessment conducted by the conformity assessment body, Control Union, shrimp sourced from these farms is now eligible to carry the ASC logo.

Through ASC certification shrimp farms aim to measurably reduce adverse impacts on the environment and local community by preserving wetlands and mangroves; addressing the transfer of viruses and reducing disease; bringing cleaner water and ensuring the responsible use of water; ensuring the responsible use of feed; and addressing biodiversity issues.

Aqua Mar, Belize Aquaculture Ltd,. Cardelli Farms, Paradise Shrimp Farm, Royal Mayan, Tropical Aquaculture, Texmar and Beleuro.  Five received their certificates at the Show, but eight farms will be certified in all.

For more information on the Belize Shrimp Growers Association visit: http://www.belizeshrimpgrowers.org

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A foreign delegation featuring 47 government ministers from 28 countries spent Wednesday touring Madison-area centers of technology and entrepreneurship, starting with a tour of healthcare software giant Epic Systems Corp. in Verona and moving on to many examples of UW-Madison-related innovations.

“It’s an opportunity to show off the Madison region,” said Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership, which authored the application to include the area in the three-state exchange tour highlighting sectors such as agriculture, information technology and biomedical devices. “We want to show what we’re doing with respect to our partnerships in economic development, and also with respect to the extraordinary research and development going on at the university.”

Organized by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and other federal partners, the six-day exchange tour was to include 41 sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, with Wednesday’s Madison-area events being day four. Known as the third annual Americas Competitiveness Exchange Tour, the first two tours were last year in Mexico and the southeastern region of the United States.

In a phone interview Wednesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jay Williams said the exchange tours were an opportunity for delegates “to see first-hand on the ground” examples of successful innovations between government and private business, as well as plant seeds “to increase the prospect of trade and commerce” between the participating countries.

“Out of the sharing of ideas come actual, concrete actions and partnerships and investment opportunities,” Williams said.

Delegate Michael Singh, chief executive officer of the Ministry of Trade and Investments for the Belize government, said Wednesday before the Epic Systems program began that he hoped to hear ideas on the tour that would help his country create more jobs for the 70 percent of its population that’s now under the age of 25.

“We’ve got a mass of young people coming into the workforce,” Singh said, noting Belize was rich with natural resources but sparsely populated, with a small tax base and little practical experience in partnering government with academia and business to improve the economy.

So Singh said he relished the chance to see successful examples of such collaborations, singling out one he saw on last year’s tour of the U.S. Southeast, where he was impressed by the ability of government leaders in Greenville, South Carolina, to lure a large BMW plant, helping to revive the town’s depressed textiles-based economy in part by working with Clemson University to start a new slate of automotive engineering programs.

Karen Rivedal | Wisconsin State JournalBuy NowMichel Singh, an officer in the Belize government’s Ministry of Trade, Investment Promotion, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection

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