SOIL ASSOCIATION
Trafalgar Fisheries was awarded the Soil Associations' certification
in November 1999 for its' brown trout and
subsequently for it's rainbow trout.
In 1989, the Soil Association resolved to develop standards for organic aquaculture, in the context of the following obvious facts:
- That the world’s fisheries are suffering from increased over-fishing, which sustainable methods of fish farming can help to alleviate;
- That fish culture can provide a very efficient means of converting unusable/low grade protein into usable/high grade protein for human consumption;
- That current systems of conventional fish farming are geared primarily towards intensive production and are tending to produce similar environmental, health and welfare problems to those in other intensive livestock production systems;
- That consumers are increasingly demanding fish and marine products that are produced using non-intensive, sustainable methods and which are independently verified as such;
- That some fish farming producers feel that the less intensive methods they employ deserve recognition in the marketplace;
- That the principles of organic agriculture can be applied to aquaculture such that viable systems can be defined which conform both to acceptable biological, environmental and welfare criteria, and also to consumer expectations of organic quality products.
THE CURRENT SITUATION
Working with fish farmers, environmentalists, and consulting with animal
welfare experts, food technologists and fish vets the Soil Association
produced an initial draft of Organic Aquaculture Standards. These have
been refined over time, most recently under the auspices of the Organic
Fish Producers Association based in Aberdeen and composed of representatives
of fish farming organisations.
The Soil Association recognises that organic fish farming is a new concept and is still in the early stages of development. Organic fish farming systems and the Standards that define them are likely to require considerable further evolution and refinement. The Soil Association will therefore continue to devote resources to developing the standards and they may therefore change substantially. Certification is granted on this basis.
Click here for web link to Soil Association website
