Mowi Canada West issued a news release regarding Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) multi-site certification, which can be read in full below:
Mowi Canada West is the world’s first aquaculture company to successfully achieve certification under the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) multi-site certification methodology. Independent third-party auditors certified three Klemtu area salmon farms to the ASC Salmon Standard. Mowi Canada West now has 23 salmon farms certified to the ASC Salmon Standard, representing about 75% of the company’s production.
“I am proud of our salmon farmers and certification team for this achievement, which confirms our leading environmental performance” said Dr Diane Morrison, Mowi Canada West Managing Director. “Achieving the ASC certification for our farms demonstrates our commitment to social and environmental sustainability and to transparency in our practices”.
The three sites certified sites through the multi-site methodology are Alexander Inlet, Goat Cove and Kid Bay, these salmon farms are operated in the Traditional Territory of the Kitasoo Xai’Xais First Nation. Mowi and the Kitasoo have had an agreement for salmon farming and processing for the past 20 years.
Certification of multiple sites under the multi-methodology was announced by the ASC in August of 2017, and became available to farmers seeking certification later that year. The final process was developed following two public consultations in 2016 and 2017, and outlined on the ASC website “reflects valuable input from numerous and diverse stakeholder groups, including producers, environmental NGOs and certification and accreditation bodies”.
To achieve certification under the ASC Salmon Standard, farms are audited against 500 separate aspects of the sites performance. It is considered to be the gold standard in environmental certification and was developed through a dialogue process involving Environmental NGOs and researchers. Mowi is working towards the goal of 100 per cent certification to the ASC Standard across all its sites by 2020.
About Mowi Canada West
Mowi Canada West (MCW) operates salmon farms and processing plants in British Columbia, Canada, where 600 people work together to raise 45,000 tonnes of sustainable Atlantic salmon each year.
MCW was the first company in North America to certify a salmon farm to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) salmon standard, the most stringent third-party aquaculture certification globally. Mowi Canada West is part of the Mowi ASA group, the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon.
- Press release from Mowi Canada West